When they had finished mocking ¹  him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes back on him. Then ²  they led him away to crucify him. ³ 

yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out ¹  by her unending pleas.’” ² 

Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up.

For in this earthly house ¹  we groan, because we desire to put on ²  our heavenly dwelling,

Finally, my brothers and sisters, ¹  rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up.

Then someone from the army informed him, “Your father put the army under a strict oath ¹  saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today!’ That is why the army is tired.”

You did not bring me lambs for your burnt offerings; you did not honor me with your sacrifices. I did not burden you with offerings; I did not make you weary by demanding ¹  incense.

You did not buy me aromatic reeds; ¹  you did not present to me ²  the fat of your sacrifices. Yet you burdened me with your sins; you made me weary with your evil deeds. ³ 

A blacksmith works with his tool ¹  and forges metal over the coals. He forms it ²  with hammers; he makes it with his strong arm. He gets hungry and loses his energy; ³  he drinks no water and gets tired.

You are tired out from listening to so much advice. ¹  Let them take their stand – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions – let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! ² 

The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, ¹  so that I know how to help the weary. ²  He wakes me up every morning; he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. ³ 

“Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ¹  I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side:

Groan in silence for the dead, ¹  but do not perform mourning rites. ²  Bind on your turban ³  and put your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your lip ⁴  and do not eat food brought by others.” ⁵ 

Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will not mourn or weep, but you will rot ¹  for your iniquities ²  and groan among yourselves.

They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another, ¹  ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; ²  we wailed in mourning, ³  yet you did not weep.’

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, ¹  but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.

and has a reputation for good works: as one who has raised children, ¹  practiced hospitality, washed the feet of the saints, helped those in distress – as one who has exhibited all kinds of good works. ² 

but a whole month, ¹  until it comes out your nostrils and makes you sick, ²  because you have despised ³  the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why ⁴  did we ever come out of Egypt?”’”

Otherwise the people of the land ¹  from which you brought us will say, “The Lord was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the desert.” ²