Now ¹  I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, ²  one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all ³  the tribes of the people of Israel: ⁴ 

Then ¹  the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a single voice coming from the ²  horns on the golden altar that is before God,

Now ¹  I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are just ²  – the one who is and who was, the Holy One – because you have passed these judgments, ³ 

After these things I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a vast throng in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

But God heard the boy’s voice. ¹  The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, ²  Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard ³  the boy’s voice right where he is crying.

and in order that in the hearing of your son and your grandson you may tell ¹  how I made fools ²  of the Egyptians ³  and about ⁴  my signs that I displayed ⁵  among them, so that you may know ⁶  that I am the Lord.”

The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud ¹  all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple.

I said, ¹  “Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! ²  I writhe in anguish. Oh, the pain in my heart! ³  My heart pounds within me. I cannot keep silent. For I hear the sound of the trumpet; ⁴  the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul! ⁵ 

“Every seven years each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you for six years, you shall set them free.” ¹  But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention to me.

So you go there the next time all the people of Judah come in from their towns to fast ¹  in the Lord’s temple. Read out loud where all of them can hear you what I told you the Lord said, which you wrote in the scroll. ² 

So ¹  he answered them, ²  “Go tell ³  John what you have seen and heard: ⁴  The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the ⁵  deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news proclaimed to them.

The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, ¹  I will give him some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white ²  stone, ³  and on that stone will be written a new name that no one can understand ⁴  except the one who receives it.’

Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “You are now ¹  pregnant and are about to give birth ²  to a son. You are to name him Ishmael, ³  for the Lord has heard your painful groans. ⁴ 

One of them ¹  said, “I will surely return ²  to you when the season comes round again, ³  and your wife Sarah will have a son!” ⁴  (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. ⁵ 

(Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite ¹  replied to Abraham in the hearing ²  of the sons of Heth – before all who entered the gate ³  of his city –

She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, ¹  he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. ² 

Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, ¹  “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich ²  at our father’s expense!” ³ 

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, ¹  and there is no one who can interpret ²  it. But I have heard about you, that ³  you can interpret dreams.” ⁴ 

They told him, “Joseph is still alive and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” Jacob was stunned, ¹  for he did not believe them.

¹ During ²  that long period of time ³  the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites ⁴  groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry ⁵  because of their slave labor went up to God.