Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer! The word I speak will come to pass, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

They ¹  utter empty words, ²  taking ³  false oaths and making empty ⁴  agreements. Therefore legal disputes sprout up like poisonous weeds ⁵  in the furrows of a plowed field.

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  the experts in the law ²  and the chief priests wanted to arrest ³  him that very hour, because they realized he had told this parable against them. But ⁴  they were afraid of the people.

(Now Jesus ¹  said this to indicate clearly by what kind of death Peter ²  was going to glorify God.) ³  After he said this, Jesus told Peter, ⁴  “Follow me.”

It is the same for you. If you do not speak clearly with your tongue, how will anyone know what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air.

But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in ¹  what has been written, “I believed; therefore I spoke,” ²  we also believe, therefore we also speak.

how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him,

When the seven thunders spoke, I was preparing to write, but ¹  just then ²  I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders spoke and do not write it down.”

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants ¹  like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about ²  I will give to your descendants, ³  and they will inherit it forever.’”

Elisha said to Gehazi, ¹  “Tell her, ‘Look, you have treated us with such great respect. ²  What can I do for you? Can I put in a good word for you with the king or the commander of the army?’” She replied, “I’m quite secure.” ³ 

So I, the Lord, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel, say: ¹  “I will soon bring on Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem all the disaster that I threatened to bring on them. I will do this because I spoke to them but they did not listen. I called out to them but they did not answer.”’”

They said, “Cornelius the centurion, ¹  a righteous ²  and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, ³  was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message ⁴  from you.”

I have chosen him ¹  so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep ²  the way of the Lord by doing ³  what is right and just. Then the Lord will give ⁴  to Abraham what he promised ⁵  him.”

The king refused to listen to the people, because the Lord was instigating this turn of events ¹  so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made ²  through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

Isaiah replied, “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said. Do you want the shadow to move ahead ten steps or to go back ten steps?” ¹ 

The king then said to Haman, “Go quickly! Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do as you just indicated to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Don’t neglect ¹  a single thing of all that you have said.”

I have not failed to tell about your justice; ¹  I spoke about your reliability and deliverance; I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness. ² 

I have listened to them very carefully, ¹  but they do not speak honestly. None of them regrets the evil he has done. None of them says, “I have done wrong!” ²  All of them persist in their own wayward course ³  like a horse charging recklessly into battle.

“You have surely noticed what these people are saying, haven’t you? They are saying, ¹  ‘The Lord has rejected the two families of Israel and Judah ²  that he chose.’ So they have little regard that my people will ever again be a nation. ³