So ¹  he answered them, ²  “Go tell ³  John what you have seen and heard: ⁴  The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the ⁵  deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news proclaimed to them.

For I am afraid that somehow when I come I will not find you what I wish, and you will find me ¹  not what you wish. I am afraid that ²  somehow there may be quarreling, jealousy, intense anger, selfish ambition, ³  slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

(Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite ¹  replied to Abraham in the hearing ²  of the sons of Heth – before all who entered the gate ³  of his city –

¹ Moses answered again, ²  “And if ³  they do not believe me or pay attention to me, ⁴  but say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’?”

But Moses replied to ¹  the Lord, “If the Israelites did not listen to me, then ²  how will Pharaoh listen to me, since ³  I speak with difficulty?” ⁴ 

and all the people answered together, “All that the Lord has commanded we will do!” ¹  So Moses brought the words of the people back to the Lord.

Moses came ¹  and told the people all the Lord’s words ²  and all the decisions. All the people answered together, ³  “We are willing to do ⁴  all the words that the Lord has said,”

He said, “Who are you?” ¹  She replied, “I am Ruth, your servant. ²  Marry your servant, ³  for you are a guardian of the family interests.” ⁴ 

But Hannah replied, “That’s not the way it is, ¹  my lord! I am under a great deal of stress. ²  I have drunk neither wine nor beer. Rather, I have poured out my soul to ³  the Lord.

Saul said to his uncle, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Saul ¹  did not tell him what Samuel had said about the matter of kingship.

The priest replied to David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread at my disposal. Only holy bread is available, and then only if your soldiers ¹  have abstained from sexual relations with women.” ² 

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!

So David asked the Lord once again. But again the Lord replied, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”

When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed low with his face toward the ground. ¹  David said, “Mephibosheth?” He replied, “Yes, at your service.” ² 

Forgive all the rebellious acts of your sinful people and cause their captors to have mercy on them. ¹ 

then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, ¹  and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of their motives. ²  (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.) ³ 

then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help, ¹  vindicate them, ²  and forgive your sinful people.

I responded to them by saying, “The God of heaven will prosper us. We his servants will start the rebuilding. ¹  But you have no just or ancient right in Jerusalem.” ² 

Queen Esther replied, “If I have met with your approval, ¹  O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request, and my people as my petition.

Then Haggai asked, “If a person who is ritually unclean because of touching a dead body ¹  comes in contact with one of these items, will it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”