Saul became angry with Jonathan ¹  and said to him, “You stupid traitor! ²  Don’t I realize that to your own disgrace and to the disgrace of your mother’s nakedness you have chosen this son of Jesse?

Who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation ¹  on the earth? Their God ²  went ³  to claim ⁴  a nation for himself and to make a name for himself! You did great and awesome acts for your land, ⁵  before your people whom you delivered for yourself from the Egyptian empire and its gods. ⁶ 

When he would shave his head – at the end of every year he used to shave his head, for it grew too long ¹  and he would shave it – he used to weigh the hair of his head at three pounds ²  according to the king’s weight.

Then Absalom happened to come across David’s men. Now as Absalom was riding on his ¹  mule, it ²  went under the branches of a large oak tree. His head got caught in the oak and he was suspended in midair, ³  while the mule he had been riding kept going.

(19:1) ¹  The king then became very upset. He went up to the upper room over the gate and wept. As he went he said, “My son, Absalom! My son, my son, ²  Absalom! If only I could have died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!” ³ 

Solomon made an alliance by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt; he married Pharaoh’s daughter. He brought her to the City of David ¹  until he could finish building his residence and the temple of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. ² 

The prophet ¹  got angry at him and said, “If you had struck the ground five or six times, you would have annihilated Syria! ²  But now, you will defeat Syria only three times.”

The king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was planning a revolt. ¹  Hoshea had sent messengers to King So ²  of Egypt and had not sent his annual tribute to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria arrested him and imprisoned him. ³ 

And who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation ¹  in the earth? Their God ²  went to claim ³  a nation for himself! You made a name for yourself by doing great and awesome deeds ⁴  when you drove out ⁵  nations before your people whom you had delivered from the Egyptian empire and its gods. ⁶ 

Whenever the Levites brought the chest to the royal accountant and they saw there was a lot of silver, the royal scribe and the accountant of the high priest emptied the chest and then took it back to its place. They went through this routine every day and collected a large amount of silver.

When it became the turn of Esther daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai (who had raised her as if she were his own daughter ¹ ) to go to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who was overseer of the women, had recommended. Yet Esther met with the approval of all who saw her.

So now the Lord says, the one who formed me from birth ¹  to be his servant – he did this ²  to restore Jacob to himself, so that Israel might be gathered to him; and I will be honored ³  in the Lord’s sight, for my God is my source of strength ⁴  –

The following events occurred in that same year, early in the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. To be more precise, it was the fifth month of the fourth year of his reign. ¹  The prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, spoke to Jeremiah ²  in the Lord’s temple in the presence of the priests and all the people. ³ 

ז (Zayin) Jerusalem ¹  remembers, ²  when ³  she became a poor homeless person, ⁴  all her treasures that she owned in days of old. ⁵  When her people fell into an enemy’s grip, ⁶  none of her allies came to her rescue. ⁷  Her enemies ⁸  gloated over ⁹  her; they sneered at her downfall.

“Son of man, King Nebuchadrezzar ¹  of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. ²  Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the work he carried out against it.

He said to me, “Don’t be afraid, you who are valued. ¹  Peace be to you! Be strong! Be really strong!” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened. I said, “Sir, you may speak now, ²  for you have given me strength.”

For their mother has committed adultery; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, “I will seek out ¹  my lovers; ²  they are the ones who give me my bread and my water, my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine. ³ 

“I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest. ¹  I gave rain to one city, but not to another. One field ²  would get rain, but the field that received no rain dried up.

When the sun began to shine, God sent ¹  a hot ²  east wind. So the sun beat down ³  on Jonah’s head, and he grew faint. So he despaired of life, ⁴  and said, “I would rather die than live!” ⁵ 

I listened and my stomach churned; ¹  the sound made my lips quiver. My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying, ²  and I shook as I tried to walk. ³  I long ⁴  for the day of distress to come upon ⁵  the people who attack us.