Be very strong! Carefully obey ¹  all that is written in the law scroll of Moses so you won’t swerve from it to the right or the left,

But Naomi replied, “Go back home, my daughters! There is no reason for you to return to Judah with me! ¹  I am no longer capable of giving birth to sons who might become your husbands! ² 

Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed ¹  the commandment that the Lord your God gave ²  you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever!

There was a large number of burnt sacrifices, as well as fat from the peace offerings and drink offerings that accompanied the burnt sacrifices. So the service of the Lord’s temple was reinstituted. ¹ 

The Lord is my high ridge, ¹  my stronghold, ²  my deliverer. My God is my rocky summit where ³  I take shelter, ⁴  my shield, the horn that saves me, ⁵  and my refuge. ⁶ 

The Lord reigns! He is robed in majesty, the Lord is robed, he wears strength around his waist. ²  Indeed, the world is established, it cannot be moved.

Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says: “Look, I am laying ¹  a stone in Zion, an approved ²  stone, set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ³  The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ⁴ 

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you! Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ¹  I strengthen you – yes, I help you – yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ² 

For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘Fair Babylon ¹  will be like a threshing floor which has been trampled flat for harvest. The time for her to be cut down and harvested will come very soon.’ ² 

I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them; ¹  I will remove the hearts of stone from their bodies ²  and I will give them tender hearts, ³ 

The revelation of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: The Lord – he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within a person ¹  – says,

But he has no root in himself and does not endure; ¹  when ²  trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

Those ¹  on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, ²  but ³  in a time of testing ⁴  fall away. ⁵ 

They strengthened ¹  the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue ²  in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom ³  of God through many persecutions.” ⁴ 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹ 

Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, ¹  but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing.

Now I, Paul, appeal to you ¹  personally ²  by the meekness and gentleness ³  of Christ (I who am meek ⁴  when present among ⁵  you, but am full of courage ⁶  toward you when away!) –

For though ¹  I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see ²  your morale ³  and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

As a result we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you are enduring.

This saying ¹  is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on such truths, ²  so that those who have placed their faith in God may be intent on engaging in good works. These things are good and beneficial for all people.