Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling down she asked him for a favor. ¹ 

Again and again ¹  they struck him on the head with a staff ²  and spit on him. Then they knelt down and paid homage to him.

She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. ¹  She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ² 

Every day ¹  they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, ²  breaking bread from ³  house to house, sharing their food with glad ⁴  and humble hearts, ⁵ 

So he was addressing ¹  the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles ²  in the synagogue, ³  and in the marketplace every day ⁴  those who happened to be there.

nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, ¹  because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone. ² 

and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings ¹  or birds or four-footed animals ²  or reptiles.

And in this way I desire to preach where Christ has not been named, so as not to build on another person’s foundation,

If after all there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords),

Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel ¹  and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord. ² 

If you have no desire ¹  to worship ²  the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, ³  whether it be the gods whom your ancestors ⁴  worshiped ⁵  beyond the Euphrates, ⁶  or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family ⁷  will worship ⁸  the Lord!”

They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors ¹  who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped ²  them and made the Lord angry.

But they did not obey ¹  their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped ²  them. They quickly turned aside from the path ³  their ancestors ⁴  had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not. ⁵ 

“‘You must not make for yourselves idols, ¹  so you must not set up for yourselves a carved image or a pillar, and you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down before ²  it, for I am the Lord your God.

You have witnessed what the Lord did at Baal Peor, ¹  how he ²  eradicated from your midst everyone who followed Baal Peor. ³ 

You must sacrifice the Passover animal ¹  (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he ²  chooses to locate his name.

Israel worshiped ¹  the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive. ²  These men had experienced firsthand everything the Lord had done for Israel. ³ 

The Danites worshiped ¹  the carved image. Jonathan, descendant ²  of Gershom, son of Moses, ³  and his descendants ⁴  served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile.

So all the people went to Gilgal, where ¹  they established Saul as king in the Lord’s presence. They offered up peace offerings there in the Lord’s presence. Saul and all the Israelites were very happy.

Then they cried out to the Lord and admitted, ¹  ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the images of Ashtoreth. ²  Now deliver us from the hand of our enemies so that we may serve you.’ ³