God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. ¹  I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual ²  covenant for his descendants after him.

God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them; but the word that I will say to you, that you must do.”

They will summon peoples to the mountain, there they will sacrifice proper ¹  sacrifices; for they will enjoy ²  the abundance of the seas, and the hidden treasures of the shores. ³ 

“May you be attentive ¹  to your servant’s and your people Israel’s requests for help and may you respond to all their prayers to you. ² 

May his fame endure! ¹  May his dynasty last as long as the sun remains in the sky! ²  May they use his name when they formulate their blessings! ³  May all nations consider him to be favored by God! ⁴ 

Yet he too is wise ¹  and he will bring disaster; he does not retract his decree. ²  He will attack the wicked nation, ³  and the nation that helps ⁴  those who commit sin. ⁵ 

One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’ and another will use ¹  the name ‘Jacob.’ One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ and use the name ‘Israel.’” ² 

Look, you will summon nations ¹  you did not previously know; nations ²  that did not previously know you will run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, ³  for he bestows honor on you.

And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each one’s work, live out the time of your temporary residence here ¹  in reverence.

I said, “During the night I will remember the song I once sang; I will think very carefully.” I tried to make sense of what was happening. ¹ 

He will call out to me, ‘You are my father, ¹  my God, and the protector who delivers me.’ ² 

indeed, if ¹  you call out for ²  discernment ³  – raise your voice ⁴  for understanding –

Egypt is totally incapable of helping. ¹  For this reason I call her ‘Proud one ²  who is silenced.’” ³ 

“But you did not call for me, O Jacob; you did not long ¹  for me, O Israel.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “The day of your death is near. Summon Joshua and present yourselves in the tent ¹  of meeting ²  so that I can commission him.” ³  So Moses and Joshua presented themselves in the tent of meeting.

Naaman went away angry. He said, “Look, I thought for sure he would come out, stand there, invoke the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the area, and cure the skin disease.

They will be called, “The Holy People, the Ones Protected ¹  by the Lord.” You will be called, “Sought After, City Not Abandoned.”

How long, Lord, must I cry for help? But you do not listen! I call out to you, “Violence!” But you do not intervene! ¹ 

Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire; I will refine them like silver is refined and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer; I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” ¹ 

to the church of God that is in Corinth, ¹  to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. ²