And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy.

Now Gideon sent messengers throughout the Ephraimite hill country who announced, “Go down and head off the Midianites. ¹  Take control of the fords of the streams ²  all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.” ³  When all the Ephraimites had assembled, ⁴  they took control of the fords ⁵  all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.

I will direct ¹  my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in rage. They will cut off your nose and your ears, ²  and your survivors will die ³  by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your survivors will be consumed by fire.

to loot and plunder, to attack ¹  the inhabited ruins and the people gathered from the nations, who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the center ²  of the earth.”

They will not need to take ¹  wood from the field or cut down trees from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons. They will take the loot from those who looted them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them, ²  declares the sovereign Lord.

Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, ¹  trembling will seize ²  the leaders of Moab, and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.

Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the city official and Joash the king’s son.

The Moabites ¹  said, “It’s blood! The kings are totally destroyed! ²  They have struck one another down! Now, Moab, seize the plunder!”

Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the city official and Joash the king’s son.

Take a man’s ¹  garment when he has given security for a stranger, and when he gives surety for a stranger, ²  hold him in pledge. ³ 

Go, eat your food ¹  with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, because God has already approved your works.

They come from a distant land, from the horizon. ¹  It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, ²  coming to destroy the whole earth. ³ 

The people of Damascus will lose heart and turn to flee. Panic will grip them. Pain and anguish will seize them like a woman in labor.

I will do this in order to capture the hearts of the house of Israel, who have alienated themselves from me on account of all their idols.’

They mock kings and laugh at rulers. They laugh at every fortified city; they build siege ramps ¹  and capture them.

From ¹  the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and forceful people lay hold of it. ² 

When his family ¹  heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Jesus ¹  said to him, “No one who puts his ²  hand to the plow and looks back ³  is fit for the kingdom of God.” ⁴ 

The Pharisees ¹  heard the crowd ²  murmuring these things about Jesus, ³  so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers ⁴  to arrest him. ⁵ 

Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, ¹  is on the prowl looking for someone ²  to devour.