<t /><p class="bodytext">Now a wife of one of the prophets<n id="1" /> appealed<n id="2" /> to Elisha for help, saying, &#8220;Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="3" /> Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.&#8221;

Saul told his armor bearer, &#8220;Draw your sword and stab me with it. Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come and torture me.&#8221;<n id="1" /> But his armor bearer refused to do it, because he was very afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it.

David went out to meet them and said,<n id="1" /> &#8220;If you come to me in peace and want to help me, then I will make an alliance with you.<n id="2" /> But if you come to betray me to my enemies when I have not harmed you,<n id="3" /> may the God of our ancestors<n id="4" /> take notice and judge!&#8221;

So the <sc>Lordsc> said to Satan, &#8220;Have you considered<n id="1" /> my servant Job? There<n id="2" /> is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away<n id="3" /> from evil.&#8221;p>

Then the <sc>Lordsc> said to Satan, &#8220;Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly<n id="1" /> to his integrity,<n id="2" /> so that<n id="3" /> you stirred me up to destroy him<n id="4" /> without reason.&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Everyone shares the same fate<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the righteous and the wicked,p> <p class="poetry">the good and the bad,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the ceremonially clean and unclean,p> <p class="poetry">those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.p> <p class="poetry">What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.p>

<p class="poetry">They will be like a tree planted near a streamp> <p class="poetry">whose roots spread out toward the water.p> <p class="poetry">It has nothing to fear when the heat comes.p> <p class="poetry">Its leaves are always green.p> <p class="poetry">It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought.p> <p class="poetry">It does not stop bearing fruit.p>

<p class="bodytext">King Hezekiah and all the people of Judah did not put him to death, did they? Did not Hezekiah show reverence for the <sc>Lordsc> and seek the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s favor?<n id="1" /> Did not<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> forgo destroying them<n id="3" /> as he threatened he would? But we are on the verge of bringing great disaster on ourselves.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

But he<n id="1" /> responded to Daniel, &#8220;I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided<n id="2" /> your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age?<n id="3" /> If that happened,<n id="4" /> you would endanger my life<n id="5" /> with the king!&#8221;