It ranks first among the works of God, ¹  the One who made it has furnished it with a sword. ² 

He upheld the cause of the poor and needy. So things went well for Judah.’ ¹  The Lord says, ‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ² 

I made Jerusalem ¹  and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. ²  I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object ³  of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. ⁴  Such is already becoming the case! ⁵ 

Oh, how shattered Moab will be! Oh, how her people will wail! Oh, how she will turn away ¹  in shame! Moab will become an object of ridicule, a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her.”

For I solemnly swear,” ¹  says the Lord, “that Bozrah ²  will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example to be used in curses. ³  All the towns around it will lie in ruins forever.”

“People of Judah, ¹  get out of Babylon quickly! Leave the land of Babylonia! ²  Be the first to depart! ³  Be like the male goats that lead the herd.

“But suppose he in turn has a son who notices all the sins his father commits, considers them, and does not follow his father’s example. ¹ 

On that day you will be able to speak again; ¹  you will talk with the fugitive and be silent no longer. You will be an object lesson for them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”

These who are wise among the people will teach the masses. ¹  However, they will fall ²  by the sword and by the flame, ³  and they will be imprisoned and plundered for some time. ⁴ 

When the Pharisees ¹  saw this they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ² 

“Learn ¹  this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.

When the experts in the law ¹  and the Pharisees ²  saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ³ 

Thus you nullify ¹  the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

“Learn this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.

For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her ¹  husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage. ² 

Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another ¹  in accordance with Christ Jesus,

It is similar for lifeless things that make a sound, like a flute or harp. Unless they make a distinction in the notes, how can what is played on the flute or harp be understood?

God ¹  made the one who did not know sin ²  to be sin for us, so that in him ³  we would become the righteousness of God.

If there is any question ¹  about Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; if there is any question about our brothers, they are messengers ²  of the churches, a glory to Christ.

to demonstrate in the coming ages ¹  the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward ²  us in Christ Jesus.