To great men he will render good service, will be summoned to the prince’s own council;
Use thee I will, he promises, nor with thy service be content, when the tribes of Jacob thou hast summoned, brought back the poor remnant of Israel; nay, I have appointed thee to be the light of the Gentiles, in thee I will send out my salvation to the furthest corners of the earth.
Alas, what anxious fears were these, that to my service made thee false, of me no memory left thee, no thought? And all because I nothing said, made as if I nothing saw, till at last thou hadst forgotten me!
Strangers shall build up thy walls for thee, kings shall do thee service; great as my severity in chastising thee shall be my favour when I pardon thee.
But the Lord answered, I promise that thou shalt leave behind thee good service done, and that in all distress and persecution I am coming to thy side, to save thee from thy enemies.
Exiles far from home, in a land neither you nor those fathers of yours ever saw, you shall spend day and night in the service of alien gods, without respite.
A message from the Lord, from him, the God of hosts, the same who brightens day with the sun’s rays, night with the ordered service of moon and star, who can stir up the sea and set its waves a-roaring;
On hearing the proclamation, nobles and common people alike had agreed to release slave and handmaid, and exempt them from all service henceforward; and this they did obediently enough;
Seven years up, every slave sold in bondage to his fellow Hebrew must go free; six years of service, and then release. Your fathers would not listen, turned a deaf ear to me;
he, the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, promises that this line of Rechab and Jonadab, long as time lasts, shall never want a posterity to do him service.
May the Lord grant courage to all of us, and send us a gleam of hope; long thrive we under the protection of king Nabuchodonosor and his son Baltassar, persevering loyally in their service and winning their favour!
so powerless are these gods to requite injury or reward service done. Not theirs to make kings or unmake them,
How fair to look upon are sun and moon and stars! Yet theirs is loyal and useful service;
Son of man, here is great drudgery king Nabuchodonosor of Babylon has given his men in the assault upon Tyre; every head worn bald, every shoulder smooth, by the burdens they carried! A thankless service it was they did me there, he and his army;
the one facing north for the priests who are busied with the service of the altar, Sadocite Levites, that were the Lord’s privileged ministers.
nor enter the inner court to do service in my sanctuary, the Lord God says, till he has made an offering in amends for his fault.
See if I do not summon them back from exile that was of your contriving, and, for that service done, pay you in your own coin;
I was but tending sheep when the Lord took me into his service. It was the Lord bade me go and prophesy to his people of Israel.
And after that, all the peoples of the world shall have pure lips, invoking one and all the Lord’s name, straining at a single yoke in the Lord’s service.
Spoils from the enemy’s bridle-rein shall be consecrated on that day to the Lord’s service, till there is never pot or pan in his temple but rivals the altar’s bowls for costliness!✻