What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The ¹  rest were hardened,

like Sarah who obeyed ¹  Abraham, calling him lord. You become her children ²  when you do what is good and have no fear in doing so. ³ 

Look! I am throwing her onto a bed of violent illness, ¹  and those who commit adultery with her into terrible suffering, ²  unless they repent of her deeds.

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.

with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality and the earth’s inhabitants got drunk with the wine of her immorality.” ¹ 

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. ¹  I ²  was greatly astounded ³  when I saw her.

The ¹  sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death ²  and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each one was judged according to his deeds.

Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed ¹  as he said to himself, ²  “Can ³  a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? ⁴  Can Sarah ⁵  bear a child at the age of ninety?” ⁶ 

Here I am, standing by the spring. ¹  When ²  the young woman goes out to draw water, I’ll say, “Give me a little water to drink from your jug.”

When Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadad ¹  reigned in his place; the name of his city was Pau. ²  His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.

The Israelite woman’s son misused the Name and cursed, ¹  so they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)

They crouch and lie down like a lion, and as a lioness, ¹  who can stir him? Blessed is the one who blesses you, and cursed is the one who curses you!’”

And every daughter who possesses an inheritance from any of the tribes of the Israelites must become the wife of a man from any family in her father’s tribe, so that every Israelite ¹  may retain the inheritance of his fathers.

If the second husband rejects ¹  her and then divorces her, ²  gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her dies,

Then Boaz said, “When ¹  you acquire the field ²  from Naomi, ³  you must also ⁴  acquire Ruth the Moabite, ⁵  the wife of our deceased relative, ⁶  in order to preserve his family name by raising up a descendant who will inherit his property.” ⁷ 

But Hannah replied, “That’s not the way it is, ¹  my lord! I am under a great deal of stress. ²  I have drunk neither wine nor beer. Rather, I have poured out my soul to ³  the Lord.

So David said, “Good! I will make an agreement with you. I ask only one thing from you. You will not see my face unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to visit me.” ¹ 

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace. ¹  From the roof he saw a woman bathing. Now this woman was very attractive. ² 

When the servants of Absalom approached the woman at her home, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman replied to them, “They crossed over the stream.” Absalom’s men ¹  searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem. ² 

(Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, who had married Solomon.)