for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open ¹  and you will be like divine beings who know ²  good and evil.” ³ 

Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain ¹  that your descendants will be strangers ²  in a foreign country. ³  They will be enslaved and oppressed ⁴  for four hundred years.

If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death.” ¹ 

From Issachar there were 200 leaders and all their relatives at their command – they understood the times and knew what Israel should do. ¹ 

The king then inquired of the wise men who were discerners of the times – for it was the royal custom to confer with all those who were proficient in laws and legalities. ¹ 

If you say, “But we did not know about this,” does not the one who evaluates ¹  hearts consider? Does not the one who guards your life know? Will he not repay each person according to his deeds? ² 

For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything; they have no further reward – and even the memory of them disappears. ¹ 

The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptians, and they ¹  will acknowledge the Lord’s authority ²  at that time. ³  They will present sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them.

Or when they hand the scroll to one who can’t read ¹  and say, “Read this,” he says, “I can’t read.” ² 

Disaster will overtake you; you will not know how to charm it away. ¹  Destruction will fall on you; you will not be able to appease it. Calamity will strike you suddenly, before you recognize it. ² 

Look, you will summon nations ¹  you did not previously know; nations ²  that did not previously know you will run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, ³  for he bestows honor on you.

The dogs have big appetites; they are never full. ¹  They are shepherds who have no understanding; they all go their own way, each one looking for monetary gain. ² 

They are unfamiliar with peace; their deeds are unjust. ¹  They use deceitful methods, and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace. ² 

The Lord answered, ¹  “This will happen ²  because my people are foolish. They do not know me. They are like children who have no sense. ³  They have no understanding. They are skilled at doing evil. They do not know how to do good.”

Even the stork knows when it is time to move on. ¹  The turtledove, swallow, and crane ²  recognize ³  the normal times for their migration. But my people pay no attention to ⁴  what I, the Lord, require of them. ⁵ 

I said, ¹  “Lord, you know how I suffer. ²  Take thought of me and care for me. Pay back for me those who have been persecuting me. Do not be so patient with them that you allow them to kill me. Be mindful of how I have put up with their insults for your sake.

“The Lord has told you people who remain in Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be very sure of this: I warn you ¹  here and now. ² 

So now be very sure of this: You will die from war, starvation, or disease in the place where you want to go and live.”

So let us acknowledge him! ¹  Let us seek ²  to acknowledge ³  the Lord! He will come to our rescue as certainly as the appearance of the dawn, as certainly as the winter rain comes, as certainly as the spring rain that waters the land.”

Foreigners are consuming what his strenuous labor produced, ¹  but he does not recognize it! His head is filled with gray hair, but he does not realize it!