and to Jesus, the mediator ¹  of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does. ² 

You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ¹ 

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹ 

You have purified ¹  your souls by obeying the truth ²  in order to show sincere mutual love. ³  So ⁴  love one another earnestly from a pure heart. ⁵ 

For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps.

For this very reason, ¹  make every effort ²  to add to your faith excellence, ³  to excellence, knowledge;

And the commandment we have from him is this: that ¹  the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian ²  too.

because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets, so ¹  you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!” ² 

(The ripe fruit ¹  you greatly desired ²  has gone from you, and all your luxury ³  and splendor ⁴  have gone from you – they will never ever be found again!) ⁵ 

So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder ¹  and said, “You must ²  hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men ³  a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?” ⁴ 

Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ¹  ‘With my many chariots I climbed up the high mountains, the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedars and its best evergreens. I invaded its most remote regions, ²  its thickest woods.

Is it not true ¹  that if you do what is right, you will be fine? ²  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching ³  at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.” ⁴ 

Look! You are driving me off the land ¹  today, and I must hide from your presence. ²  I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me.”

Your ¹  servant has found favor with you, ²  and you have shown me great ³  kindness ⁴  by sparing ⁵  my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because ⁶  this disaster will overtake ⁷  me and I’ll die. ⁸ 

When you searched through all my goods, did you find anything that belonged to you? ¹  Set it here before my relatives and yours, ²  and let them settle the dispute between the two of us! ³ 

I am not worthy of all the faithful love ¹  you have shown ²  your servant. With only my walking stick ³  I crossed the Jordan, ⁴  but now I have become two camps.

“‘When a person sins ¹  in that he hears a public curse against one who fails to testify ²  and he is a witness (he either saw or knew what had happened ³ ) and he does not make it known, ⁴  then he will bear his punishment for iniquity. ⁵ 

put fire in them, and set incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”

The donkey said to Balaam, “Am not I your donkey that you have ridden ever since I was yours until this day? Have I ever attempted ¹  to treat you this way?” ²  And he said, “No.”

Then we left Horeb and passed through all that immense, forbidding wilderness that you saw on the way to the Amorite hill country as the Lord our God had commanded us to do, finally arriving at Kadesh Barnea.