<t /><p class="bodytext">There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old,<n id="1" /> having been married to her husband for seven years until his death.

She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years.<n id="1" /> She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.<n id="2" />

because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying.<n id="1" />p> <p class="bodytext">As Jesus was on his way, the crowds pressed<n id="2" /> around him.

And I will say to myself,<n id="1" /> &#8220;You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!&#8221;&#8217;

But the worker<n id="1" /> answered him, &#8216;Sir, leave it alone this year too, until I dig around it and put fertilizer<n id="2" /> on it.

and a woman was there<n id="1" /> who had been disabled by a spirit<n id="2" /> for eighteen years. She<n id="3" /> was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely.<n id="4" />

Then the Jewish leaders<n id="1" /> said to him, &#8220;This temple has been under construction<n id="2" /> for forty-six years,<n id="3" /> and are you going to raise it up in three days?&#8221;

But God spoke as follows: &#8216;Your<n id="1" /> <b><i>descendants will be foreignersi>b><n id="2" /> <b><i>in a foreign country, whose citizens will enslave them and mistreat them for four hundred yearsi>b>.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;After<n id="1" /> forty years had passed, <i>an angel appeared to him in the deserti><n id="2" /> <i>of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bushi>.<n id="3" />

This man led them out, performing wonders and miraculous signs<n id="1" /> in the land of Egypt,<n id="2" /> at<n id="3" /> the Red Sea, and in the wilderness<n id="4" /> for forty years.

Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled<n id="1" /> forty years.

This went on for two years, so that all who lived in the province of Asia,<n id="1" /> both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.<n id="2" />p>

But now there is nothing more to keep me<n id="1" /> in these regions, and I have for many years desired<n id="2" /> to come to you

<p class="otpoetry"><b><i>and like a robe you will fold them upi>b>p> <p class="otpoetry"><b><i>andi>b> like a garment<n id="1" /> <b><i>they will be changed,i>b>p> <p class="otpoetry"><i><b>but you are the same and your years will never run outb>.i>&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

He<n id="1" /> seized the dragon &#8211; the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan &#8211; and tied him up for a thousand years.

(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.)<n id="1" /> This is the first resurrection.

But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah&#8217;s days,<n id="1" /> when the sky<n id="2" /> was shut up three and a half years, and<n id="3" /> there was a great famine over all the land.

So<n id="1" /> he said to the worker who tended the vineyard, &#8216;For<n id="2" /> three years<n id="3" /> now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it<n id="4" /> I find none. Cut<n id="5" /> it down! Why<n id="6" /> should it continue to deplete<n id="7" /> the soil?&#8217;

Then<n id="1" /> shouldn&#8217;t<n id="2" /> this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan<n id="3" /> bound for eighteen long<n id="4" /> years, be released from this imprisonment<n id="5" /> on the Sabbath day?&#8221;

but he answered<n id="1" /> his father, &#8216;Look! These many years I have worked like a slave<n id="2" /> for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet<n id="3" /> you never gave me even a goat<n id="4" /> so that I could celebrate with my friends!