and the stars in the sky ¹  fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping ²  its unripe figs ³  when shaken by a fierce ⁴  wind.

The house he builds is as fragile as a moth’s cocoon, ¹  like a hut ²  that a watchman has made.

“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, ¹  and spreads its wings toward the south?

He throws his hailstones ¹  like crumbs. Who can withstand the cold wind he sends? ² 

He then orders it all to melt; ¹  he breathes on it, ²  and the water flows.

yet it prepares its food in the summer; it gathers at the harvest what it will eat. ¹ 

And there will be enough goat’s milk for your food, ¹  for the food of your household, and for the sustenance ²  of your servant girls.

before the sun and the light ¹  of the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds disappear ²  after the rain;

When you come, bring with you the cloak I left in Troas with Carpas and the scrolls, especially the parchments.

So let us acknowledge him! ¹  Let us seek ²  to acknowledge ³  the Lord! He will come to our rescue as certainly as the appearance of the dawn, as certainly as the winter rain comes, as certainly as the spring rain that waters the land.”

Then Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus at his royal residence in the tenth ¹  month (that is, the month of Tebeth) in the seventh ²  year of his reign.

Later the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I answered, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”

Even the stork knows when it is time to move on. ¹  The turtledove, swallow, and crane ²  recognize ³  the normal times for their migration. But my people pay no attention to ⁴  what I, the Lord, require of them. ⁵ 

When he had said these things, ¹  Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley. ²  There was an orchard ³  there, and he and his disciples went into it.

Since considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous ¹  because the fast ²  was already over, ³  Paul advised them, ⁴ 

This is why the Jews who are in the rural country – those who live in rural cities – set aside the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a holiday for happiness, banqueting, holiday, and sending gifts to one another.

Look, they are like straw, which the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat ¹  of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy. ² 

They do not say to themselves, ¹  “Let us revere the Lord our God. It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time. It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.” ² 

“The Lord who rules over all says, ‘The fast of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth ¹  months will become joyful and happy, pleasant feasts for the house of Judah, so love truth and peace.’