Greet Tryphena ¹  and Tryphosa, laborers in the Lord. Greet my dear friend ²  Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.

“Your father made us work too hard. ¹  Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.” ² 

They judged the people under normal circumstances; the difficult cases they would bring ¹  to Moses, but every small case they would judge themselves.

When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, ¹  she came to challenge ²  him with difficult questions. ³ 

“Does not humanity have hard service ¹  on earth? Are not their days also like the days of a hired man? ² 

You have made your people experience hard times; ¹  you have made us drink intoxicating wine. ² 

‘Oh, Lord God, ¹  you did indeed ²  make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. ³  Nothing is too hard for you!

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, ¹  it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!

Then ¹  Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard, ¹  and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

Have I not wept for the unfortunate? ¹  Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

So he used suffering to humble them; ¹  they stumbled and no one helped them up.

“Your father made us work too hard! ¹  Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.” ² 

After looking around ¹  at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts, ²  he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ³ 

Is anything impossible ¹  for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” ² 

When the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety, ¹  and from the hard labor which you were made to perform,

Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things, ¹  said, “This is a difficult ²  saying! ³  Who can understand it?” ⁴ 

They are darkened in their understanding, ¹  being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

I feel torn between the two, ¹  because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far,

Elijah ¹  replied, “That’s a difficult request! ²  If you see me taken from you, may it be so, but if you don’t, it will not happen.”