You people of this generation, listen to what the Lord says. “Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel? Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you? ¹  Why then do you ²  say, ‘We are free to wander. ³  We will not come to you any more?’

Now ¹  look, the hand of the Lord is against ²  you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!” Immediately mistiness ³  and darkness came over ⁴  him, and he went around seeking people ⁵  to lead him by the hand.

to open their eyes so that they turn ¹  from darkness to light and from the power ²  of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share ³  among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Now ¹  this is what the horses and their riders ²  looked like in my ³  vision: The riders had breastplates that were fiery red, ⁴  dark blue, ⁵  and sulfurous ⁶  yellow in color. ⁷  The ⁸  heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur ⁹  came out of their mouths.

Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, ¹  with blindness. The men outside ²  wore themselves out trying to find the door.

If, however, ¹  the priest examines it, and ²  there is no white hair in it, it is not deeper than the skin, and it has faded, then the priest is to quarantine him for seven days. ³ 

If, however, ¹  the priest examines it and ²  there is no white hair in the bright spot, it is not deeper than the skin, ³  and it has faded, then the priest is to quarantine him for seven days. ⁴ 

But if the priest has examined it and ¹  the infection has faded after it has been washed, he is to tear it out of ²  the garment or the leather or the warp or the woof.

“They must take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand of the light, with its lamps, its wick-trimmers, its trays, and all its oil vessels, with which they service it.

Then they must take all the utensils of the service, with which they serve in the sanctuary, put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on a carrying beam.

Any one of you that I do not cut off from my altar, I will cause your ¹  eyes to fail ²  and will cause you grief. ³  All of those born to your family ⁴  will die in the prime of life. ⁵ 

That night – let darkness seize ¹  it; let it not be included ²  among the days of the year; let it not enter among the number of the months! ³ 

you asked, ¹  ‘Who is this who darkens counsel without knowledge?’ But ²  I have declared without understanding ³  things too wonderful for me to know. ⁴ 

“Because of the violence done to the oppressed, ¹  because of the painful cries ²  of the needy, I will spring into action,” ³  says the Lord. “I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.” ⁴ 

Even when I must walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff reassure me. ¹ 

God has made everything fit beautifully ¹  in its appropriate time, but ²  he has also placed ignorance ³  in the human heart ⁴  so that ⁵  people ⁶  cannot discover what God has ordained, ⁷  from the beginning to the end ⁸  of their lives. ⁹ 

Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, ¹  so no one has power over the day of his ²  death. Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, ³  so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked. ⁴ 

The Beloved to Her Lover: Until the dawn arrives ¹  and the shadows flee, turn, ²  my beloved – be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountain gorges. ³ 

¹ Come, let’s consider your options,” ²  says the Lord. “Though your sins have stained you like the color red, you can become ³  white like snow; though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet, you can become ⁴  white like wool. ⁵ 

At that time ¹  men will throw their silver and gold idols, which they made for themselves to worship, ²  into the caves where rodents and bats live, ³