But that day belongs to the Lord God who rules over all. ¹  It is the day when he will pay back his enemies. ²  His sword will devour them until its appetite is satisfied! It will drink their blood until it is full! ³  For the Lord God who rules over all ⁴  will offer them up as a sacrifice in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.

“To ¹  the angel of the church in Sardis write the following: ²  “This is the solemn pronouncement of ³  the one who holds ⁴  the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a reputation ⁵  that you are alive, but ⁶  in reality ⁷  you are dead.

Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods ¹  that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control ²  your very breath and all your ways!

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay ¹  us in full ²  for all the harm ³  we did to him?”

and whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or fortified cities,

and her father hears of her vow or the obligation to which she has pledged herself, and her father remains silent about her, ¹  then all her vows will stand, ²  and every obligation to which she has pledged herself will stand.

and her husband hears about it, but remains silent about her when he hears about it, then her vows will stand and her obligations which she has pledged for herself will stand.

The Midianites ¹  overwhelmed Israel. ²  Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters ³  for themselves in the hills, as well as caves and strongholds.

David stayed in the strongholds that were in the desert and in the hill country of the desert of Ziph. Saul looked for him all the time, ¹  but God did not deliver David ²  into his hand.

Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Isn’t David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon?

and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with our ancestors ¹  when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

This is what the Lord says about him: ¹  “The virgin daughter Zion ²  despises you, she makes fun of you; Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head after you. ³ 

Now I will triumph over my enemies who surround me! ¹  I will offer sacrifices in his dwelling place and shout for joy! ²  I will sing praises to the Lord!

Yet he is compassionate. He forgives sin and does not destroy. He often holds back his anger, and does not stir up his fury. ¹ 

So I perceived there is nothing better than for people ¹  to enjoy their work, ²  because that is their ³  reward; for who can show them what the future holds? ⁴ 

In times of prosperity ¹  be joyful, but in times of adversity ²  consider this: God has made one as well as the other, ³  so that no one can discover what the future holds. ⁴ 

“Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen! Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, ¹  so we may examine them ²  and see how they were fulfilled. ³  Or decree for us some future events!

Predict how future events will turn out, ¹  so we might know you are gods. Yes, do something good or bad, so we might be frightened and in awe. ² 

You are tired out from listening to so much advice. ¹  Let them take their stand – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions – let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! ² 

Indeed,” says the Lord, “captives will be taken from a warrior; spoils will be rescued from a conqueror. I will oppose your adversary and I will rescue your children.