Gehazi, the prophet Elisha’s servant, thought, ¹  “Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him. ²  As certainly as the Lord lives, I will run after him and accept something from him.”

So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?” Haman thought to himself, ¹  “Who is it that the king would want to honor more than me?”

So I thought to myself, “The fate of the fool will happen even to me! ¹  Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively ²  wise?” ³  So I lamented to myself, ⁴  “The benefits of wisdom ⁵  are ultimately ⁶  meaningless!”

I thought to myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked; for there is an appropriate time for every activity, and there is a time of judgment ¹  for every deed.

You were complacent in your evil deeds; ¹  you thought, ²  ‘No one sees me.’ Your self-professed ³  wisdom and knowledge lead you astray, when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ ⁴ 

Yet even after she had done all that, I thought that she might come back to me. ¹  But she did not. Her sister, unfaithful Judah, saw what she did. ² 

I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. ¹  They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. ²  They do not know what their God requires of them. ³ 

ר (Resh) Our very life breath – the Lord’s anointed king ¹  – was caught in their traps, ²  of whom we thought, ³  “Under his protection ⁴  we will survive among the nations.”

I thought, ¹  ‘Certainly you will respect ²  me! Now you will accept correction!’ If she had done so, her home ³  would not be destroyed ⁴  by all the punishments I have threatened. ⁵  But they eagerly sinned in everything they did. ⁶ 

While the people were listening to these things, Jesus ¹  proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, ²  and because they thought ³  that the kingdom of God ⁴  was going to ⁵  appear immediately.

Then the people ¹  who were with Mary ²  in the house consoling her saw her ³  get up quickly and go out. They followed her, because they thought she was going to the tomb to weep ⁴  there.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, ¹  I set aside childish ways.

And he must be well thought of by ¹  those outside the faith, ²  so that he may not fall into disgrace and be caught by the devil’s trap. ³ 

Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. ¹  He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy ²  the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. ³ 

When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, “She is my sister.” ¹  He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” for he thought to himself, ²  “The men of this place will kill me to get ³  Rebekah because she is very beautiful.”

Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, ¹  “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” ²  So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude ¹  be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite ²  and you do not lend ³  him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. ⁴ 

¹ Then Saul said to David, “Here’s my oldest daughter, Merab. I want to give her to you in marriage. Only be a brave warrior ²  for me and fight the battles of the Lord.” For Saul thought, “There’s no need for me to raise my hand against him. Let it be the hand of the Philistines!”

Taking an oath, David again ¹  said, “Your father is very much aware of the fact ²  that I have found favor with you, and he has thought, ³  ‘Don’t let Jonathan know about this, or he will be upset.’ But as surely as the Lord lives and you live, there is about one step between me and death!”

David thought to himself, ¹  “One of these days I’m going to be swept away by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of searching for me through all the territory of Israel and I will escape from his hand.”