How great is your favor, ¹  which you store up for your loyal followers! ²  In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter ³  in you. ⁴ 

For they did not conquer ¹  the land by their swords, and they did not prevail by their strength, ²  but rather by your power, ³  strength ⁴  and good favor, ⁵  for you were partial to ⁶  them.

O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me! ¹  O God, because of your great loyal love, answer me with your faithful deliverance! ² 

Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress, ¹  so my eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.

We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight. ¹  We all wither like a leaf; our sins carry us away like the wind.

My hand made them; ¹  that is how they came to be,” ²  says the Lord. I show special favor ³  to the humble and contrite, who respect what I have to say. ⁴ 

Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for ¹  these people, I would not feel pity for them! ²  Get them away from me! Tell them to go away! ³ 

“So now, our God, accept ¹  the prayer and requests of your servant, and show favor to ²  your devastated sanctuary for your own sake. ³ 

Then I will return again to my lair until they have suffered their punishment. ¹  Then they will seek me; ²  in their distress they will earnestly seek me.

Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap unfailing love. Break up the unplowed ground for yourselves, for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers deliverance ¹  on you.

Seek the Lord’s favor, ¹  all you humble people ²  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ³  Strive to do what is right! ⁴  Strive to be humble! ⁵  Maybe you will be protected ⁶  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

Speak up again with the message of the Lord who rules over all: ‘My cities will once more overflow with prosperity, and once more the Lord will comfort Zion and validate his choice of Jerusalem.’”

Do not plan evil in your hearts against one another. Do not favor a false oath – these are all things that I hate,’ says the Lord.”

For Herod himself had sent men, arrested John, and bound him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod ¹  had married her.

“Blessed are you when people ¹  hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject you as evil ²  on account of the Son of Man!

Blessed are those slaves ¹  whom their master finds alert ²  when he returns! I tell you the truth, ³  he will dress himself to serve, ⁴  have them take their place at the table, ⁵  and will come ⁶  and wait on them! ⁷ 

Now ¹  the Word became flesh ²  and took up residence ³  among us. We ⁴  saw his glory – the glory of the one and only, ⁵  full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.

When the meeting of the synagogue ¹  had broken up, ²  many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes ³  followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading ⁴  them ⁵  to continue ⁶  in the grace of God.

When Apollos ¹  wanted to cross over to Achaia, ²  the brothers encouraged ³  him ⁴  and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he ⁵  assisted greatly those who had believed by grace,

But I do not consider my life ¹  worth anything ²  to myself, so that ³  I may finish my task ⁴  and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news ⁵  of God’s grace.