To ¹  one he gave five talents, ²  to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.

Consider how the flowers ¹  grow; they do not work ²  or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these!

In Noah’s six hundred and first year, ¹  in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that ²  the surface of the ground was dry.

He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and murdered his half-brothers, ¹  the seventy legitimate ²  sons of Jerub-Baal, on one stone. Only Jotham, Jerub-Baal’s youngest son, escaped, ³  because he hid.

He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother ¹  who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them. ² 

But the Lord ¹  struck down some of the people of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord; he struck down 50,070 ²  of the men. The people grieved because the Lord had struck the people with a hard blow.

Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says, ‘About this time tomorrow a seah ¹  of finely milled flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.’”

King Ahaz took off the frames of the movable stands, and removed the basins from them. He took “The Sea” ¹  down from the bronze bulls that supported it ²  and put it on the pavement.

Joab reported to David the number of warriors. ¹  In all Israel there were 1,100,000 ²  sword-wielding soldiers; Judah alone had 470,000 sword-wielding soldiers. ³ 

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from Judah and Benjamin ¹  to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

Haman then recounted to them his fabulous wealth, ¹  his many sons, ²  and how the king had magnified him and exalted him over the king’s other officials and servants.

The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s family a time ¹  unlike any since Ephraim departed from Judah – the king of Assyria!” ² 

When you see this, you will be happy, ¹  and you will be revived. ²  The Lord will reveal his power to his servants and his anger to his enemies. ³ 

“Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north. ¹  Tell them, ‘Come back to me, wayward Israel,’ says the Lord. ‘I will not continue to look on you with displeasure. ²  For I am merciful,’ says the Lord. ‘I will not be angry with you forever.

Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance as 3½ feet, ¹  the entrance as 10½ feet, ²  and the width of the entrance as 12¼ feet ³ 

In the days of those kings the God of heaven will raise up an everlasting kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that will not be left to another people. It will break in pieces and bring about the demise of all these kingdoms. But it will stand forever.

Seek the Lord so you can live! Otherwise he will break out ¹  like fire against Joseph’s ²  family; ³  the fire ⁴  will consume and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ⁵ 

The angel of the Lord then asked, “Lord who rules over all, ¹  how long before you have compassion on Jerusalem ²  and the other cities of Judah which you have been so angry with for these seventy years?” ³ 

After ¹  he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred silver coins. ²  So ³  he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, ⁴  saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ ⁵ 

When ¹  he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned ²  these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted ³  to know how much they had earned ⁴  by trading.