I will bow down toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your name, because of your loyal love and faithfulness, for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky. ¹ 

Do not be rash with your mouth or hasty in your heart to bring up a matter before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth! Therefore, let your words be few.

The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptians, and they ¹  will acknowledge the Lord’s authority ²  at that time. ³  They will present sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them.

“Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”

Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s word which you have announced is appropriate.” ¹  Then he thought, ²  “For ³  there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.”

A voice says, “Cry out!” Another asks, ¹  “What should I cry out?” The first voice responds: ²  “All people are like grass, ³  and all their promises ⁴  are like the flowers in the field.

I have not spoken in secret, in some hidden place. ¹  I did not tell Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain!’ ²  I am the Lord, the one who speaks honestly, who makes reliable announcements. ³ 

Pay attention and come to me! Listen, so you can live! ¹  Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to ²  you, just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. ³ 

The Lord says to the people of Judah, ¹  “What right do you have to be in my temple, my beloved people? ²  Many of you have done wicked things. ³  Can your acts of treachery be so easily canceled by sacred offerings ⁴  that you take joy in doing evil even while you make them? ⁵ 

“When that time comes,” says the Lord, ¹  “the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together. They will come back with tears of repentance as they seek the Lord their God. ² 

I prayed to the LORD my God, confessing in this way: “O Lord, ¹  great and awesome God who is faithful to his covenant ²  with those who love him and keep his commandments,

Your courtiers ¹  are like locusts, your officials ²  are like a swarm of locusts! They encamp in the walls on a cold day, yet when the sun rises, they ³  fly away; ⁴  and no one knows where they ⁵  are. ⁶ 

And now I entrust ¹  you to God and to the message ²  of his grace. This message ³  is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Therefore when I was planning to do this, I did not do so without thinking about what I was doing, did I? ¹  Or do I make my plans ²  according to mere human standards ³  so that I would be saying ⁴  both “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?

Why then was the law given? ¹  It was added ²  because of transgressions, ³  until the arrival of the descendant ⁴  to whom the promise had been made. It was administered ⁵  through angels by an intermediary. ⁶ 

For “physical exercise ¹  has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way. It holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.”

The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, ¹  as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish ²  for any ³  to perish but for all to come to repentance. ⁴ 

For God has put into their minds ¹  to carry out his purpose ²  by making ³  a decision ⁴  to give their royal power ⁵  to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. ⁶ 

¹ Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel, the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, ²  “We are journeying to the place about which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will treat you well, ³  for the Lord has promised good things ⁴  for Israel.”

Solomon was told, “Look, Adonijah fears you; ¹  see, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘May King Solomon solemnly promise ²  me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’”