Now the woman ¹  had a well-fed calf ²  at her home that she quickly slaughtered. Taking some flour, she kneaded bread and baked it without leaven.

Then, as soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read in the presence of Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they proceeded promptly to the Jews in Jerusalem ¹  and stopped them with threat of armed force. ² 

For the music director; by David; written to get God’s attention. ²  O God, please be willing to rescue me! ³  O Lord, hurry and help me! ⁴ 

I am oppressed and needy! ¹  O God, hurry to me! ²  You are my helper and my deliverer! O Lord, ³  do not delay!

Do not rush out of the king’s presence in haste – do not delay when the matter is unpleasant, ¹  for he can do whatever he pleases.

Yet do not depart quickly or leave in a panic. ¹  For the Lord goes before you; the God of Israel is your rear guard.

and said to him, “Hurry, speak to this young man ¹  as follows: ‘Jerusalem will no longer be enclosed by walls ²  because of the multitude of people and animals there.

But many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they hurried on foot ¹  from all the towns ²  and arrived there ahead of them. ³ 

For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk.

Do not lay hands on anyone ¹  hastily and so identify with the sins of others. ²  Keep yourself pure.

You must not eat any yeast with it; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, symbolic of affliction, for you came out of Egypt hurriedly. You must do this so you will remember for the rest of your life the day you came out of the land of Egypt.

So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, ¹  “Come on! ²  Let’s escape! ³  Otherwise no one will be delivered from Absalom! Go immediately, or else he will quickly overtake us and bring ⁴  disaster on us and kill the city’s residents with the sword.” ⁵ 

Abraham got up early in the morning and went ¹  to the place where he had stood before the Lord.

Abraham’s servant ¹  ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a sip of water from your jug.”

(Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban.) ¹  Laban rushed out to meet the man at the spring.

So each man quickly lowered ¹  his sack to the ground and opened it.

The prophet ¹  quickly removed the bandage from his eyes and the king of Israel recognized he was one of the prophets.

When Athaliah heard the royal guard ¹  shout, she joined the crowd ²  at the Lord’s temple.

When Athaliah heard the royal guard ¹  shouting and praising the king, she joined the crowd ²  at the Lord’s temple.

Hurry and look ¹  at the permanent ruins, and all the damage the enemy has done to the temple! ²