“Even today my complaint is still bitter; ¹  his ²  hand is heavy despite ³  my groaning.

You must put away every kind of bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and evil, slanderous talk.

So ¹  in all our distress and affliction, we were reassured about you, brothers and sisters, ²  through your faith.

You will see trouble in my dwelling place! ¹  Israel will experience blessings, ²  but there will not be an old man in your ³  house for all time. ⁴ 

Then I would yet have my comfort, ¹  then ²  I would rejoice, ³  in spite of pitiless pain, ⁴  for ⁵  I have not concealed the words ⁶  of the Holy One. ⁷ 

Even when an army is deployed against me, I do not fear. ¹  Even when war is imminent, ²  I remain confident. ³ 

The one who digs a pit ¹  will fall into it; the one who rolls a stone – it will come back on him.

That is why the rains have been withheld, and the spring rains have not come. Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute. ¹  You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.

“This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The Philistines ¹  have exacted merciless revenge, ²  showing intense scorn ³  in their effort to destroy Judah ⁴  with unrelenting hostility. ⁵ 

In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk, ¹  for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ² 

And every day both in the temple courts ¹  and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news ²  that Jesus was the Christ. ³ 

I have great confidence in you; I take great pride ¹  on your behalf. I am filled with encouragement; ²  I am overflowing with joy in the midst of ³  all our suffering.

Every day one ox, six select sheep, and some birds were prepared for me, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Despite all this I did not require the food allotted to the governor, for the work was demanding on this people.

Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will defeat you ¹  before the enemy. God is capable of helping or defeating.” ² 

(10:1) ¹  “Because of all of this we are entering into a binding covenant ²  in written form; ³  our leaders, our Levites, and our priests have affixed their names ⁴  on the sealed document.”

You have taken notice, ¹  for ²  you always see ³  one who inflicts pain and suffering. ⁴  The unfortunate victim entrusts his cause to you; ⁵  you deliver ⁶  the fatherless. ⁷ 

Syria from the east, and the Philistines from the west, they gobbled up Israelite territory. ¹  Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ² 

Manasseh fought against ¹  Ephraim, and Ephraim against Manasseh; together they fought against Judah. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ² 

You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners, or to fall among those who have been killed. ¹  Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ² 

Moab ¹  will spread out its hands in the middle of it, ²  just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim; the Lord ³  will bring down Moab’s ⁴  pride as it spreads its hands. ⁵