Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, ¹  provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.’ ² 

As his father David had decreed, Solomon ¹  appointed the divisions of the priests to do their assigned tasks, the Levitical orders to lead worship and help the priests with their daily tasks, ²  and the divisions of the gatekeepers to serve at their assigned gates. ³  This was what David the man of God had ordered. ⁴ 

but have instead followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel. You encouraged the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem to be unfaithful to the Lord, just as the family of Ahab does in Israel. ¹  You also killed your brothers, members of your father’s family, ²  who were better than you.

They say to a wooden idol, ¹  ‘You are my father.’ They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’ ²  Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. ³  Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’

“I thought to myself, ¹  ‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! ²  What a joy it would be for me to give ³  you a pleasant land, the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ ⁴  I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ ⁵  and would never cease being loyal to me. ⁶ 

Does it make you any more of a king that you outstrip everyone else in ¹  building with cedar? Just think about your father. He was content that he had food and drink. ²  He did what was just and right. ³  So things went well with him.

They will come back shedding tears of contrition. I will bring them back praying prayers of repentance. ¹  I will lead them besides streams of water, along smooth paths where they will never stumble. ²  I will do this because I am Israel’s father; Ephraim ³  is my firstborn son.’”

While under the influence ¹  of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels – the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father ²  had confiscated ³  from the temple in Jerusalem ⁴  – so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them. ⁵ 

No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down ¹  of my own free will. ²  I have the authority ³  to lay it down, and I have the authority ⁴  to take it back again. This commandment ⁵  I received from my Father.”

Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is the meaning of what he is saying, ¹  ‘In a little while you ²  will not see me; again after a little while, you ³  will see me,’ and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ⁴ 

I ¹  am no longer in the world, but ²  they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe ³  in your name ⁴  that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. ⁵ 

And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, ¹  so that he would become ²  the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, ³  that they too could have righteousness credited to them.

For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, ¹  with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants – not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, ²  who is the father of us all

I have written to you, children, that ¹  you have known the Father. ²  I have written to you, fathers, that ³  you have known him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young people, that ⁴  you are strong, and the word of God resides in you, and you have conquered the evil one.

These words of Ish-bosheth really angered Abner and he said, “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah? This very day I am demonstrating ¹  loyalty to the house of Saul your father and to his relatives ²  and his friends! I have not betrayed you into the hand of David. Yet you have accused me of sinning with this woman today! ³ 

“Don’t imagine that because you are part of the king’s household you will be the one Jew ¹  who will escape. If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear ²  from another source, ³  while you and your father’s household perish. It may very well be ⁴  that you have achieved royal status ⁵  for such a time as this!”