Now before faith ¹  came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners ²  until the coming faith would be revealed.

They court you eagerly, ¹  but for no good purpose; ²  they want to exclude you, so that you would seek them eagerly. ³ 

so that we, who were the first to set our hope ¹  on Christ, ²  would be to the praise of his glory.

For in fact when we were with you, we were telling you in advance that we would suffer affliction, and so it has happened, as you well know. ¹ 

I would rather appeal ¹  to you on the basis of love – I, Paul, an old man ²  and even now a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus ³  –

However, ¹  without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your good deed would not be out of compulsion, but from your own willingness.

For perhaps it was for this reason that he was separated from you for a little while, so that you would have him back eternally, ¹ 

Now Moses was faithful in all God’s ¹  house ²  as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken.

As it says, ¹  “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! ²  Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” ³ 

Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer ¹  the gifts prescribed by the law.

In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.

By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, ¹  so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

By his sovereign plan he gave us birth ¹  through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

But Moses said, “That would not be the right thing to do, ¹  for the sacrifices we make ²  to the Lord our God would be an abomination ³  to the Egyptians. ⁴  If we make sacrifices that are an abomination to the Egyptians right before their eyes, ⁵  will they not stone us? ⁶ 

But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us. ¹  He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”

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.”

surely you would not want to wait until they were old enough to marry! ¹  Surely you would not remain unmarried all that time! ²  No, ³  my daughters, you must not return with me. ⁴  For my intense suffering ⁵  is too much for you to bear. ⁶  For the Lord is afflicting me!” ⁷ 

He would jab it into the basin, kettle, caldron, or pot, and everything that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they used to do to all the Israelites ¹  when they came there to Shiloh.

When he would shave his head – at the end of every year he used to shave his head, for it grew too long ¹  and he would shave it – he used to weigh the hair of his head at three pounds ²  according to the king’s weight.

Now Absalom used to get up early and stand beside the road that led to the city gate. Whenever anyone came by who had a complaint to bring to the king for arbitration, Absalom would call out to him, “What city are you from?” The person would answer, “I, your servant, ¹  am from one of the tribes of Israel.”