The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. ¹  Israel might brag, ²  ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’ ³ 

So now assemble the rest of the army ¹  and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city and it will be named for me.”

If there is any question ¹  about Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; if there is any question about our brothers, they are messengers ²  of the churches, a glory to Christ.

Then I will give you thanks in the great assembly; ¹  I will praise you before a large crowd of people! ² 

Like cloudy skies and wind that produce no rain, ¹  so is the one who boasts ²  of a gift not given. ³ 

He ¹  fell with his face to the ground ²  at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. ³  (Now ⁴  he was a Samaritan.) ⁵ 

But they are justified ¹  freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

For if Abraham was declared righteous ¹  by the works of the law, he has something to boast about – but not before God.

What I am saying with this boastful confidence ¹  I do not say the way the Lord would. ²  Instead it is, as it were, foolishness.

But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ.

For this finds God’s favor, ¹  if because of conscience toward God ²  someone endures hardships in suffering unjustly.

And your raised offering will be credited ¹  to you as though it were grain from the threshing floor or as new wine ²  from the winepress.

Let all the kings of the earth give thanks ¹  to you, O Lord, when they hear the words you speak. ² 

You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. ¹  They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. ²  They always talk about you, but they really care nothing about you. ³ 

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors ¹  do the same, don’t they?

but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Not that we are adequate ¹  in ourselves to consider anything as if it were coming from ourselves, but our adequacy ²  is from God,

For by grace you are saved ¹  through faith, ²  and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God;

For those who have served well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves ¹  and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. ² 

So too the tongue is a small part of the body, ¹  yet it has great pretensions. ²  Think ³  how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze.