All those who behave wickedly ¹  do not understand ²  – those who devour my people as if they were eating bread, and do not call out to God.

The Lord says, ¹  “Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him; I will protect him ²  because he is loyal to me. ³ 

A song of ascents. ²  Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion; it cannot be upended and will endure forever.

Suddenly he went ¹  after her like an ox that goes to the slaughter, like a stag prancing into a trapper’s snare ² 

Here is a message about Egypt: Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud and approaches Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him; the Egyptians lose their courage. ¹ 

“People of Judah, ¹  get out of Babylon quickly! Leave the land of Babylonia! ²  Be the first to depart! ³  Be like the male goats that lead the herd.

You who have escaped the sword, ¹  go, do not delay. ²  Remember the Lord in a faraway land. Think about Jerusalem. ³ 

But you should go your way ¹  until the end. ²  You will rest and then at the end of the days you will arise to receive ³  what you have been allotted.” ⁴ 

They have committed treason ¹  against the Lord, because they bore illegitimate children. Soon ²  the new moon festival will devour them and their fields.

“I am the Lord your God ¹  who brought you ²  out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again as in the days of old. ³ 

Although it grieved the king, ¹  because of his oath and the dinner guests he commanded it to be given.

He answered them, ¹  “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?

and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? ¹ 

Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’

(Now the betrayer ¹  had given them a sign, saying, “The one I kiss is the man. ²  Arrest him!”) ³ 

Although it grieved the king deeply, ¹  he did not want to reject her request because of his oath and his guests.

(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing, ¹  holding fast to the tradition of the elders.

If I send them home hungry, they will faint on the way, and some of them have come from a great distance.”

Now ¹  they wanted to arrest him (but they feared the crowd), because they realized that he told this parable against them. So ²  they left him and went away. ³ 

Then ¹  they went out and ran from the tomb, for terror and bewilderment had seized them. ²  And they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.