“You have surely noticed what these people are saying, haven’t you? They are saying, ¹  ‘The Lord has rejected the two families of Israel and Judah ²  that he chose.’ So they have little regard that my people will ever again be a nation. ³ 

The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says, “I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes. ²  I will punish Egypt, its gods, and its kings. I will punish Pharaoh and all who trust in him. ³ 

‘Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.’ Thus the land had become desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful ¹  land a waste.”

Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will become holy in the sight of the Lord who rules over all, so that all who offer sacrifices may come and use some of them to boil their sacrifices in them. On that day there will no longer be a Canaanite ¹  in the house of the Lord who rules over all.

The ¹  proposal pleased the entire group, so ²  they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with ³  Philip, ⁴  Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism ⁵  from Antioch. ⁶ 

Therefore I sent for you at once, and you were kind enough to come. ¹  So now we are all here in the presence of God ²  to listen ³  to everything the Lord has commanded you to say to us.” ⁴ 

When Herod ¹  had searched ²  for him and did not find him, he questioned ³  the guards and commanded that they be led away to execution. ⁴  Then ⁵  Herod ⁶  went down from Judea to Caesarea ⁷  and stayed there.

When Paul ¹  had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, ²  saying, “We have experienced a lengthy time ³  of peace through your rule, ⁴  and reforms ⁵  are being made in this nation ⁶  through your foresight. ⁷ 

But if our unrighteousness demonstrates ¹  the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? ²  (I am speaking in human terms.) ³ 

But again I ask, didn’t Israel understand? ¹  First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger.” ² 

Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in ¹  the richness of the olive root,

Until ¹  certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this ²  and separated himself ³  because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. ⁴ 

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time, ¹  saying, “All the nations ²  will be blessed in you.” ³ 

when he nullified ¹  in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man ²  out of two, ³  thus making peace,

The Lord his God handed him over to the king of Syria. The Syrians ¹  defeated him and deported many captives to Damascus. ²  He was also handed over to the king of Israel, who thoroughly defeated him. ³ 

In the first year of his reign, ¹  King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: ²  ‘Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place. ³  Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety ⁴  feet, ⁵ 

We will not buy ¹  on the Sabbath or on a holy day from the neighboring peoples who bring their wares and all kinds of grain to sell on the Sabbath day. We will let the fields lie fallow every seventh year, and we will cancel every loan. ² 

He also gave him a written copy of the law that had been disseminated ¹  in Susa for their destruction so that he could show it to Esther and talk to her about it. He also gave instructions that she should go to the king to implore him and petition him on behalf of her people.

But ¹  listen to what the Lord has to say, all you people of Judah who are living in the land of Egypt. The Lord says, ‘I hereby swear by my own great name that none of the people of Judah who are living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name in their oaths! Never again will any of them use it in an oath saying, “As surely as the Lord God lives….” ² 

The ships of Kittim ¹  will come against him, leaving him disheartened. ²  He will turn back and direct his indignation against the holy covenant. He will return and honor ³  those who forsake the holy covenant.