This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth; my hand is ready to strike all the nations.” ¹ 

Indeed, ¹  the Lord who commands armies has a plan, and who can possibly frustrate it? His hand is ready to strike, and who can possibly stop it? ² 

The Lord is about to deliver me, ¹  and we will celebrate with music ²  for the rest of our lives in the Lord’s temple.” ³ 

A drought will come upon her land; her rivers and canals will be dried up. ¹  All of this will happen because her land is filled with idols. ²  Her people act like madmen because of ³  those idols they fear. ⁴ 

Whatever ¹  you plot ²  against the Lord, he will completely destroy! ³  Distress ⁴  will not arise ⁵  a second time.

The sun and moon stand still in their courses; ¹  the flash of your arrows drives them away, ²  the bright light of your lightning-quick spear. ³ 

You pierce the heads of his warriors ¹  with a spear. ²  They storm forward to scatter us; ³  they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition. ⁴ 

The Lord ¹  will attack the north ²  and destroy Assyria. He will make Nineveh a heap of ruins; it will be as barren ³  as the desert.

Nevertheless the Lord will evict her and shove her fortifications ¹  into the sea – she will be consumed by fire.

I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to do the work for the Israelites in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the Israelites, so there will be no plague among the Israelites when the Israelites come near the sanctuary.” ¹ 

Naaman went away angry. He said, “Look, I thought for sure he would come out, stand there, invoke the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the area, and cure the skin disease.

When he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Jehu ordered the royal guard ¹  and officers, “Come in and strike them down! Don’t let any escape!” So the royal guard and officers struck them down with the sword and left their bodies lying there. ²  Then they entered the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal. ³ 

So the Lord is furious ¹  with his people; he lifts ²  his hand and strikes them. The mountains shake, and corpses lie like manure ³  in the middle of the streets. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁴ 

So the sovereign master was not pleased ¹  with their young men, he took no pity ²  on their orphans and widows; for the whole nation was godless ³  and did wicked things, ⁴  every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. ⁵  Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁶ 

So ¹  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ² 

Then some people ¹  said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! ²  There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. ³  Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! ⁴  Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”

‘The defenders of the city will go out and fight with the Babylonians. ¹  But they will only fill those houses and buildings with the dead bodies of the people that I will kill in my anger and my wrath. ²  That will happen because I have decided to turn my back on ³  this city on account of the wicked things they have done. ⁴ 

But the Lord said to him, “All right then, ¹  if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” ²  Then the Lord put a special mark ³  on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. ⁴ 

This food should be held in storage for the land in preparation for the seven years of famine that will occur throughout the land of Egypt. In this way the land will survive the famine.” ¹ 

then the hand of the Lord will surely bring ¹  a very terrible plague ²  on your livestock in the field, on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, ³  the herds, and the flocks.