Free me ¹  from prison, that I may give thanks to your name. Because of me the godly will assemble, ²  for you will vindicate me. ³ 

Lord, be merciful to us! We wait for you. Give us strength each morning! ¹  Deliver us when distress comes. ² 

י (Yod) The hands of tenderhearted women ¹  cooked their own children, who became their food, ²  when my people ³  were destroyed. ⁴ 

However, in the future I will allure her; ¹  I will lead ²  her back into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.

But so that I may not delay ¹  you any further, I beg ²  you to hear us briefly ³  with your customary graciousness. ⁴ 

Therefore “come out from their midst, and be separate,” says the Lord, “and touch no unclean thing, ¹  and I will welcome ²  you, ³ 

Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, ¹  to acknowledge those who labor among you and preside over you in the Lord and admonish you,

Now swear to me right here in God’s name ¹  that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. ²  Show me, and the land ³  where you are staying, ⁴  the same loyalty ⁵  that I have shown you.” ⁶ 

so that ¹  you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed ²  you, but have always treated you well ³  before sending you away ⁴  in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” ⁵ 

Then Jacob prayed, ¹  “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said ²  to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ ³ 

When Joseph’s ¹  brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, ²  they hated Joseph ³  and were not able to speak to him kindly. ⁴ 

One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go ¹  to the fields so I can gather ²  grain behind whoever permits me to do so.” ³  Naomi ⁴  replied, “You may go, my daughter.”

Ruth ¹  knelt before him with her forehead to the ground ²  and said to him, “Why are you so kind ³  and so attentive to me, ⁴  even though ⁵  I am a foreigner?” ⁶ 

May the godly strike me in love and correct me! May my head not refuse ¹  choice oil! ²  Indeed, my prayer is a witness against their evil deeds. ³ 

But now plead for God’s favor ¹  that he might be gracious to us. ²  “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord who rules over all.

For ¹  we are in danger of being charged with rioting ²  today, since there is no cause we can give to explain ³  this disorderly gathering.” ⁴ 

Now in the region around that place ¹  were fields belonging to the chief official ²  of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably as guests for three days.

so that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and provide her with whatever help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many, including me.

But those who have believing masters must not show them less respect ¹  because they are brothers. Instead they are to serve all the more, because those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved. ² Teach them and exhort them about these things. ³ 

I have chosen him ¹  so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep ²  the way of the Lord by doing ³  what is right and just. Then the Lord will give ⁴  to Abraham what he promised ⁵  him.”