He sprouted up like a twig before God, ¹  like a root out of parched soil; ²  he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, ³  no special appearance that we should want to follow him. ⁴ 

It contained the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered entirely with gold. In this ark ¹  were the golden urn containing the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.

Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit. ¹ 

All the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord. I make the high tree low; I raise up the low tree. I make the green tree wither, and I make the dry tree sprout. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!’”

When ¹  the dove returned to him in the evening, there was ²  a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.

If, as far as the priest can see, the scall has stayed the same ¹  and black hair has sprouted in it, the scall has been healed; the person is clean. So the priest is to pronounce him clean. ² 

is like the light of morning when the sun comes up, a morning in which there are no clouds. He is like the brightness after rain that produces grass from the earth.

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom. ²  Lord, how ³  numerous are my enemies! Many attack me. ⁴ 

You saturate ¹  its furrows, and soak ²  its plowed ground. ³  With rain showers you soften its soil, ⁴  and make its crops grow. ⁵ 

May there be ¹  an abundance ²  of grain in the earth; on the tops ³  of the mountains may it ⁴  sway! ⁵  May its ⁶  fruit trees ⁷  flourish ⁸  like the forests of Lebanon! ⁹  May its crops be as abundant as the grass of the earth!

At that time ¹  the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor; ²  the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight to those who remain in Israel. ³ 

The time is coming when Jacob will take root; ¹  Israel will blossom and grow branches. The produce ²  will fill the surface of the world. ³ 

Evergreens will grow in place of thorn bushes, firs will grow in place of nettles; they will be a monument to the Lord, ¹  a permanent reminder that will remain. ² 

“Indeed, a time is coming,” ¹  says the Lord, ²  “when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah. ³ 

From one of them came a small horn. ¹  But it grew to be very big, toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. ² 

The horn that was broken ¹  and in whose place there arose four others stands for four kingdoms that will arise from his nation, though they will not have his strength.

His young shoots will grow; his splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

Though I scatter ¹  them among the nations, they will remember in far-off places – they and their children will sprout forth and return.

Other ¹  seeds fell on rocky ground ²  where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. ³ 

“Learn ¹  this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.