Moses then took them from their palms and offered them up in smoke on the altar ¹  on top of the burnt offering – they were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was a gift to the Lord.

Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them and descended from making the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering.

He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant ¹  this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of the Philistines?” ² 

Have you ¹  not made a hedge ²  around him and his household and all that he has on every side? You have blessed ³  the work of his hands, and his livestock ⁴  have increased ⁵  in the land.

Indeed you will go out with joy; you will be led along in peace; the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you, and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.

In this way ¹  I will pass sentence ²  on the people of Jerusalem and Judah ³  because of all their wickedness. For they rejected me and offered sacrifices to other gods, worshiping what they made with their own hands.” ⁴ 

Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: ¹  Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby? Why then do I see all these strong men grabbing their stomachs in pain like ²  a woman giving birth? And why do their faces turn so deathly pale?

נ (Nun) My sins are bound around my neck like a yoke; ¹  they are fastened together by his hand. He has placed his yoke ²  on my neck; ³  he has sapped my strength. ⁴  The Lord ⁵  has handed me over ⁶  to those whom I cannot resist.

פ (Pe) Zion spread out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob; his neighbors ¹  have become his enemies. Jerusalem has become like filthy garbage ²  in their midst. ³ 

ס (Samek) All who passed by on the road clapped their hands to mock you. ¹  They sneered and shook their heads at Daughter Jerusalem. “Ha! Is this the city they called ²  ‘The perfection of beauty, ³  the source of joy of the whole earth!’?” ⁴ 

Can your heart endure, ¹  or can your hands be strong when I deal with you? ²  I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!

For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and their sons, whom they bore to me, ¹  they have passed through the fire as food to their idols. ² 

You were watching as ¹  a stone was cut out, ²  but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its iron and clay feet, breaking them in pieces.

Assyria cannot save us; we will not ride warhorses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made. For only you will show compassion to Orphan Israel!” ¹ 

They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ¹  government officials and judges take bribes, ²  prominent men make demands, and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ³ 

And I tell you that Elijah has already come. Yet they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. In ¹  the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.”

for he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men. ¹  They ²  will kill him, ³  and after three days he will rise.” ⁴ 

And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded ¹  and turned away ²  a large crowd, ³  not only in Ephesus ⁴  but in practically all of the province of Asia, ⁵  by saying ⁶  that gods made by hands are not gods at all. ⁷ 

But now Christ has come ¹  as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation,

When ¹  Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but that instead a riot was starting, he took some water, washed his hands before the crowd and said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. You take care of it yourselves!” ²