Now without dispute the inferior is blessed by the superior,

And since ¹  this was not done without a sworn affirmation – for the others have become priests without a sworn affirmation,

He will be a wild donkey ¹  of a man. He will be hostile to everyone, ²  and everyone will be hostile to him. ³  He will live away from ⁴  his brothers.”

Animals torn by wild beasts I never brought to you; I always absorbed the loss myself. ¹  You always made me pay for every missing animal, ²  whether it was taken by day or at night.

The donkey said to Balaam, “Am not I your donkey that you have ridden ever since I was yours until this day? Have I ever attempted ¹  to treat you this way?” ²  And he said, “No.”

For the Lord your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand ¹  and serve in his name ²  permanently.

The king said to Ziba, “Everything that was Mephibosheth’s now belongs to you.” Ziba replied, “I bow before you. May I find favor in your sight, my lord the king.”

They said to him, “Today if you show a willingness to help these people and grant their request, they will be your servants from this time forward.” ¹ 

O Lord God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, maintain the motives of your people and keep them devoted to you. ¹ 

They said to him, “If you are fair to these people, grant their request, and are cordial to them, they will be your servants from this time forward.” ¹ 

Approach me! Listen to this! From the very first I have not spoken in secret; when it happens, ¹  I am there.” So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit. ² 

Then ¹  they said to him, “John’s ²  disciples frequently fast ³  and pray, ⁴  and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, ⁵  but yours continue to eat and drink.” ⁶ 

They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another, ¹  ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; ²  we wailed in mourning, ³  yet you did not weep.’

John ¹  testified ²  about him and shouted out, ³  “This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am, ⁴  because he existed before me.’”

Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. ¹  But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness ²  for those trained by it.

Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. ¹  The old commandment is the word that you have already ²  heard.

And you are to tell the Israelites: ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil throughout your generations.

Since they are detestable to you, you must not eat their meat and their carcass you must detest.

For I raise up my hand to heaven, and say, ‘As surely as I live forever,

But King Solomon will be empowered ¹  and David’s dynasty ²  will endure permanently before the Lord.”