But Martha was distracted ¹  with all the preparations she had to make, ²  so ³  she came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care ⁴  that my sister has left me to do all the work ⁵  alone? Tell ⁶  her to help me.”

I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth. ¹  I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain. ² 

Pay attention to me and answer me! I am so upset ¹  and distressed, ²  I am beside myself, ³ 

But the Lord ¹  answered her, ²  “Martha, Martha, ³  you are worried and troubled ⁴  about many things,

Why do you remain among the sheepfolds, ¹  listening to the shepherds playing their pipes ²  for their flocks? ³  As for the clans of Reuben – there was intense searching of heart.

because of what the enemy says, ¹  and because of how the wicked ²  pressure me, ³  for they hurl trouble ⁴  down upon me ⁵  and angrily attack me.

How long will they go on plotting ¹  to make my people forget who I am ²  through the dreams they tell one another? That is just as bad as what their ancestors ³  did when they forgot who I am by worshiping the god Baal. ⁴ 

Disaster after disaster will come, and one rumor after another. They will seek a vision from a prophet; priestly instruction will disappear, along with counsel from the elders.

But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, ¹  and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he ²  will be blessed in what he does. ³ 

You must have this tassel so that you may look at it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and obey them and so that you do not follow ¹  after your own heart and your own eyes that lead you to unfaithfulness. ² 

and he is divided. An unmarried woman ¹  or a virgin ²  is concerned about the things of the Lord, to be holy both in body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world, how to please her husband.

if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ¹  without shifting ²  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.