when he nullified ¹  in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man ²  out of two, ³  thus making peace,

so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world ¹ 

But to the rest of you in Thyatira, all who do not hold to this teaching ¹  (who have not learned the so-called “deep secrets ²  of Satan”), to you I say: I do not put any additional burden on you.

These are the ones who have not defiled themselves ¹  with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,

He declared ¹  in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”

When ¹  the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, ²  was attractive ³  to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, ⁴  she took some of its fruit and ate it. ⁵  She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. ⁶ 

but the fire which is on the altar must be kept burning on it. ¹  It must not be extinguished. So the priest must kindle wood on it morning by morning, and he must arrange the burnt offering on it and offer the fat of the peace offering up in smoke on it.

You must not eat any yeast with it; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, symbolic of affliction, for you came out of Egypt hurriedly. You must do this so you will remember for the rest of your life the day you came out of the land of Egypt.

He lifts the weak ¹  from the dust; he raises ²  the poor from the ash heap to seat them with princes and to bestow on them an honored position. ³  The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord, and he has placed the world on them.

So David got up from the ground, bathed, put on oil, and changed his clothes. He went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then, when he entered his palace, he requested that food be brought to him, and he ate.

When David had gone a short way beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth was there to meet him. He had a couple of donkeys that were saddled, and on them were two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred raisin cakes, a hundred baskets of summer fruit, ¹  and a container of wine.

They offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord every morning and every evening, along with fragrant incense. They arrange the Bread of the Presence on a ritually clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. Certainly ¹  we are observing the Lord our God’s regulations, but you have rejected him.

Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the areas belonging to the Israelites and encouraged ¹  all who were in Israel to worship the Lord their God. Throughout the rest of his reign ²  they did not turn aside from following the Lord God of their ancestors.

Behind the door and doorpost you put your symbols. ¹  Indeed, ²  you depart from me ³  and go up and invite them into bed with you. ⁴  You purchase favors from them, ⁵  you love their bed, and gaze longingly ⁶  on their genitals. ⁷ 

They will be like a tree planted near a stream whose roots spread out toward the water. It has nothing to fear when the heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought. It does not stop bearing fruit.

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.’”

They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion. They will be radiant with joy ¹  over the good things the Lord provides, the grain, the fresh wine, the olive oil, the young sheep and calves he has given to them. They will be like a well-watered garden and will not grow faint or weary any more.

Then King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be committed to the courtyard of the guardhouse. He also ordered that a loaf of bread ¹  be given to him every day from the baker’s street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah was kept ²  in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

Its foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful; on it there was food enough for all. Under it the wild animals ¹  used to seek shade, and in its branches the birds of the sky used to nest. All creatures ²  used to feed themselves from it.

From there I will give back her vineyards to her, and turn the “Valley of Trouble” ¹  into an “Opportunity ²  for Hope.” There she will sing as she did when she was young, ³  when ⁴  she came up from the land of Egypt.