I, the Lord, protect it; ¹  I water it regularly. ²  I guard it night and day, so no one can harm it. ³ 

So now, do not mock, or your chains will become heavier! For I have heard a message about decreed destruction, from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. ¹ 

Now they come into being, ¹  not in the past; before today you did not hear about them, so you could not say, ‘Yes, ²  I know about them.’

Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Babylonians. ¹  The Babylonians might hand me over to them and they will torture me.” ² 

He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, ¹  so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment.” ² 

Do not give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs; otherwise they will trample them under their feet and turn around and tear you to pieces. ¹ 

Because of the crowd, he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him so the crowd ¹  would not press toward him.

so that although they look they may look but not see, and although they hear they may hear but not understand, so they may not repent and be forgiven.” ¹ 

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, ¹  do not take ²  the place of honor, because a person more distinguished than you may have been invited by your host. ³ 

(for I have five brothers) to warn ¹  them so that they don’t come ²  into this place of torment.’

For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.

And in this way I desire to preach where Christ has not been named, so as not to build on another person’s foundation,

For this reason, if food causes my brother or sister to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I may not cause one of them ¹  to sin.

In fact he became so ill that he nearly died. ¹  But God showed mercy to him – and not to him only, but also to me – so that I would not have grief on top of grief.

Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

See to it, ¹  brothers and sisters, ²  that none of you has ³  an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes ⁴  the living God. ⁵ 

Therefore we must be wary ¹  that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.

Come, let’s deal wisely ¹  with them. Otherwise ²  they will continue to multiply, ³  and if ⁴  a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with ⁵  our enemies and fight against us and leave ⁶  the country.”

And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey ¹  into the desert so that we may sacrifice ²  to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.” ³ 

¹ When Pharaoh released ²  the people, God did not lead them ³  by the way to the land ⁴  of the Philistines, ⁵  although ⁶  that was nearby, for God said, ⁷  “Lest ⁸  the people change their minds ⁹  and return to Egypt when they experience war.”