Then say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom), ¹  and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity),

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed, the pot whose rot ¹  is in it, whose rot has not been removed ²  from it! Empty it piece by piece. No lot has fallen on it. ³ 

Say to the Ammonites, ‘Hear the word of the sovereign Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says: You said “Aha!” about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and about the house of Judah when they went into exile.

Ephraim was a well-trained heifer who loved to thresh grain; I myself put a fine yoke ¹ on her neck. I will harness Ephraim. Let Judah plow! ²  Let Jacob break up ³  the unplowed ground for himself!

This is what the Lord says: “Because the Ammonites have committed three crimes ¹  – make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³  They ripped open Gilead’s pregnant women ⁴  so they could expand their territory.

This is what the Lord says: “Because Moab has committed three crimes ¹  – make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³  They burned the bones of Edom’s king into lime. ⁴ 

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with ¹  three measures ²  of flour until all the dough had risen.” ³ 

For Herod himself had sent men, arrested John, and bound him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod ¹  had married her.

He called his disciples and said to them, “I tell you the truth, ¹  this poor widow has put more into the offering box ²  than all the others. ³ 

Now when they heard this, they began to drift away one at a time, starting with the older ones, ¹  until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

But again I ask, didn’t Israel understand? ¹  First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger.” ² 

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn to fulfill their duty ¹  toward their own household and so repay their parents what is owed them. ²  For this is what pleases God. ³ 

Then ¹  one powerful angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone, threw it into the sea, and said, “With this kind of sudden violent force ²  Babylon the great city will be thrown down ³  and it will never be found again!

When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring ¹  and heard his sister Rebekah say, ²  “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing ³  by the camels near the spring.

When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, ¹  and the sheep of his uncle Laban, he ²  went over ³  and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban. ⁴ 

then ¹  the man must bring his wife to the priest, and he must bring the offering required for her, one tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he must not pour olive oil on it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of suspicion, ²  a grain offering for remembering, ³  for bringing ⁴  iniquity to remembrance.

Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be rewarded by the Lord because he ¹  has shown loyalty to the living on behalf of the dead!” ²  Then Naomi said to her, “This man is a close relative of ours; he is our guardian.” ³ 

I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, as my wife to raise up a descendant who will inherit his property ¹  so the name of the deceased might not disappear ²  from among his relatives and from his village. ³  You are witnesses today.”

When David went home to pronounce a blessing on his own house, ¹  Michal, Saul’s daughter, came out to meet him. ²  She said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished ³  himself this day! He has exposed himself today before his servants’ slave girls the way a vulgar fool ⁴  might do!”

But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children. ¹  It used to ²  eat his food, ³  drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. ⁴  It was just like a daughter to him.