David felt guilty ¹  after he had numbered the army. David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, O Lord, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Haven’t you committed murder and taken possession of the property of the deceased?”’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “In the spot where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood they will also lick up your blood – yes, yours!”’”

God’s Spirit energized ¹  Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why are you violating the commands of the Lord? You will not be prosperous! Because you have rejected the Lord, he has rejected you!’”

The Lord his God handed him over to the king of Syria. The Syrians ¹  defeated him and deported many captives to Damascus. ²  He was also handed over to the king of Israel, who thoroughly defeated him. ³ 

He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. ¹  Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Haman then related to his wife Zeresh and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men, ¹  along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish, ²  you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!”

A man who is all alone with no companion, ¹  he has no children nor siblings; ²  yet there is no end to all his toil, and he ³  is never satisfied with riches. He laments, ⁴  “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself ⁵  of pleasure?” ⁶  This also is futile and a burdensome task! ⁷ 

God gives a man riches, property, and wealth so that he lacks nothing that his heart ¹  desires, ²  yet God does not enable ³  him to enjoy ⁴  the fruit of his labor ⁵  – instead, someone else ⁶  enjoys ⁷  it! ⁸  This is fruitless and a grave misfortune. ⁹ 

Again, ¹  I observed this on the earth: ²  the race is not always ³  won by the swiftest, the battle is not always won by the strongest; prosperity ⁴  does not always belong to those who are the wisest, wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning, nor does success ⁵  always come to those with the most knowledge – for time and chance may overcome ⁶  them all.

I opened for my beloved, but my lover had already turned ¹  and gone away. ²  I fell into despair ³  when he departed. ⁴  I looked for him but did not find him; I called him but he did not answer me.

He built a hedge around it, ¹  removed its stones, and planted a vine. He built a tower in the middle of it, and constructed a winepress. He waited for it to produce edible grapes, but it produced sour ones instead. ² 

Lord, you have always been fair whenever I have complained to you. ¹  However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ²  Why are wicked people successful? ³  Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

I asked, “What are these going to do?” He answered, “These horns are the ones that have scattered Judah so that there is no one to be seen. ¹  But the blacksmiths have come to terrify Judah’s enemies ²  and cut off the horns of the nations that have thrust themselves against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people.” ³ 

Now Herod ¹  was having an angry quarrel ²  with the people of Tyre ³  and Sidon. ⁴  So they joined together ⁵  and presented themselves before him. And after convincing ⁶  Blastus, the king’s personal assistant, ⁷  to help them, ⁸  they asked for peace, ⁹  because their country’s food supply was provided by the king’s country.

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I ¹  would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else ²  if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” ³ 

Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. ¹  He who speaks against a fellow believer ²  or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but its judge. ³ 

Therefore, if I come, ¹  I will call attention to the deeds he is doing ²  – the bringing of unjustified charges against us with evil words! And not being content with that, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but hinders the people who want to do so and throws them out of the church!

The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; ¹  the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; ²  the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; ³  the one who offers incense also praises an idol. ⁴  They have decided to behave this way; ⁵  they enjoy these disgusting practices. ⁶ 

But now, Jeremiah, today I will set you free ¹  from the chains on your wrists. If you would like to come to Babylon with me, come along and I will take care of you. ²  But if you prefer not to come to Babylon with me, you are not required to do so. ³  You are free to go anywhere in the land you want to go. ⁴  Go wherever you choose.” ⁵ 

Instead we will do everything we vowed we would do. ¹  We will sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the goddess called the Queen of Heaven ²  just as we and our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders previously did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and had no troubles. ³