They blessed Rebekah with these words: ¹  “Our sister, may you become the mother ²  of thousands of ten thousands! May your descendants possess the strongholds ³  of their enemies.”

Just as you do not know the path ¹  of the wind, or how the bones form ²  in the womb of a pregnant woman, ³  so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

But his father and mother said to him, “Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our ¹  people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.” ²  But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, ³  because she is the right one for me.” ⁴ 

The Lord’s spirit empowered ¹  him and he tore the lion ²  in two with his bare hands ³  as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned ¹  to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass. ² 

King Solomon answered his mother, “Why just request Abishag the Shunammite for him? ¹  Since he is my older brother, you should also request the kingdom for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!”

Suppose your own full brother, ¹  your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods ²  that neither you nor your ancestors ³  have previously known, ⁴ 

Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? ¹  Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? ²  Even if mothers ³  were to forget, I could never forget you! ⁴ 

“Before I formed you in your mother’s womb ¹  I chose you. ²  Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

In ¹  Lystra ²  sat a man who could not use his feet, ³  lame from birth, ⁴  who had never walked.

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. ¹ 

“Why did I not ²  die ³  at birth, ⁴  and why did I not expire as ⁵  I came out of the womb?

The fatherless child is snatched ¹  from the breast, ²  the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge. ³ 

A foolish child is a grief ¹  to his father, and bitterness to the mother who bore him. ² 

Finally he told her his secret. ¹  He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, ²  for I have been dedicated to God ³  from the time I was conceived. ⁴  If my head ⁵  were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”

His fourth son was Adonijah, the son of Haggith. His fifth son was Shephatiah, the son of Abitail.

Caleb’s concubine Maacah bore Sheber and Tirhanah.

The furnishings included linen and purple curtains hung by cords of the finest linen ¹  and purple wool on silver rings, alabaster columns, gold and silver couches ²  displayed on a floor made of valuable stones of alabaster, mother-of-pearl, and mineral stone.

From whose womb does the ice emerge, and the frost from the sky, ¹  who gives birth to it,

He went ¹  to be registered with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him, ²  and who was expecting a child.