“Therefore I conclude ¹  that we should not cause extra difficulty ²  for those among the Gentiles ³  who are turning to God,

let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see, and make their backs bend continually.” ¹ 

Apart from other things, ¹  there is the daily pressure on me of my anxious concern ²  for all the churches.

When the evening shadows ¹  began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered ²  the doors to be closed. I further directed that they were not to be opened until after the Sabbath. I positioned ³  some of my young men at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day.

and they are afraid of heights and the dangers ¹  in the street; the almond blossoms ²  grow white, ³  and the grasshopper ⁴  drags itself along, ⁵  and the caper berry ⁶  shrivels up ⁷  – because man goes to his eternal home, ⁸  and the mourners go about in the streets –

“At that time,” ¹  says the Lord who commands armies, “the peg fastened into a solid place will come loose. It will be cut off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off.” ²  Indeed, ³  the Lord has spoken.

¹ Moses told this ²  to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him ³  because of their discouragement ⁴  and hard labor.

I am depressed, ¹  so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan, ²  from Hermon, ³  from Mount Mizar. ⁴ 

In the past he said to them, ¹  “This is where security can be found. Provide security for the one who is exhausted! This is where rest can be found.” ²  But they refused to listen.

They ¹  tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them.

nor to seek glory from people, either from you or from others,

For some of these insinuate themselves ¹  into households and captivate weak women ²  who are overwhelmed with sins and led along by various passions.

yet was rebuked ¹  for his own transgression (a dumb donkey, ²  speaking with a human voice, ³  restrained the prophet’s madness). ⁴ 

Your conscience will not be overwhelmed with guilt ¹  for having poured out innocent blood and for having taken matters into your own hands. When the Lord has granted my lord success, ²  please remember your servant.”

Naaman said, “If not, then please give your servant a load of dirt, enough for a pair of mules to carry, ¹  for your servant will never again offer a burnt offering or sacrifice to a god other than the Lord. ² 

Jehu ordered ¹  his officer Bidkar, “Pick him up and throw him into the part of the field that once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel. Remember, you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab, when the Lord pronounced this judgment on him,

¹ During ²  that long period of time ³  the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites ⁴  groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry ⁵  because of their slave labor went up to God.

This is what they are responsible to carry as their entire service in the tent of meeting: the frames ¹  of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its posts, its sockets,

According to the word of the Lord they were numbered, ¹  by the authority of Moses, each according to his service and according to what he was to carry. ²  Thus were they numbered by him, ³  as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Jeroboam was a talented man; ¹  when Solomon saw that the young man was an accomplished worker, he made him the leader of the work crew from the tribe ²  of Joseph.