All the people and their leaders had agreed to this. They had agreed to free their male and female slaves and not keep them enslaved any longer. They originally complied with the covenant and freed them. ¹ 

ד (Dalet) The roads to Zion ¹  mourn ²  because no one ³  travels to the festivals. ⁴  All her city gates ⁵  are deserted; ⁶  her priests groan. ⁷  Her virgins grieve; ⁸  she is in bitter anguish! ⁹ 

So see here, I have stretched out my hand against you and cut off your rations. I have delivered you into the power of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed by your obscene conduct.

Her princes ¹  within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows ²  within it.

I will no longer subject you to ¹  the nations’ insults; no longer will you bear the shame of the peoples, and no longer will you bereave ²  your nation, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Wherever human beings, ¹  wild animals, ²  and birds of the sky live – he has given them into your power. ³  He has given you authority over them all. You are the head of gold.

Gather the people; sanctify an assembly! Gather the elders; gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom and the bride from her private quarters. ¹ 

He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord really wants from you: ¹  He wants you to ²  promote ³  justice, to be faithful, ⁴  and to live obediently before ⁵  your God.

The just Lord resides ¹  within her; he commits no unjust acts. ²  Every morning he reveals ³  his justice. At dawn he appears without fail. ⁴  Yet the unjust know no shame.

Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.” ¹  Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, ²  tax collectors ³  and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God!

and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s business partners. ¹  Then ²  Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on ³  you will be catching people.” ⁴ 

“I have revealed ¹  your name to the men ²  you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, ³  and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed ⁴  your word.

When ¹  our time was over, ²  we left and went on our way. All of them, with their wives and children, accompanied ³  us outside of the city. After ⁴  kneeling down on the beach and praying, ⁵ 

For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head.

Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea ¹  through us. We plead with you ²  on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!”

For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; ¹  break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains, because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.” ² 

In the same way, wives, be subject to your own husbands. Then, ¹  even if some are disobedient to the word, they will be won over without a word by the way you live, ² 

They were singing a new song: ¹  “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were killed, ²  and at the cost of your own blood ³  you have purchased ⁴  for God persons ⁵  from every tribe, language, ⁶  people, and nation.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence ¹  of God is among human beings. ²  He ³  will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. ⁴ 

So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. ¹  He did this to teach you ²  that humankind ³  cannot live by bread ⁴  alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth. ⁵