The Lord ¹  is my strength and my song, ²  and he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him, ³  my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

But the people were very thirsty ¹  there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world ²  did you bring us up out of Egypt – to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” ³ 

¹ When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ²  he did not go as at the other times ³  to seek for omens, ⁴  but he set his face ⁵  toward the wilderness.

Rather it is because of his ¹  love ²  for you and his faithfulness to the promise ³  he solemnly vowed ⁴  to your ancestors ⁵  that the Lord brought you out with great power, ⁶  redeeming ⁷  you from the place of slavery, from the power ⁸  of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

You must stone him to death ¹  because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.

He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old, ¹  for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She ²  is better to you than seven sons!”

The Lord shatters ¹  his adversaries; ²  he thunders against them from ³  the heavens. The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth. He will strengthen ⁴  his king and exalt the power ⁵  of his anointed one.” ⁶ 

Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” Saul ¹  replied, “To look for the donkeys. But when we realized they were lost, ²  we went to Samuel.”

After all, ¹  you picked them out of all the nations of the earth to be your special possession, ²  just as you, O sovereign Lord, announced through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”

then I will remove Israel from the land ¹  I have given them, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, ²  and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed ³  among all the nations.

No king before or after repented before the Lord as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses. ¹ 

so ¹  it may become a reality ²  and you may gain lasting fame, ³  as people say, ⁴  ‘The Lord who commands armies is the God of Israel.’ ⁵  David’s dynasty ⁶  will be established before you,

then I will remove you ¹  from my land I have given you, ²  I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, ³  and I will make you ⁴  an object of mockery and ridicule ⁵  among all the nations.

He said, “Naked ¹  I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. ²  The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. ³  May the name of the Lord ⁴  be blessed!”

In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried out to my God. ¹  From his heavenly temple ²  he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. ³ 

I decided ¹  to carefully ²  and thoroughly examine ³  all that has been accomplished on earth. ⁴  I concluded: ⁵  God has given people ⁶  a burdensome task ⁷  that keeps them ⁸  occupied. ⁹ 

God has made everything fit beautifully ¹  in its appropriate time, but ²  he has also placed ignorance ³  in the human heart ⁴  so that ⁵  people ⁶  cannot discover what God has ordained, ⁷  from the beginning to the end ⁸  of their lives. ⁹ 

So ¹  I again considered ²  all the oppression ³  that continually occurs ⁴  on earth. ⁵  This is what I saw: ⁶  The oppressed ⁷  were in tears, ⁸  but no one was comforting them; no one delivers ⁹  them from the power of their oppressors.

Here is ¹  another ²  enigma ³  that occurs on earth: Sometimes there are righteous people who get what the wicked deserve, ⁴  and sometimes there are wicked people who get what the righteous deserve. ⁵  I said, “This also is an enigma.”

Indeed, O Lord, ¹  you have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob. For diviners from the east are everywhere; ²  they consult omen readers like the Philistines do. ³  Plenty of foreigners are around. ⁴