Then the Lord said to me, “Under the circumstances, wayward Israel could even be considered less guilty than unfaithful Judah. ¹ 

And if you haven’t been trustworthy ¹  with someone else’s property, ²  who will give you your own ³ ?

¹  although we could have imposed our weight as apostles of Christ; instead we became ²  little children ³  among you. Like a nursing mother caring for her own children,

“There your fathers tested me and tried me, ¹  and they saw my works for forty years.

For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be proven. ¹ 

Some time after these things God tested ¹  Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham ²  replied.

These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained ¹  among them.

You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you, ¹ 

With Job’s ¹  three friends he was also angry, because they could not find ²  an answer, and so declared Job guilty. ³ 

For the music director; by the Korahites; according to the alamoth style; ²  a song. God is our strong refuge; ³  he is truly our helper in times of trouble. ⁴ 

As the crucible is for silver and the furnace is for gold, ¹  so a person ²  is proved ³  by the praise he receives. ⁴ 

I thought to myself, ¹  “Come now, ²  I will try ³  self-indulgent pleasure ⁴  to see ⁵  if it is worthwhile.” ⁶  But I found ⁷  that it also is futile. ⁸ 

The fiery bellows of judgment burn fiercely. But there is too much dross to be removed. ¹  The process of refining them has proved useless. ²  The wicked have not been purged.

“‘For testing will come, and what will happen when the scepter, which the sword despises, is no more? ¹  declares the sovereign Lord.’

And even if I am unskilled ¹  in speaking, yet I am certainly not so in knowledge. Indeed, we have made this plain to you in everything in every way.

But you have a few individuals ¹  in Sardis who have not stained ²  their clothes, and they will walk with me dressed ³  in white, because they are worthy.

One of you must go and get ¹  your brother, while ²  the rest of you remain in prison. ³  In this way your words may be tested to see if ⁴  you are telling the truth. ⁵  If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him ¹  a tree. ²  When Moses ³  threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Lord ⁴  made for them ⁵  a binding ordinance, ⁶  and there he tested ⁷  them.

David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire and tried to walk around, but he was not used to them. ¹  David said to Saul, “I can’t walk in these things, for I’m not used to them.” So David removed them.

For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted ¹  me now these ten times, ²  and have not obeyed me, ³