Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only ¹  you would greatly bless me and expand my territory! May your hand be with me! Keep me from harm so I might not endure pain!” ²  God answered his prayer. ³ 

As for you, you meant to harm me, ¹  but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. ² 

If he should then say, ‘That’s fine,’ ¹  then your servant is safe. But if he becomes very angry, be assured that he has decided to harm me. ² 

Jonathan said, “Far be it from you to suggest this! If I were at all aware that my father had decided to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?”

Now I hear that they are shearing sheep for you. When your shepherds were with us, we neither insulted them nor harmed them the whole time they were in Carmel.

These men were very good to us. They did not insult us, nor did we sustain any loss during the entire time we were together ¹  in the field.

The king asked the Cushite, “How is the young man Absalom?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who have plotted against you ¹  be like that young man!”

Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. ¹  Stop killing innocent people ²  in this land. Stop paying allegiance to ³  other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. ⁴ 

Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They cannot talk. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them because they cannot hurt you. And they do not have any power to help you.” ¹ 

For I, the Lord, say that ¹  I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it. ²  It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.’” ³ 

I will indeed ¹  see to it that disaster, not prosperity, happens to them. ²  All the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will die in war or from starvation until not one of them is left.

Moreover the Lord says, ¹  ‘I will make something happen to prove that I will punish you in this place. I will do it so that you will know that my threats to bring disaster on you will prove true. ² 

But ¹  Jesus rebuked him: ²  “Silence! Come out of him!” ³  Then, after the demon threw the man ⁴  down in their midst, he came out of him without hurting him. ⁵ 

But they were expecting that he was going to swell up ¹  or suddenly drop dead. So after they had waited ²  a long time and had seen ³  nothing unusual happen ⁴  to him, they changed their minds ⁵  and said he was a god. ⁶ 

Then ¹  I heard something like a voice from among the four living creatures saying, “A quart ²  of wheat will cost a day’s pay ³  and three quarts of barley will cost a day’s pay. But ⁴  do not damage the olive oil and the wine!”

They ¹  were told ²  not to damage the grass of the earth, or any green plant or tree, but only those people ³  who did not have the seal of God on their ⁴  forehead.

When David realized that Saul was planning to harm him, ¹  he told Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod!”

He ¹  does not slander, ²  or do harm to others, ³  or insult his neighbor. ⁴ 

For the music director; a psalm of David. May the Lord answer ²  you ³  when you are in trouble; ⁴  may the God of Jacob ⁵  make you secure!

Those who seek my life try to entrap me; ¹  those who want to harm me speak destructive words; all day long they say deceitful things.