The clouds poured down rain; ¹  the skies thundered. ²  Yes, your arrows ³  flashed about.

Yes, ¹  they devise a unified strategy; ²  they form an alliance ³  against you.

Yes, the Lord will bestow his good blessings, ¹  and our land will yield ²  its crops.

Yes, ¹  we are consumed by your anger; we are terrified by your wrath.

Yes, ¹  he remembered the sacred promise ²  he made to Abraham his servant.

Yes, ¹  Lord, ²  you rescued my life from death, and kept my feet from stumbling.

Let the family ¹  of Aaron say, “Yes, his loyal love endures!”

Let the loyal followers of the Lord ¹  say, “Yes, his loyal love endures!”

Yes, I find delight in your rules; they give me guidance. ¹ 

Yes, ¹  sons ²  are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.

Yes indeed, the man who fears the Lord will be blessed in this way. ¹ 

Yes, ¹  I know the Lord is great, and our Lord is superior to all gods.

Yes, you are a God who keeps hidden, O God of Israel, deliverer!

I, I have spoken – yes, I have summoned him; I lead him and he will succeed. ¹ 

But as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”

Indeed, they are barely planted; yes, they are barely sown; yes, they barely take root in the earth, and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up, and the wind carries them away like straw.

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you! Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ¹  I strengthen you – yes, I help you – yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ² 

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us – by me and Silvanus ¹  and Timothy – was not “Yes” and “No,” but it has always been “Yes” in him.

And above all, my brothers and sisters, ¹  do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall into judgment.

Yes, ¹  they intend to do you harm; ²  they dream up a scheme, ³  but they do not succeed. ⁴