So he returned to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. Moreover, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’”

“Blood guilt ¹  will be accounted to any man ²  from the house of Israel ³  who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat inside the camp or outside the camp, ⁴ 

You must not present to the Lord something with testicles that are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut off; ¹  you must not do this in your land.

They annihilated everyone who lived there with the sword ¹  – no one who breathed remained – and burned ²  Hazor.

So they inquired again of the Lord, “Has the man arrived here yet?” The Lord said, “He has hidden himself among the equipment.” ¹ 

A blacksmith could not be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “This will prevent the Hebrews from making swords and spears.”

Furthermore, I am giving ¹  you what you did not request – riches and honor so that you will be the greatest king of your generation. ² 

The Lord saw Israel’s intense suffering; ¹  everyone was weak and incapacitated and Israel had no deliverer. ² 

Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’” ¹ 

From the most remote place on earth ¹  I call out to you in my despair. ²  Lead me ³  up to an inaccessible rocky summit! ⁴ 

The night watchmen found me – the ones who guard the city walls. ¹  “Have you seen my beloved?” ² 

Zedekiah will be carried off to Babylon and will remain there until I have fully dealt with him. ¹  I, the Lord, affirm it! ²  Even if you ³  continue to fight against the Babylonians, ⁴  you cannot win.’”

You made people like fish in the sea, like animals in the sea ¹  that have no ruler.

But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer. ¹  But whoever strikes you on the ²  right cheek, turn the other to him as well.

How can you believe, if you accept praise ¹  from one another and don’t seek the praise ²  that comes from the only God? ³ 

They did not find me arguing ¹  with anyone or stirring up a crowd ²  in the temple courts ³  or in the synagogues ⁴  or throughout the city, ⁵ 

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, ¹  if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith ²  save him? ³ 

But ¹  listen to what the Lord has to say, all you people of Judah who are living in the land of Egypt. The Lord says, ‘I hereby swear by my own great name that none of the people of Judah who are living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name in their oaths! Never again will any of them use it in an oath saying, “As surely as the Lord God lives….” ² 

Then ¹  seven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had never seen such bad-looking cows ²  as these in all the land of Egypt!

But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away ¹  because of the famine.