Then King Cyrus brought out the vessels of the Lord’s temple which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem and had displayed ¹  in the temple of his gods.

Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the Lord for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.’

A sword will come against Egypt and panic will overtake Ethiopia when the slain fall in Egypt and they carry away her wealth and dismantle her foundations.

This is what the Lord says: “Because Gaza ¹  has committed three crimes ²  – make that four! ³  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ⁴  They deported a whole community ⁵  and sold them ⁶  to Edom.

We kept only the livestock and plunder from the cities for ourselves.

The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon.

David retrieved everything the Amalekites had taken; he ¹  also rescued his two wives.

These men were also in charge of Solomon’s work projects; there were a total of 550 men who supervised the workers. ¹ 

The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, ¹  and the guards ²  to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of ³  Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. ⁴  The king ⁵  burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces ⁶  of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁷ 

A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.

“Israel is not a slave, is he? He was not born into slavery, was he? ¹  If not, why then is he being carried off?

For he will die in the country where they took him as a captive. He will never see this land again.” ¹ 

and Josiah ¹  the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

These men ¹  are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm, for whom the utter depths of darkness ²  have been reserved.

So they assembled ¹  all the leaders of the Philistines and asked, “What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They replied, “The ark of the God of Israel should be moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.

The king then told Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your property ¹  in Anathoth. You deserve to die, ²  but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times.” ³ 

During Pekah’s reign over Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, ¹  Gilead, and Galilee, including all the territory of Naphtali. He deported the people ²  to Assyria.

So the God of Israel stirred up ¹  King Pul of Assyria (that is, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria), ²  and he carried away the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh and took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan, where they remain to this very day.

The king of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s ¹  brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Necho seized his brother Jehoahaz and took him to Egypt.

This is what the sovereign Lord says: “Look I will raise my hand to the nations; I will raise my signal flag to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.