For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; ¹  instead I received it ²  by a revelation of Jesus Christ. ³ 

Do not give the devil an opportunity.

Here there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave ¹  or free, but Christ is all and in all.

For even when we were with you, we used to give you this command: “If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat.”

Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, ¹  or a vine produce figs? Neither can a salt water spring produce fresh water.

Now he was acting as the guardian ¹  of Hadassah ²  (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, for neither her father nor her mother was alive. ³  This young woman was very attractive and had a beautiful figure. ⁴  When her father and mother died, Mordecai had raised her ⁵  as if she were his own daughter.

So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; ¹  he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. ² 

You must not eat bread, roasted grain, or fresh grain until this very day, ¹  until you bring the offering of your God. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations ²  in all the places where you live.

You must not desire ¹  another man’s ²  wife, nor should you crave his ³  house, his field, his male and female servants, his ox, his donkey, or anything else he owns.” ⁴ 

He answered, ¹  “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army. ²  Now I have arrived!” ³  Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground ⁴  and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?”

When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out ¹  to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. ²  She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.

David said to Ahimelech, “Is there no sword or spear here at your disposal? I don’t have my own sword or equipment in hand due to the urgency of the king’s instructions.”

This happened because they did not obey ¹  the Lord their God and broke his agreement with them. ²  They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded. ³ 

Surging waters cannot quench love; floodwaters ¹  cannot overflow it. If someone were to offer all his possessions ²  to buy love, ³  the offer ⁴  would be utterly despised. ⁵ 

He will judge disputes between nations; he will settle cases for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares, ¹  and their spears into pruning hooks. ²  Nations will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will no longer train for war.

I said, ¹  “Oh, mother, how I regret ²  that you ever gave birth to me! I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land. ³  I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone. Yet all of these people are treating me with contempt.” ⁴ 

But they answered, “We do not drink wine because our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us not to. He told us, ‘You and your children must never drink wine.

Look at the birds in the sky: ¹  They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds ²  them. Aren’t you more valuable ³  than they are?

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; ¹  otherwise the skins burst and the wine is spilled out and the skins are destroyed. Instead they put new wine into new wineskins ²  and both are preserved.”

Then they began asking ¹  him, “Who is your father?” Jesus answered, “You do not know either me or my Father. If you knew me you would know my Father too.” ²