Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived, ¹  no eye has seen any God besides you, who intervenes for those who wait for him.

I will take away their harvests, ¹  says the Lord. There will be no grapes on their vines. There will be no figs on their fig trees. Even the leaves on their trees will wither. The crops that I gave them will be taken away.’” ² 

What will you say ¹  when the Lord ²  appoints as rulers over you those allies that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such? ³  Then anguish and agony will grip you like that of a woman giving birth to a baby. ⁴ 

For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘Fair Babylon ¹  will be like a threshing floor which has been trampled flat for harvest. The time for her to be cut down and harvested will come very soon.’ ² 

ד (Dalet) He prepared his bow ¹  like an enemy; his right hand was ready to shoot. ²  Like a foe he killed everyone, even our strong young men; ³  he has poured out his anger like fire on the tent ⁴  of Daughter Zion.

ח (Khet) The Lord was determined to tear down Daughter Zion’s wall. He prepared to knock it down; ¹  he did not withdraw his hand from destroying. ²  He made the ramparts and fortified walls lament; together they mourned their ruin. ³ 

It is sharpened for slaughter, it is polished to flash like lightning! “‘Should we rejoice in the scepter of my son? No! The sword despises every tree! ¹ 

The LORD was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the LORD our God is just ¹  in all he has done, ²  and we have not obeyed him. ³ 

The shields of his warriors are dyed red; ¹  the mighty soldiers are dressed in scarlet garments. ²  The metal fittings ³  of the chariots ⁴  shine like ⁵  fire ⁶  on the day of battle; ⁷  the soldiers brandish ⁸  their spears. ⁹ 

“I tell you the truth, ¹  among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least ²  in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.

I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater ¹  than John. ²  Yet the one who is least ³  in the kingdom of God ⁴  is greater than he is.”

The priest of the temple ¹  of Zeus, ²  located just outside the city, brought bulls ³  and garlands ⁴  to the city gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them. ⁵ 

For the unbelieving husband is sanctified because of the wife, and the unbelieving wife because of her husband. ¹  Otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.

What should you do then, brothers and sisters? ¹  When you come together, each one has a song, has a lesson, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all these things be done for the strengthening of the church.

But I am sending ¹  these brothers so that our boasting about you may not be empty in this case, so that you may be ready ²  just as I kept telling them.

For if any of the Macedonians should come with me and find that you are not ready to give, we would be humiliated ¹  (not to mention you) by this confidence we had in you. ² 

I put this charge ¹  before you, Timothy my child, in keeping with the prophecies once spoken about you, ²  in order that with such encouragement ³  you may fight the good fight.

He is the one who saved us ¹  and called us with a holy calling, not based on ²  our works but on his own purpose and grace, granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began, ³ 

For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in ¹  with those who heard it in faith. ² 

that person ¹  will also drink of the wine of God’s anger ²  that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur ³  in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb.