Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, ¹  or of God? Or am I trying to please people? ²  If I were still trying to please ³  people, ⁴  I would not be a slave ⁵  of Christ!

Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking ¹  Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. ²  He worked enthusiastically ³  for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of ⁴  all his descendants. ⁵ 

Now the boy Samuel was growing up and finding favor both with the Lord and with people.

For all the gods of the nations are worthless, ¹  but the Lord made the heavens. ² 

Since many ¹  are boasting according to human standards, ²  I too will boast.

“Woe to you ¹  when all people ²  speak well of you, for their ancestors ³  did the same things to the false prophets.

But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.

The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem. ¹ 

But the more I summoned ¹  them, the farther they departed from me. ²  They sacrificed to the Baal idols and burned incense to images.

The Israelites ¹  hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; ²  they despise anyone who speaks honestly.

But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. He built the Upper Gate to the Lord’s temple.

The Lord greatly magnified Solomon before all Israel and bestowed on him greater majesty than any king of Israel before him. ¹ 

The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed in his ancestor ¹  David’s footsteps at the beginning of his reign. ²  He did not seek the Baals,

There is no end to all the people ¹  nor to the past generations, ²  yet future generations ³  will not rejoice in him. This also is profitless and like ⁴  chasing the wind.

At that time ¹  Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, ²  the typical life span of a king. ³  At the end of seventy years Tyre will try to attract attention again, like the prostitute in the popular song: ⁴ 

We know our noisy worship of false gods on the hills and mountains did not help us. ¹  We know that the Lord our God is the only one who can deliver Israel. ² 

He does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains, does not pray to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife,

Woe ¹  to those who live in ease in Zion, ²  to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria. They think of themselves as ³  the elite class of the best nation. The family ⁴  of Israel looks to them for leadership. ⁵ 

So John ¹  said to the crowds ²  that came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers! ³  Who warned you to flee ⁴  from the coming wrath?

But a Pharisee ¹  whose name was Gamaliel, ²  a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up ³  in the council ⁴  and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time.