for he was counted as one of us and received a share in this ministry.” ¹ 

“Then there will arise in his place a despicable person ¹  to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred. He will come on the scene in a time of prosperity and will seize the kingdom through deceit.

But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, ¹  because you thought you could acquire ²  God’s gift with money!

When a gentle south wind sprang up, they thought ¹  they could carry out ²  their purpose, so they weighed anchor ³  and sailed close along the coast ⁴  of Crete.

through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice ¹  in the hope of God’s glory.

Not that I have already attained this – that is, I have not already been perfected – but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. ¹ 

You ¹  once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, ²  but now you have received mercy.

You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask;

The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord; the poor among humankind will take delight ¹  in the Holy One of Israel. ² 

Then you will call ¹  your ²  brother, “My People” (Ammi)! You will call your sister, “Pity” (Ruhamah)!

that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.

And these all were commended ¹  for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. ² 

because you are attaining the goal of your faith – the salvation of your souls.

For they eat bread ¹  gained from wickedness ²  and drink wine obtained from violence. ³ 

Then I will plant her as my own ¹  in the land. I will have pity on ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah). I will say to ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), ‘You are my people!’ And he ²  will say, ‘You are ³  my God!’”

Watch out for ¹  yourselves and for all the flock of which ²  the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, ³  to shepherd the church of God ⁴  that he obtained ⁵  with the blood of his own Son. ⁶ 

From Simeon ¹  Peter, ²  a slave ³  and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God ⁴  and Savior, ⁵  Jesus Christ, have been granted ⁶  a faith just as precious ⁷  as ours.

During all this time I was not in Jerusalem, ¹  for in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon, I had gone back to the king. After some time ²  I had requested leave of the king,

Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience,

Do you not know that all the runners in a stadium compete, but only one receives the prize? So run to win.