I have now come to speak with my lord the king about this matter, because the people have made me fearful. ¹  But your servant said, ‘I will speak to the king! Perhaps the king will do what his female servant ²  asks.

Now Absalom used to get up early and stand beside the road that led to the city gate. Whenever anyone came by who had a complaint to bring to the king for arbitration, Absalom would call out to him, “What city are you from?” The person would answer, “I, your servant, ¹  am from one of the tribes of Israel.”

Now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, ¹  provided that your descendants watch their step and serve me as you have done.’ ² 

When he became king, he executed Jeroboam’s entire family. He wiped out everyone who breathed, ¹  just as the Lord had predicted ²  through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite.

But when I leave you, the Lord’s spirit will carry you away so I can’t find you. ¹  If I go tell Ahab I’ve seen you, he won’t be able to find you and he will kill me. ²  That would not be fair, ³  because your servant has been a loyal follower of ⁴  the Lord from my youth.

He restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hamath in the north to the sea of the Arabah in the south, ¹  in accordance with the word of the Lord God of Israel announced through ²  his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.

Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, ¹  provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.’ ² 

So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest, ¹  and said to him, “Why have you not made ²  the Levites collect ³  from Judah and Jerusalem the tax authorized by Moses the Lord’s servant and by the assembly of Israel at the tent containing the tablets of the law?” ⁴ 

may your ear be attentive and your eyes be open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying to you today throughout both day and night on behalf of your servants the Israelites. I am confessing the sins of the Israelites that we have committed ¹  against you – both I myself and my family ²  have sinned.

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly ¹  to his integrity, ²  so that ³  you stirred me up to destroy him ⁴  without reason.” ⁵ 

After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he ¹  said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up ²  against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, ³  as my servant Job has.

he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant, to reestablish the tribes of Jacob, and restore the remnant ¹  of Israel? ²  I will make you a light to the nations, ³  so you can bring ⁴  my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”

So I, the Lord, affirm that ¹  I will send for all the peoples of the north ²  and my servant, ³  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and all the nations that surround it. I will utterly destroy ⁴  this land, its inhabitants, and all the nations that surround it ⁵  and make them everlasting ruins. ⁶  I will make them objects of horror and hissing scorn. ⁷ 

So I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid, you descendants of Jacob, my servants. ¹  Do not be terrified, people of Israel. For I will rescue you and your descendants from a faraway land where you are captives. ²  The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace. They will be secure and no one will terrify them. ³ 

¹ “You descendants of Jacob, my servants, ²  do not be afraid; do not be terrified, people of Israel. For I will rescue you and your descendants from the faraway lands where you are captives. ³  The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace. They will be secure and no one will terrify them.

So ¹  I threw myself down ²  at his feet to worship him, but ³  he said, “Do not do this! ⁴  I am only ⁵  a fellow servant ⁶  with you and your brothers ⁷  who hold to the testimony about ⁸  Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

She said, “You really are being kind to me, ¹  sir, ²  for you have reassured ³  and encouraged ⁴  me, your servant, ⁵  even though I am ⁶  not one of your servants!” ⁷ 

When he approached her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” He replied, “I am.” She said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” He said, “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

On the seventh ¹  day of the fifth month, ²  in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard ³  who served the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. ⁴ 

But then you turned right around ¹  and showed that you did not honor me. ²  Each of you took back your male and female slaves whom you had freed as they desired, and you forced them to be your slaves again. ³