⁵⁵ “‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns^(A) in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.

²⁴ “‘No longer will the people of Israel have malicious neighbors who are painful briers and sharp thorns.^(A) Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

¹³ As you know, it was because of an illness^(A) that I first preached the gospel to you,

¹⁴ and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.^(A)