They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and burn offerings on the hills; they sacrifice ¹  under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is so pleasant. As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery!

I cannot carry out ¹  my fierce anger! I cannot totally destroy Ephraim! Because I am God, and not man – the Holy One among you – I will not come in wrath!

Where ¹  then is your king, that he may save you in all your cities? Where are ²  your rulers for whom you asked, saying, “Give me a king and princes”?

Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and boundless in loyal love ¹  – often relenting from calamitous punishment. ² 

Should I ¹  not be even more ²  concerned ³  about Nineveh, this enormous city? ⁴  There are more than one hundred twenty thousand people in it who do not know right from wrong, ⁵  as well as many animals!” ⁶ 

All this is because of Jacob’s rebellion and ¹  the sins of the nation ²  of Israel. How has Jacob rebelled, you ask? ³  Samaria epitomizes their rebellion! ⁴  Where are Judah’s pagan worship centers, you ask? ⁵  They are right in Jerusalem! ⁶ 

Is the Lord mad at the rivers? Are you angry with the rivers? Are you enraged at the sea? ¹  Is this why ²  you climb into your horse-drawn chariots, ³  your victorious chariots? ⁴ 

But now plead for God’s favor ¹  that he might be gracious to us. ²  “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord who rules over all.

“You are the salt ¹  of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, ²  how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people.

When ¹  he went into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus ²  said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”

and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.’ ¹  You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, ²  but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times.

Jesus ¹  answered, “You don’t know what you are asking! ²  Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” ³  They said to him, “We are able.” ⁴ 

But his master answered, ¹  ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter?

At that moment Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me like you would an outlaw? ¹  Day after day I sat teaching in the temple courts, yet ²  you did not arrest me.

Then ¹  he cried out with a loud voice, “Leave me alone, ²  Jesus, Son of the Most High God! I implore you by God ³  – do not torment me!”

They said to him, “We are able.” ¹  Then Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I experience,

And to love him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength ¹  and to love your neighbor as yourself ²  is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Jesus ¹  said to them, “No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ ²  and say, ‘What we have heard that you did in Capernaum, ³  do here in your hometown too.’”

“Ha! Leave us alone, ¹  Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One ²  of God.”

When he saw ¹  Jesus, he cried out, fell ²  down before him, and shouted with a loud voice, “Leave me alone, ³  Jesus, Son of the Most High ⁴  God! I beg you, do not torment ⁵  me!”