Then Abner sent messengers ¹  to David saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make an agreement ²  with me, and I will do whatever I can ³  to cause all Israel to turn to you.”

In my distress I called to the Lord; I called to my God. ¹  From his heavenly temple ²  he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. ³ 

My dynasty is approved by God, ¹  for he has made a perpetual covenant with me, arranged in all its particulars and secured. He always delivers me, and brings all I desire to fruition. ² 

Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a small jar of olive oil.”

Pul ¹  king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem paid ²  him ³  a thousand talents ⁴  of silver to gain his support ⁵  and to solidify his control of the kingdom. ⁶ 

During Josiah’s reign Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt marched toward ¹  the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to fight him, but Necho ²  killed him at Megiddo ³  when he saw him.

They received divine help in fighting them, and the Hagrites and all their allies were handed over to them. They cried out to God during the battle; he responded to their prayers because they trusted in him. ¹ 

The men of Judah turned around and realized they were being attacked from the front and the rear. ¹  So they cried out for help to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets,

For he did not despise or detest the suffering ¹  of the oppressed; ²  he did not ignore him; ³  when he cried out to him, he responded. ⁴ 

Hear my prayer, O Lord! Listen to my cry for help! Do not ignore my sobbing! ¹  For I am dependent on you, like one residing outside his native land; I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were. ² 

For people will live in Zion; in Jerusalem ¹  you will weep no more. ²  When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy; when he hears it, he will respond to you. ³ 

Look, the sovereign Lord helps me. Who dares to condemn me? Look, all of them will wear out like clothes; a moth will eat away at them.

Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond; you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’ You must ¹  remove the burdensome yoke from among you and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.

But our tents have been destroyed. The ropes that held them in place have been ripped apart. ¹  Our children are gone and are not coming back. ²  There is no survivor to put our tents back up, no one left to hang their tent curtains in place.

So I, the Lord, say this: ¹  ‘I will soon bring disaster on them which they will not be able to escape! When they cry out to me for help, I will not listen to them.

Then those living in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem will ¹  go and cry out for help to the gods to whom they have been sacrificing. However, those gods will by no means ²  be able to save them when disaster strikes them.

“Please ask the Lord to come and help us, ¹  because King Nebuchadnezzar ²  of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will perform one of his miracles as in times past and make him stop attacking us and leave.” ³ 

For the time has come to destroy all the Philistines. The time has come to destroy all the help that remains for Tyre ¹  and Sidon. ²  For I, the Lord, will ³  destroy the Philistines, that remnant that came from the island of Crete. ⁴ 

You will stumble and fall, you proud city; no one will help you get up. I will set fire to your towns; it will burn up everything that surrounds you.” ¹ 

Then they too will answer, ¹  ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not give you whatever you needed?’