Vindicate me, O God! Fight for me ²  against an ungodly nation! Deliver me ³  from deceitful and evil men! ⁴ 

Rise up, O God! Defend your honor! ¹  Remember how fools insult you all day long! ² 

“A noise is heard on the hilltops. It is the sound of the people of Israel crying and pleading to their gods. Indeed they have followed sinful ways; ¹  they have forgotten to be true to the Lord their God. ² 

That is how ¹  they have grown fat and sleek. ²  There is no limit to the evil things they do. ³  They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it. They do not defend the rights of the poor.

But the older son ¹  became angry ²  and refused ³  to go in. His father came out and appealed to him,

Although ¹  I am innocent, ²  I could not answer him; ³  I could only plead ⁴  with my judge ⁵  for mercy.

When we heard this, both we and the local people ¹  begged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

I appeal to Euodia and to Syntyche to agree in the Lord.

But the one who will rescue them ¹  is strong. He is known as the Lord who rules over all. ²  He will strongly ³  champion their cause. As a result ⁴  he will bring peace and rest to the earth, but trouble and turmoil ⁵  to the people who inhabit Babylonia. ⁶ 

I must endure ¹  the Lord’s anger, for I have sinned against him. But then ²  he will defend my cause, ³  and accomplish justice on my behalf. He will lead me out into the light; I will experience firsthand ⁴  his deliverance. ⁵ 

But ¹  if you will look ²  to God, and make your supplication ³  to the Almighty,

A poor person makes supplications, ¹  but a rich man answers harshly. ² 

When he entered Capernaum, ¹  a centurion ²  came to him asking for help: ³ 

That very day Gideon’s father named him Jerub-Baal, ¹  because he had said, “Let Baal fight with him, for it was his altar that was pulled down.”

A well-written song ²  by David, when he was in the cave; ³  a prayer. To the Lord I cry out; ⁴  to the Lord I plead for mercy. ⁵ 

No one is concerned about justice; ¹  no one sets forth his case truthfully. They depend on false words ²  and tell lies; they conceive of oppression ³  and give birth to sin.

Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the sovereign Lord.

Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ¹  ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’

Then his lord called the first slave ¹  and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me!

A ¹  vision appeared to Paul during the night: A Macedonian man was standing there ²  urging him, ³  “Come over ⁴  to Macedonia ⁵  and help us!”