a promise ¹  that our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve God ²  night and day. Concerning this hope the Jews are accusing me, ³  Your Majesty! ⁴ 

Direct my steps by your word! ¹  Do not let any sin dominate me!

Now an intermediary is not for one party alone, but God is one. ¹ 

However, listen to what I, the Lord, promise you, King Zedekiah of Judah. I, the Lord, promise that ¹  you will not die in battle or be executed. ² 

‘Do not fear, because I made a promise to your ancestors when they left Egypt, and my spirit ¹  even now testifies to you.’ ² 

And look, I am sending you ¹  what my Father promised. ²  But stay in the city ³  until you have been clothed with power ⁴  from on high.”

Remember ¹  continually his covenantal decree, the promise he made ²  to a thousand generations –

In God – I boast in his promise ¹  – in the Lord – I boast in his promise ²  –

ז (Zayin) Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.

“As for this temple you are building, if you follow ¹  my rules, observe ²  my regulations, and obey all my commandments, ³  I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David. ⁴ 

They replied, “We will return these things, ¹  and we will no longer demand anything from them. We will do just as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials ²  swear to do what had been promised. ³ 

“For the Lord says, ‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule ¹  are over will I again take up consideration for you. ²  Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore ³  you to your homeland. ⁴ 

While he was with them, ¹  he declared, ²  “Do not leave Jerusalem, ³  but wait there ⁴  for what my ⁵  Father promised, ⁶  which you heard about from me. ⁷ 

The leaders then added, ¹  “Let them live.” So they became ²  woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had decided. ³ 

So now, O Lord, may the promise you made about your servant and his family become a permanent reality! ¹  Do as you promised, ² 

The Lord made a reliable promise to David; ¹  he will not go back on his word. ²  He said, ³  “I will place one of your descendants ⁴  on your throne.

But just as at that time the one born by natural descent ¹  persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, ²  so it is now.

You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; ¹  this very day you have fulfilled what you promised. ² 

so that we who have found refuge in him ¹  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams ¹  should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, ²