<p class="poetry">Are God&#8217;s consolations<n id="1" /> too trivial for you;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">or a word spoken<n id="3" /> in gentleness to you?p>

<p class="bodytext">When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He slept in sackcloth and walked around dejected.

&#8220;These people<n id="1" /> have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah<n id="2" /> and melt in fear over Rezin and the son of Remaliah.<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">The Egyptians will panic,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and I will confuse their strategy.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,p> <p class="poetry">from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I led them with leather<n id="1" /> cords,p> <p class="poetry">with leather<n id="2" /> ropes;p> <p class="poetry">I lifted the yoke<n id="3" /> from their neck,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and gently fed them.<n id="5" />p>

Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children,<n id="1" /> until I come to my lord at Seir.&#8221;p>

The king gave this order to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: &#8220;For my sake deal gently with the young man Absalom.&#8221; Now the entire army was listening when the king gave all the leaders this order concerning Absalom.p>