And I wrote this very thing to you, ¹  so that when I came ²  I would not have sadness from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident in you all that my joy would be yours.

(To my disgrace ¹  I must say that we were too weak for that!) ²  But whatever anyone else dares to boast about ³  (I am speaking foolishly), I also dare to boast about the same thing. ⁴ 

My confident hope ¹  is that I will in no way be ashamed ²  but that with complete boldness, even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die. ³ 

So ¹  when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless.

He also said to me, “It is done! ¹  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water ²  free of charge ³  from the spring of the water of life.

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things, ¹  and when I heard and saw them, ²  I threw myself down ³  to worship at the feet of the angel who was showing them to me.

“All the servants of the king and the people of the king’s provinces know that there is only one law applicable ¹  to any man or woman who comes uninvited to the king in the inner court – that person will be put to death, unless the king extends to him the gold scepter, permitting him to be spared. ²  Now I have not been invited to come to the king for some thirty days!”

Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! ¹  I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, ²  but when she realized ³  that she was pregnant, she despised me. ⁴  May the Lord judge between you and me!” ⁵ 

‘You must make for me an altar made of earth, ¹  and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, ²  your sheep and your cattle. In every place ³  where I cause my name to be honored ⁴  I will come to you and I will bless you.

And the Lord ¹  said, “I will make all my goodness ²  pass before your face, and I will proclaim the Lord by name ³  before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.” ⁴ 

and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil-canopy ¹  in front of the atonement plate ²  that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement plate.

Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself ¹  by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me ²  I will tell you.” ³  Then he went to a deserted height. ⁴ 

“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, when he manifested such zeal ¹  for my sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal. ² 

Then I again fell down before the Lord for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the Lord as to enrage him.

When I saw that you were not going to help, ¹  I risked my life ²  and advanced against ³  the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why have you come up ⁴  to fight with me today?”

He said to his mother, “You know ¹  the eleven hundred pieces of silver which were stolen ²  from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stole ³  it, but now I am giving it back to you.” ⁴  His mother said, “May the Lord reward ⁵  you, my son!”

Remain here tonight. Then in the morning, if he agrees to marry you, ¹  fine, ²  let him do so. ³  But if he does not want to do so, I promise, as surely as the Lord lives, to marry you. ⁴  Sleep here until morning.” ⁵ 

One of his attendants replied, ¹  “I have seen a son of Jesse in Bethlehem ²  who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave warrior ³  and is articulate ⁴  and handsome, ⁵  for the Lord is with him.”

¹ Then Saul said to David, “Here’s my oldest daughter, Merab. I want to give her to you in marriage. Only be a brave warrior ²  for me and fight the battles of the Lord.” For Saul thought, “There’s no need for me to raise my hand against him. Let it be the hand of the Philistines!”

When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, “Praised be the Lord who has vindicated me and avenged the insult that I suffered from Nabal! ¹  The Lord has kept his servant from doing evil, and he has repaid Nabal for his evil deeds.” ²  Then David sent word to Abigail and asked her to become his wife.