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.

Tahpenes’ sister gave birth to his son, ¹  named Genubath. Tahpenes raised ²  him in Pharaoh’s palace; Genubath grew up in Pharaoh’s palace among Pharaoh’s sons.

“Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. ¹  They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies.

The Lord said, “You were upset ¹  about this little ²  plant, something for which you have not worked nor did you do anything to make it grow. It grew up overnight and died the next day. ³ 

he stood his ground ¹  and fought the Philistines until his hand grew so tired that it ²  seemed stuck to his sword. The Lord gave a great victory on that day. When the army returned to him, the only thing left to do was to plunder the corpses.

They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took possession of houses full of all sorts of good things – wells previously dug, vineyards, olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate until they were full ¹  and grew fat. They enjoyed to the full your great goodness.

He got up on the bed and spread his body out over ¹  the boy; he put his mouth on the boy’s ²  mouth, his eyes over the boy’s eyes, and the palms of his hands against the boy’s palms. He bent down over him, and the boy’s skin ³  grew warm.

When he would shave his head – at the end of every year he used to shave his head, for it grew too long ¹  and he would shave it – he used to weigh the hair of his head at three pounds ²  according to the king’s weight.

They covered ¹  the surface ²  of all the ground, so that the ground became dark with them, ³  and they ate all the vegetation of the ground and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green remained on the trees or on anything that grew in the fields throughout the whole land of Egypt.

But Jeshurun ¹  became fat and kicked, you ²  got fat, thick, and stuffed! Then he deserted the God who made him, and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.

Samuel continued to grow, and the Lord was with him. None of his prophecies fell to the ground unfulfilled. ¹ 

In this way the word of the Lord ¹  continued to grow in power ²  and to prevail. ³ 

However, the war was prolonged between the house of Saul and the house of David. David was becoming steadily stronger, while the house of Saul was becoming increasingly weaker.

And the child kept growing ¹  and becoming strong ²  in spirit, and he was in the wilderness ³  until the day he was revealed ⁴  to Israel.

He ¹  did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.

Jehoshaphat’s power kept increasing. He built fortresses and storage cities throughout Judah.

Consider! It is planted, but will it prosper? Will it not wither completely when the east wind blows on it? Will it not wither in the soil where it sprouted?’”

The Israelites, ¹  however, ²  were fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied, and became extremely strong, ³  so that the land was filled with them.

So they gathered it each morning, ¹  each person according to what he could eat, and when the sun got hot, it would melt. ² 

Whenever the Israelites were strong militarily, they forced the Canaanites to do hard labor, but they never totally conquered them. ¹