“‘No longer will Israel suffer from the sharp briers ¹  or painful thorns of all who surround and scorn them. ²  Then they will know that I am the sovereign Lord.

I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and I will place my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan like the fatally wounded before the king of Babylon. ¹ 

“‘My servant David will be king over them; there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow ¹  my regulations and carefully observe my statutes. ² 

Then he led me toward the south. I saw ¹  a gate on the south. He measured its jambs and its porches; they had the same dimensions as the others.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw ¹  into ²  the fire?” They replied to the king, “For sure, O king.”

The ten horns mean that ten kings will arise from that kingdom. Another king will arise after them, but he will be different from the earlier ones. He will humiliate ¹  three kings.

His power will be great, but it will not be by his strength alone. He will cause terrible destruction. ¹  He will be successful in what he undertakes. ²  He will destroy powerful people and the people of the holy ones. ³ 

and said to him, “Hurry, speak to this young man ¹  as follows: ‘Jerusalem will no longer be enclosed by walls ²  because of the multitude of people and animals there.

He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, ¹  so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment.” ² 

When Paul ¹  had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, ²  saying, “We have experienced a lengthy time ³  of peace through your rule, ⁴  and reforms ⁵  are being made in this nation ⁶  through your foresight. ⁷ 

So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

“The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, ¹  promised me with a solemn oath, ²  ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel ³  before you so that you may find ⁴  a wife for my son from there.

I will say to a young woman, ‘Please lower your jar so I may drink.’ May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ ¹  In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.” ² 

saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love ¹  for my master! The Lord has led me ²  to the house ³  of my master’s relatives!” ⁴ 

When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring ¹  and heard his sister Rebekah say, ²  “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing ³  by the camels near the spring.

He answered, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, ¹  will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family.

The Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you ¹  and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give ²  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

‘You must make for me an altar made of earth, ¹  and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, ²  your sheep and your cattle. In every place ³  where I cause my name to be honored ⁴  I will come to you and I will bless you.

Next he brought Aaron’s sons forward, and Moses put some of the blood on their right earlobes, on their right thumbs, and on the big toes of their right feet, and Moses splashed the rest of the blood against the altar’s sides.