He appointed some of the Levites to serve before the ark of the Lord, to offer prayers, songs of thanks, and hymns to the Lord God of Israel.

A psalm of David, written to get God’s attention. ²  O Lord, do not continue to rebuke me in your anger! Do not continue to punish me in your raging fury! ³ 

For the music director; by David; written to get God’s attention. ²  O God, please be willing to rescue me! ³  O Lord, hurry and help me! ⁴ 

“Ask for a confirming sign from the Lord your God. You can even ask for something miraculous.” ¹ 

If they do this, tell ¹  them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to die in the dungeon of Jonathan’s house.’” ² 

And at Daniel’s request, the king ¹  appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the administration of the province of Babylon. Daniel himself served in the king’s court. ² 

“So now, our God, accept ¹  the prayer and requests of your servant, and show favor to ²  your devastated sanctuary for your own sake. ³ 

Then ¹  they said to him, “John’s ²  disciples frequently fast ³  and pray, ⁴  and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, ⁵  but yours continue to eat and drink.” ⁶ 

But his citizens ¹  hated ²  him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man ³  to be king ⁴  over us!’

But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, ¹  bring them here and slaughter ²  them ³  in front of me!’”

When I was in Jerusalem, ¹  the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed ²  me about him, ³  asking for a sentence of condemnation ⁴  against him.

So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

¹ Then the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh of the families of Manasseh, ²  the son Joseph came forward. Now these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Then the heads of the family groups ¹  of the Gileadites, the descendant of Machir, the descendant of Manasseh, who were from the Josephite families, approached and spoke before Moses ²  and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families. ³ 

Then David went from there to Mizpah in Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay ¹  with you until I know what God is going to do for me.”

Perhaps then they will ask the Lord for mercy and will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. ¹  For the Lord has threatened to bring great anger and wrath against these people.” ² 

Return to the Lord and repent! ¹  Say to him: “Completely ²  forgive our iniquity; accept ³  our penitential prayer, ⁴  that we may offer the praise of our lips as sacrificial bulls. ⁵ 

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.

Then, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not stay on the crosses on the Sabbath ¹  (for that Sabbath was an especially important one), ²  the Jewish leaders ³  asked Pilate to have the victims’ legs ⁴  broken ⁵  and the bodies taken down. ⁶ 

After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus (but secretly, because he feared the Jewish leaders ¹ ), ²  asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. Pilate ³  gave him permission, so he went and took the body away. ⁴