Is it good for you ¹  to oppress, ²  to ³  despise the work of your hands, while ⁴  you smile ⁵  on the schemes of the wicked?

For the Lord God is our sovereign protector. ¹  The Lord bestows favor ²  and honor; he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity. ³ 

I will favor the honest people of the land, ¹  and allow them to live with me. ²  Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me. ³ 

If the wicked are shown mercy, they do not learn about justice. ¹  Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly; ²  they do not see the Lord’s majesty revealed.

Then I took my staff “Pleasantness” and cut it in two to annul my covenant that I had made with all the people.

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling down she asked him for a favor. ¹ 

praising God and having the good will ¹  of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number every day ²  those who were being saved.

The time ¹  for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh ²  and show me kindness and faithfulness. ³  Do not bury me in Egypt,

One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go ¹  to the fields so I can gather ²  grain behind whoever permits me to do so.” ³  Naomi ⁴  replied, “You may go, my daughter.”

Ruth ¹  knelt before him with her forehead to the ground ²  and said to him, “Why are you so kind ³  and so attentive to me, ⁴  even though ⁵  I am a foreigner?” ⁶ 

She said, “You really are being kind to me, ¹  sir, ²  for you have reassured ³  and encouraged ⁴  me, your servant, ⁵  even though I am ⁶  not one of your servants!” ⁷ 

When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she met with his approval. ¹  The king extended to Esther the gold scepter that was in his hand, and Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter.

For they did not conquer ¹  the land by their swords, and they did not prevail by their strength, ²  but rather by your power, ³  strength ⁴  and good favor, ⁵  for you were partial to ⁶  them.

The inhabitants of one will go to another and say, “Let’s go up at once to ask the favor of the Lord, to seek the Lord who rules over all. Indeed, I’ll go with you.”’

You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears ¹  as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you.

Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have been saying to me, ‘Bring this people up,’ ¹  but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. But you said, ‘I know you by name, ²  and also you have found favor in my sight.’

and said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord ¹  go among us, for we ²  are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

He said, ‘Permit me to go, ¹  for we are having a family sacrifice in the city, and my brother urged ²  me to be there. So now, if I have found favor with you, let me go ³  to see my brothers.’ For that reason he has not come to the king’s table.”

Ask your own servants; they can tell you! May my servants find favor in your sight, for we have come ¹  at the time of a holiday. Please provide us – your servants ²  and your son David – with whatever you can spare.” ³ 

Then Joab bowed down with his face toward the ground and thanked ¹  the king. Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your ²  servant!”