I fear for you that my work for you may have been in vain.

Obey ¹  with enthusiasm, as though serving the Lord ²  and not people,

After him the Levites worked – Rehum son of Bani and ¹  after him Hashabiah, head of half the district of Keilah, for his district.

I gave myself to the work on this wall, without even purchasing ¹  a field. All my associates were gathered there for the work.

The sleep of the laborer is pleasant – whether he eats little or much – but the wealth of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

This is another misfortune: ¹  Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling for the wind?

I have given him the land of Egypt as his compensation for attacking Tyre ¹ , because they did it for me, declares the sovereign Lord.

to aspire to lead a quiet life, to attend to your own business, and to work with your hands, as we commanded you.

to be self-controlled, ¹  pure, fulfilling their duties at home, ²  kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the message ³  of God may not be discredited. ⁴ 

So Ruth ¹  went and gathered grain in the fields ²  behind the harvesters. Now she just happened to end up ³  in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

They would then hand over ¹  the silver that had been weighed to the construction foremen ²  assigned to the Lord’s temple. They hired carpenters and builders to work on the Lord’s temple,

At that time I instructed ¹  the people, “Let every man and his coworker spend the night in Jerusalem and let them be guards for us by night and workers by day.

A blacksmith works with his tool ¹  and forges metal over the coals. He forms it ²  with hammers; he makes it with his strong arm. He gets hungry and loses his energy; ³  he drinks no water and gets tired.

in which ¹  you formerly lived ²  according to this world’s present path, ³  according to the ruler of the kingdom ⁴  of the air, the ruler of ⁵  the spirit ⁶  that is now energizing ⁷  the sons of disobedience, ⁸ 

The one who steals must steal no longer; rather he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with the one who has need.

and we did not eat anyone’s food without paying. ¹  Instead, in toil and drudgery we worked ²  night and day in order not to burden any of you.

Jacob ¹  had marital relations ²  with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban ³  for seven more years. ⁴ 

Make the work harder ¹  for the men so they will keep at it ²  and pay no attention to lying words!” ³ 

He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; ¹  he must serve with you until the year of jubilee,

Indeed, it was the very hand of the Lord that eliminated them from within ¹  the camp until they were all gone.