Then Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the well of Sirah. (But David was not aware of it.)

King David was very old; ¹  even when they covered him with blankets, ²  he could not get warm.

But when they gazed intently ¹  from a distance but did not recognize ²  him, they began to weep loudly. Each of them tore his robes, and they threw dust into the air over their heads. ³ 

Condemn them, ¹  O God! May their own schemes be their downfall! ²  Drive them away ³  because of their many acts of insurrection, ⁴  for they have rebelled against you.

Let destruction take them by surprise! ¹  Let the net they hid catch them! Let them fall into destruction! ² 

They are ready to devour me; ¹  they say, “Aha! Aha! We’ve got you!” ² 

You cause those who know me to keep their distance; you make me an appalling sight to them. I am trapped and cannot get free. ¹ 

Suddenly he went ¹  after her like an ox that goes to the slaughter, like a stag prancing into a trapper’s snare ² 

You must be truthful, honest and upright when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ ¹  If you do, ²  the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are and will make him the object of their boasting.” ³ 

Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, ¹  their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. ²  That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful. ³ 

“Look, the day! Look, it is coming! Doom has gone out! The staff has budded, pride has blossomed!

But those in Jerusalem ¹  will view it as a false omen. They have sworn solemn oaths, ²  but the king of Babylon ³  will accuse them of violations ⁴  in order to seize them. ⁵ 

When Ephraim ¹  spoke, ²  there was terror; ³  he was exalted ⁴  in Israel, but he became guilty by worshiping Baal and died.

You made people like fish in the sea, like animals in the sea ¹  that have no ruler.

Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?

And whenever the unclean spirits ¹  saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”

A young man was following him, wearing only a linen cloth. They tried to arrest him,

Thus ¹  they were unable in the presence of the people to trap ²  him with his own words. ³  And stunned ⁴  by his answer, they fell silent.

So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you – a Jew ¹  – ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water ²  to drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common ³  with Samaritans.) ⁴ 

Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, ¹  they caught sight of Jesus walking on the lake, ²  approaching the boat, and they were frightened.