I do not say this because I am seeking a gift. ¹  Rather, I seek the credit that abounds to your account.

First of all, then, I urge that requests, ¹  prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, ² 

This saying ¹  is trustworthy: “If someone aspires to the office of overseer, ²  he desires a good work.”

Then you may spend the money however you wish for cattle, sheep, wine, beer, or whatever you desire. You and your household may eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and enjoy it.

On the other hand, you may slaughter and eat meat as you please when the Lord your God blesses you ¹  in all your villages. ²  Both the ritually pure and impure may eat it, whether it is a gazelle or an ibex.

Don’t be concerned ¹  about the donkeys that you lost three days ago, for they have been found. Whom does all Israel desire? Is it not you, and all your father’s family?” ² 

King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, besides what he had freely offered her. ¹  Then she left and returned ²  to her homeland with her attendants.

Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will ¹  from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, ²  to the place the Lord chooses

May those who are trying to snatch away my life be totally embarrassed and ashamed! ¹  May those who want to harm me be turned back and ashamed! ² 

In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. ¹  No, it is realized as I desire and is fulfilled as I intend.” ² 

You must ¹  actively help the hungry and feed the oppressed. ²  Then your light will dispel the darkness, ³  and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. ⁴ 

But I will restore the flock of Israel to their own pasture. They will graze on Mount Carmel and the land of Bashan. They will eat until they are full ¹  on the hills of Ephraim and the land of Gilead. ² 

I will also shake up all the nations, and they ¹  will offer their treasures; ²  then I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord who rules over all.

But the man who is firm in his commitment, and is under no necessity but has control over his will, and has decided in his own mind to keep his own virgin, does well.

We were encouraged ¹  not only by his arrival, but also by the encouragement ²  you gave ³  him, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, ⁴  your deep concern ⁵  for me, so that I rejoiced more than ever.

And what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may eliminate any opportunity for those who want a chance to be regarded as our equals ¹  in the things they boast about.

But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless ¹  basic forces? ²  Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? ³ 

Now I desire to remind you (even though you have been fully informed of these facts ¹  once for all ² ) that Jesus, ³  having saved the ⁴  people out of the land of Egypt, later ⁵  destroyed those who did not believe.

Then the elders of his city must summon him and speak to him. If he persists, saying, “I don’t want to marry her,”

After Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the other construction projects he had planned, ¹