When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported ¹  Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he ²  ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. ³ 

You must surround the king. Each of you must hold his weapon in his hand. Whoever approaches your ranks must be killed. You must accompany the king wherever he goes.” ¹ 

The Levites must surround the king. Each of you must hold his weapon in his hand. Whoever tries to enter the temple ¹  must be killed. You must accompany the king wherever he goes.” ² 

Now his sons used to go ¹  and hold ²  a feast in the house of each one in turn, ³  and they would send and invite ⁴  their three ⁵  sisters to eat and to drink with them.

I want ¹  to climb the palm tree, ²  and take hold of its fruit stalks. May your breasts be like the clusters of grapes, ³  and may the fragrance of your breath be like apricots! ⁴ 

Seven women will grab hold of one man at that time. ¹  They will say, “We will provide ²  our own food, we will provide ³  our own clothes; but let us belong to you ⁴  – take away our shame!” ⁵ 

They panic – cramps and pain seize hold of them like those of a woman who is straining to give birth. They look at one another in astonishment; their faces are flushed red. ¹ 

The Lord who commands armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain. ¹  At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine – tender meat and choicest wine. ² 

Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals! You ¹  will see Jerusalem, ²  a peaceful settlement, a tent that stays put; ³  its stakes will never be pulled up; none of its ropes will snap in two.

For I am the Lord your God, the one who takes hold of your right hand, who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’

“I, the Lord, officially commission you; ¹  I take hold of your hand. I protect you ²  and make you a covenant mediator for people, ³  and a light ⁴  to the nations, ⁵ 

I will say to the north, ‘Hand them over!’ and to the south, ‘Don’t hold any back!’ Bring my sons from distant lands, and my daughters from the remote regions of the earth,

He feeds on ashes; ¹  his deceived mind misleads him. He cannot rescue himself, nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ ² 

This is what the Lord says to his chosen ¹  one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold ²  in order to subdue nations before him, and disarm kings, ³  to open doors before him, so gates remain unclosed:

Yes, your land lies in ruins; it is desolate and devastated. ¹  But now you will be too small to hold your residents, and those who devoured you will be far away.

“Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?” asks the Lord. “Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?” asks your God. ¹ 

“Do so because my people have committed a double wrong: they have rejected me, the fountain of life-giving water, ¹  and they have dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”

The Lord says, “Do not start following pagan religious practices. ¹  Do not be in awe of signs that occur ²  in the sky even though the nations hold them in awe.

“Take up your battle positions all around Babylon, all you soldiers who are armed with bows. ¹  Shoot ²  all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! ³  For she has sinned against the Lord.

The end is now upon you, and I will release my anger against you; I will judge ¹  you according to your behavior, ²  I will hold you accountable for ³  all your abominable practices.