May the Lord reward your efforts! ¹  May your acts of kindness be repaid fully ²  by the Lord God of Israel, from whom you have sought protection!” ³ 

He wholeheartedly and successfully reinstituted service in God’s temple and obedience to the law, in order to follow his God. ¹ 

So I loathed all the fruit of ¹  my effort, ²  for which I worked so hard ³  on earth, ⁴  because ⁵  I must leave it ⁶  behind ⁷  in the hands of my successor. ⁸ 

Then I considered ¹  all the skillful work ²  that is done: Surely it is nothing more than ³  competition ⁴  between one person and another. ⁵  This also is profitless – like ⁶  chasing the wind.

When I tried ¹  to gain ²  wisdom and to observe the activity ³  on earth – even though it prevents anyone from sleeping day or night ⁴  –

If an iron axhead ¹  is blunt and a workman ²  does not sharpen ³  its edge, ⁴  he must exert a great deal of effort; ⁵  so wisdom has the advantage of giving success.

Make your tent larger, stretch your tent curtains farther out! ¹  Spare no effort, lengthen your ropes, and pound your stakes deep. ² 

It has tried my patience; ¹  yet its thick rot is not removed ²  from it. Subject its rot to the fire! ³ 

“This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The Philistines ¹  have exacted merciless revenge, ²  showing intense scorn ³  in their effort to destroy Judah ⁴  with unrelenting hostility. ⁵ 

I have given him the land of Egypt as his compensation for attacking Tyre ¹ , because they did it for me, declares the sovereign Lord.

The labor pains of a woman will overtake him, but the baby will lack wisdom; when the time arrives, he will not come out of the womb!

Your warriors will be like women in your midst; the gates of your land will be wide open ¹  to your enemies; fire will consume ²  the bars of your gates. ³ 

Be sure of this! The Lord who commands armies has decreed: The nations’ efforts will go up in smoke; their exhausting work will be for nothing. ¹ 

Then Haggai responded, “‘The people of this nation are unclean in my sight,’ ¹  says the Lord. ‘And so is all their effort; everything they offer is also unclean. ² 

He had one left, his one dear son. ¹  Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find anything.

How can you believe, if you accept praise ¹  from one another and don’t seek the praise ²  that comes from the only God? ³ 

The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help! ¹  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. ² 

Thus the Pharisees ¹  said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has run off after him!”

Crispus, the president of the synagogue, ¹  believed in the Lord together with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard about it ²  believed and were baptized.