The watchman said, “It appears to me that the first runner is Ahimaaz ¹  son of Zadok.” The king said, “He is a good man, and he comes with good news.”

The other woman said, “No! My son is alive; your son is dead!” But the first woman replied, “No, your son is dead; my son is alive.” Each presented her case before the king. ¹ 

Let both grow together until the harvest. At ¹  harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, but then ²  gather ³  the wheat into my barn.”’”

Meanwhile, ¹  when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus ²  began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against ³  the yeast of the Pharisees, ⁴  which is hypocrisy. ⁵ 

(His disciples did not understand these things when they first happened, ¹  but when Jesus was glorified, ²  then they remembered that these things were written about him and that these things had happened ³  to him.) ⁴ 

When they arrived, he said to them, “You yourselves know how I lived ¹  the whole time I was with you, from the first day I set foot ²  in the province of Asia, ³ 

But again I ask, didn’t Israel understand? ¹  First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger.” ² 

On the first day of the week, each of you should set aside some income ¹  and save ²  it to the extent that God has blessed you, ³  so that a collection will not have to be made ⁴  when I come.

Now, brothers and sisters, ¹  you know about the household of Stephanus, that as the first converts ²  of Achaia, they devoted themselves to ministry for the saints. I urge you

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn to fulfill their duty ¹  toward their own household and so repay their parents what is owed them. ²  For this is what pleases God. ³ 

I recall ¹  your sincere faith ²  that was alive first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I am sure ³  is in you.

When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the wilderness. I viewed your ancestors ¹  like an early fig on a fig tree in its first season. Then they came to Baal-Peor and they dedicated themselves to shame – they became as detestable as what they loved.

Then ¹  the first son ²  she bears will continue the name of the dead brother, thus preventing his name from being blotted out of Israel.

For this is what the sovereign Lord says: “In the beginning my people went to live temporarily in Egypt; Assyria oppressed them for no good reason.

¹ In the third year ²  of King Belshazzar’s reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me previously. ³ 

So Moses ¹  cut out two tablets of stone like the first; ²  early in the morning he went up ³  to Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him, and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone.

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am about to give to you and you gather in its harvest, ¹  then you must bring the sheaf of the first portion of your harvest ²  to the priest,

and he must present his offering ¹  to the Lord: one male lamb in its first year without blemish for a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish for a purification offering, one ram without blemish for a peace offering, ² 

The firstborn of every womb which they present to the Lord, whether human or animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn sons you must redeem, ¹  and the firstborn males of unclean animals you must redeem.

“‘On the first day of each month ¹  you must offer as a burnt offering to the Lord two young bulls, one ram, and seven unblemished lambs a year old,