Study Desk

Then Joshua told the people: Years from now your children will ask you why these rocks are here.

This had to be done, because none of Israel's baby boys had been circumcised during the forty years that Israel had wandered through the desert after leaving Egypt. And why had they wandered for forty years? It was because right after they left Egypt, the men in the army had disobeyed the Lord . And the Lord had said, "None of you men will ever live to see the land that I promised Israel. It is a land rich with milk and honey, and someday your children will live there, but not before you die here in the desert."

After Jericho was destroyed, Joshua warned the people, "Someday a man will rebuild Jericho, but the Lord will put a curse on him, and the man's oldest son will die when he starts to build the town wall. And by the time he finishes the wall and puts gates in it, all his children will be dead."

Then I gave Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau. I had Esau live in the hill country of Mount Seir, but your ancestor Jacob and his children went to live in Egypt.

and villagers couldn't work in their fields. Then Deborah took command, protecting Israel as a mother protects her children.

But first, please let me spend two months, wandering in the hill country with my friends. We will cry together, because I can never get married and have children."

"Yes, you may have two months," Jephthah said. She and some other girls left, and for two months they wandered in the hill country, crying because she could never get married and have children.

Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was not able to have children,

but one day an angel from the Lord appeared to her and said: You have never been able to have any children, but very soon you will be pregnant and have a son. He will belong to God from the day he is born, so his hair must never be cut. And even before he is born, you must not drink any wine or beer or eat any food forbidden by God's laws. Your son will begin to set Israel free from the Philistines.

from the tribe of Dan. Then they turned and left, after putting their children, their cattle, and the rest of their other possessions in front.

If they don't have children, one of the Israelite tribes will die out.

The town leaders and the others standing there said: We are witnesses to this. And we pray that the Lord will give your wife many children, just as he did Leah and Rachel, the wives of Jacob. May you be a rich man in the tribe of Ephrath and an important man in Bethlehem.

May the children you have by this young woman make your family as famous as the family of Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah.

Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Although Peninnah had children, Hannah did not have any.

But he gave Hannah even more, because he loved Hannah very much, even though the Lord had kept her from having children of her own.

Peninnah liked to make Hannah feel miserable about not having any children,

Eli would always bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "Samuel was born in answer to your prayers. Now you have given him to the Lord . I pray that the Lord will bless you with more children to take his place." After Eli had blessed them, Elkanah and Hannah would return home.

"Go and attack the Amalekites! Destroy them and all their possessions. Don't have any pity. Kill their men, women, children, and even their babies. Slaughter their cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys."

But Samuel said, "Agag, you have snatched children from their mothers' arms and killed them. Now your mother will be without children." Then Samuel chopped Agag to pieces at the place of worship in Gilgal.

Then he attacked the town of Nob, where the priests had lived, and he killed everyone there—men, women, children, and babies. He even killed their cattle, donkeys, and sheep.