From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. However, the Lord’s temple was not at that time established. ¹ 

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak began ¹  to rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

On the first day of the first month he had determined to make ¹  the ascent from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived at Jerusalem, ²  for the good hand of his God was on him.

Haman then recounted to them his fabulous wealth, ¹  his many sons, ²  and how the king had magnified him and exalted him over the king’s other officials and servants.

Indeed, they are barely planted; yes, they are barely sown; yes, they barely take root in the earth, and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up, and the wind carries them away like straw.

Who acts and carries out decrees? ¹  Who ²  summons the successive generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning, and at the very end – I am the one. ³ 

Now, this is what the Lord says, the one who created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel: “Don’t be afraid, for I will protect ¹  you. I call you by name, you are mine.

“Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?” asks the Lord. “Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?” asks your God. ¹ 

Now and then ¹  there would be something wrong ²  with the pot he was molding from the clay ³  with his hands. So he would rework ⁴  the clay into another kind of pot as he saw fit. ⁵ 

So all these Judeans returned to the land of Judah from the places where they had been scattered. They came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Thus they harvested a large amount of wine and dates and figs. ¹ 

“The people of Israel are like scattered sheep which lions have chased away. First the king of Assyria devoured them. ¹  Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones. ² 

¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem ²  for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal ³  daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.

You have issued an edict, O king, that everyone must bow down and pay homage to the golden statue when they hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music.

At the beginning of your requests a message went out, and I have come to convey it to you, for you are of great value in God’s sight. ¹  Therefore consider the message and understand the vision: ² 

So Jonah went immediately to Nineveh, as the Lord had said. (Now Nineveh was an enormous city ¹  – it required three days to walk through it!) ² 

‘The future splendor of this temple will be greater than that of former times,’ ¹  the Lord who rules over all declares, ‘and in this place I will give peace.’” ² 

“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple, ¹  and his hands will complete it.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you.

While they were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness ¹  to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ² 

A ¹  Canaanite woman from that area came ²  and cried out, ³  “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!”

After ¹  he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred silver coins. ²  So ³  he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, ⁴  saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ ⁵