I am saying this for your benefit, not to place a limitation on you, but so that without distraction you may give notable and constant service to the Lord.

For just as the sufferings ¹  of Christ ²  overflow ³  toward us, so also our comfort through Christ overflows to you. ⁴ 

Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer ¹  the gifts prescribed by the law.

You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed – not by perishable things like silver or gold,

Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go ¹  to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.”

As for Ishmael, I have heard you. ¹  I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. ²  He will become the father of twelve princes; ³  I will make him into a great nation.

Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac ¹  named it ²  Rehoboth, ³  saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land.”

Please take my present ¹  that was brought to you, for God has been generous ²  to me and I have all I need.” ³  When Jacob urged him, he took it. ⁴ 

Joseph ¹  collected all the excess food ²  in the land of Egypt during the seven years and stored it in the cities. ³  In every city he put the food gathered from the fields around it.

When ¹  the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, ²  then you will keep ³  this ceremony ⁴  in this month.

For I will drive out ¹  the nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one will covet ²  your land when you go up ³  to appear before the Lord your God three times ⁴  in the year.

You must supply them generously ¹  from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress – as the Lord your God has blessed you, you must give to them.

The Lord will greatly multiply your children, ¹  the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he ²  promised your ancestors ³  he would give you.

So bathe yourself, ¹  rub on some perfumed oil, ²  and get dressed up. ³  Then go down ⁴  to the threshing floor. But don’t let the man know you’re there until he finishes his meal. ⁵ 

for this is what the Lord says, ‘You will not feel ¹  any wind or see any rain, but this valley will be full of water and you and your cattle and animals will drink.’

Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says, ‘About this time tomorrow a seah ¹  of finely milled flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.’”

Finally ¹  the Lord rejected Israel ²  just as he had warned he would do ³  through all his servants the prophets. Israel was deported from its land to Assyria and remains there to this very day.

Indeed, O Lord, ¹  you have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob. For diviners from the east are everywhere; ²  they consult omen readers like the Philistines do. ³  Plenty of foreigners are around. ⁴ 

You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool – but you did not trust in ¹  the one who made it; ²  you did not depend on ³  the one who formed it long ago!

Her profits and earnings will be set apart for the Lord. They will not be stored up or accumulated, for her profits will be given to those who live in the Lord’s presence and will be used to purchase large quantities of food and beautiful clothes. ¹