Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, ¹  it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!

Then ¹  Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

When Jesus noticed this, ¹  he said, “How hard ²  it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! ³ 

Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things, ¹  said, “This is a difficult ²  saying! ³  Who can understand it?” ⁴ 

I feel torn between the two, ¹  because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far,

“Your father made us work too hard! ¹  Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.” ² 

Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard, ¹  and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

Have I not wept for the unfortunate? ¹  Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

So he used suffering to humble them; ¹  they stumbled and no one helped them up.

They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, ¹  Rachel went into labor ²  – and her labor was hard.

Elijah ¹  replied, “That’s a difficult request! ²  If you see me taken from you, may it be so, but if you don’t, it will not happen.”

But the house of Israel is unwilling to listen to you, ¹  because they are not willing to listen to me, ²  for the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. ³ 

Then the one who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed,

The disciples were astonished at these words. But again Jesus said to them, ¹  “Children, how hard it is ²  to enter the kingdom of God!

The people ¹  to whom I am sending you are obstinate and hard-hearted, ²  and you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says.’ ³ 

Instead, they tried to row ¹  back to land, ²  but they were not able to do so ³  because the storm kept growing worse and worse. ⁴ 

They ¹  tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them.

‘Oh, Lord God, ¹  you did indeed ²  make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. ³  Nothing is too hard for you!

But Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your hard hearts. ¹ 

Elders who provide effective leadership ¹  must be counted worthy ²  of double honor, ³  especially those who work hard in speaking ⁴  and teaching.