So they yelled louder and, in accordance with their prescribed ritual, ¹  mutilated themselves with swords and spears until their bodies were covered with blood. ² 

He told his servant Gehazi, “Ask the Shunammite woman to come here.” ¹  So he did so and she came to him. ² 

Elisha ¹  called to Gehazi and said, “Get the Shunammite woman.” So he did so ²  and she came to him. He said to her, “Take your son.”

An edict was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem requiring the people to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses, God’s servant, imposed on Israel in the wilderness. ¹ 

People were unable to tell the difference between the sound of joyous shouting and the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people were shouting so loudly ¹  that the sound was heard a long way off.

“You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.

Now when Mordecai became aware of all that had been done, he ¹  tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city, crying out in a loud ²  and bitter voice.

I am exhausted as I groan; all night long I drench my bed in tears; ¹  my tears saturate the cushion beneath me. ² 

Look at me! ¹  Answer me, O Lord my God! Revive me, ²  or else I will die! ³ 

For the music director; by the Korahites; according to the alamoth style; ²  a song. God is our strong refuge; ³  he is truly our helper in times of trouble. ⁴ 

A psalm by Asaph. El, God, the Lord ²  speaks, and summons the earth to come from the east and west. ³ 

I will listen to what God the Lord says. ¹  For he will make ²  peace with his people, his faithful followers. ³  Yet they must not ⁴  return to their foolish ways.

Then you ¹  spoke through a vision to your faithful followers ²  and said: “I have energized a warrior; ³  I have raised up a young man ⁴  from the people.

I have wandered off like a lost sheep. ¹  Come looking for your servant, for I do not forget your commands.

However, ¹  because ²  I called but you refused to listen, ³  because ⁴  I stretched out my hand ⁵  but no one paid attention,

His cheeks are like garden beds full of balsam trees ¹  yielding ²  perfume. His lips are like lilies dripping with drops of myrrh.

His mouth is very sweet; ¹  he is totally desirable. ²  This is my beloved! This is my companion, O maidens of Jerusalem!

Therefore my ¹  people will be deported ²  because of their lack of understanding. Their ³  leaders will have nothing to eat, ⁴  their ⁵  masses will have nothing to drink. ⁶ 

Their roar is like a lion’s; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they drag it away and no one can come to the rescue.

They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy ¹  is the Lord who commands armies! ²  His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!”