So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, ¹  the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully ²  with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He ¹  assembled his whole army, ²  camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.

Ahimelech replied to the king, “Who among all your servants is faithful like David? He is the king’s son-in-law, the leader of your bodyguard, and honored in your house!

I represent the peaceful and the faithful in Israel. You are attempting to destroy an important city ¹  in Israel. Why should you swallow up the Lord’s inheritance?”

Ahab had seventy sons living in Samaria. ¹  So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the leading officials of Jezreel and to the guardians of Ahab’s dynasty. This is what the letters said, ² 

So now, O Lord, may the promise you made about your servant and his family become a permanent reality! ¹  Do as you promised, ² 

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,

Now, Lord God, may your promise ¹  to my father David be realized, ²  for you have made me king over a great nation as numerous as the dust of the earth.

For the music director; according to the sheminith style; ²  a psalm of David. Deliver, Lord! For the godly ³  have disappeared; ⁴  people of integrity ⁵  have vanished. ⁶ 

Love the Lord, all you faithful followers ¹  of his! The Lord protects those who have integrity, but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly. ² 

Then they will not be like their ancestors, who were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that was not committed and faithful to God. ¹ 

I will reestablish honest judges as in former times, wise advisers as in earlier days. ¹  Then you will be called, ‘The Just City, Faithful Town.’”

Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says: “Look, I am laying ¹  a stone in Zion, an approved ²  stone, set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ³  The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ⁴ 

Pay attention and come to me! Listen, so you can live! ¹  Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to ²  you, just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. ³ 

Look all around you! ¹  They all gather and come to you – your sons come from far away and your daughters are escorted by guardians.

Why must I continually suffer such painful anguish? Why must I endure the sting of their insults like an incurable wound? Will you let me down when I need you like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on?” ¹ 

ל (Lamed) Neither the kings of the earth nor the people of the lands ¹  ever thought ²  that enemy or foe would enter the gates ³  of Jerusalem. ⁴ 

(12:1) ¹  Ephraim has surrounded me with lies; the house of Israel has surrounded me ²  with deceit. But Judah still roams about with ³  God; he remains faithful to the Holy One.

“Look at the nations and pay attention! ¹  You will be shocked and amazed! ²  For I will do something in your lifetime ³  that you will not believe even though you are forewarned. ⁴ 

And if ¹  they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you, ²  then take ³  some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” ⁴