<p class="bodytext">When he saw the angel who was destroying the people, David said to the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;Look, it is I who have sinned and done this evil thing! As for these sheep &#8211; what have they done? Attack me and my family.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">I said, &#8220;Too bad for me! I am destroyed,<n id="1" /> for my lips are contaminated by sin,<n id="2" /> and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin.<n id="3" /> My eyes have seen the king, the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies.&#8221;<n id="4" />

<p class="poetry">Indeed,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;captives will be taken from a warrior;p> <p class="poetry">spoils will be rescued from a conqueror.p> <p class="poetry">I will oppose your adversaryp> <p class="poetry">and I will rescue your children.p>

For I know what I have planned for you,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="1" /> &#8216;I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you<n id="2" /> a future filled with hope.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;For I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say:<n id="1" /> &#8216;I will surely bring on these people all the good fortune that I am hereby promising them. I will be just as sure to do that as I have been in bringing all this great disaster on them.<n id="2" />

All the nations will hear about all the good things which I will do to them. This city will bring me fame, honor, and praise before them for the joy that I bring it. The nations will tremble in awe at all the peace and prosperity that I will provide for it.&#8217;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Then the <sc>Lordsc> said to Cain, &#8220;Where is your brother Abel?&#8221;<n id="1" /> And he replied, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know! Am I my brother&#8217;s guardian?&#8221;<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">But Abram said, &#8220;O sovereign <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="1" /> what will you give me since<n id="2" /> I continue to be<n id="3" /> childless, and my heir<n id="4" /> is<n id="5" /> Eliezer of Damascus?&#8221;<n id="6" />

He said, &#8220;Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?&#8221; She replied, &#8220;I&#8217;m running away from<n id="1" /> my mistress, Sarai.&#8221;p>

so that I may make you solemnly promise<n id="1" /> by the <sc>Lordsc>, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire<n id="2" /> a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living.

My master made me swear an oath. He said, &#8216;You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,

When I came to the spring today, I prayed, &#8216;O <sc>Lordsc>, God of my master Abraham, if you have decided to make my journey successful,<n id="1" /> may events unfold as follows:<n id="2" />

Here I am, standing by the spring.<n id="1" /> When<n id="2" /> the young woman goes out to draw water, I&#8217;ll say, &#8220;Give me a little water to drink from your jug.&#8221;

But the children struggled<n id="1" /> inside her, and she said, &#8220;If it is going to be like this, I&#8217;m not so sure I want to be pregnant!&#8221;<n id="2" /> So she asked the <sc>Lord,sc><n id="3" />

So Esau said to Jacob, &#8220;Feed<n id="1" /> me some of the red stuff &#8211; yes, this red stuff &#8211; because I&#8217;m starving!&#8221; (That is why he was also called<n id="2" /> Edom.)<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;But Esau my brother is a hairy man,&#8221; Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, &#8220;and I have smooth skin!<n id="1" />

Jacob became furious<n id="1" /> with Rachel and exclaimed, &#8220;Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?&#8221;<n id="2" />

She replied, &#8220;Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with<n id="1" /> her so that she can bear<n id="2" /> children<n id="3" /> for me<n id="4" /> and I can have a family through her.&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

Indeed,<n id="1" /> you had little before I arrived,<n id="2" /> but now your possessions have increased many times over.<n id="3" /> The <sc>Lordsc> has blessed you wherever I worked.<n id="4" /> But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

There he said to them, &#8220;I can tell that your father&#8217;s attitude toward me has changed,<n id="1" /> but the God of my father has been with me.