“Take the shorts that you bought and are wearing ¹  and go at once ²  to Perath. ³  Bury the shorts there ⁴  in a crack in the rocks.”

Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to Perath and get ¹  the shorts I ordered you to bury there.”

I did not spend my time in the company of other people, laughing and having a good time. I stayed to myself because I felt obligated to you ¹  and because I was filled with anger at what they had done.

When the time for them to be rescued comes,” ¹  says the Lord who rules over all, ²  “I will rescue you from foreign subjugation. ³  I will deliver you from captivity. ⁴  Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them.

Indeed they will climb the slopes of Luhith, weeping continually as they go. ¹  For on the road down to Horonaim they will hear the cries of distress over the destruction. ² 

“‘But I will spare some of you. Some will escape the sword when you are scattered in foreign lands. ¹ 

wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians ¹  whose native land is Chaldea.

You will advance; ¹  you will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the earth, you, all your troops, and the many other peoples with you.

I will judge him with plague and bloodshed. I will rain down on him, his troops and the many peoples who are with him a torrential downpour, hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

You will fall dead on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the people who are with you. I give you as food to every kind of bird and every wild beast.

I looked up ¹  and saw a ²  man ³  clothed in linen; ⁴  around his waist was a belt made of gold from Upaz. ⁵ 

I will transform the lame into the nucleus of a new nation, ¹  and those far off ²  into a mighty nation. The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion, from that day forward and forevermore.” ³ 

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem ¹  in Judea, in the time ²  of King Herod, ³  wise men ⁴  from the East came to Jerusalem ⁵ 

Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. ¹ 

While he was still speaking, Judas, ¹  one of the twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people.

John wore a garment made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ¹ 

Right away, while Jesus ¹  was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived. ²  With him came a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and experts in the law ³  and elders.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth ¹  and laid him in a manger, ²  because there was no place for them in the inn. ³ 

This ¹  will be a sign ²  for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” ³ 

While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd appeared, ¹  and the man named Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He walked up ²  to Jesus to kiss him. ³