(Make the chain, ¹  because the land is full of murder ²  and the city is full of violence.)

When his accusers stood up, they did not charge ¹  him with any of the evil deeds I had suspected. ² 

because her sins have piled ¹  up all the way to heaven ²  and God has remembered ³  her crimes. ⁴ 

You ¹  build Zion through bloody crimes, ²  Jerusalem ³  through unjust violence.

Then ¹  the chief priests began to accuse him repeatedly.

They devise ¹  unjust schemes; they disguise ²  a well-conceived plot. ³  Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered. ⁴ 

Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the atrocities ¹  that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed.

The company of priests is like a gang of robbers, lying in ambush to pounce on a victim. They commit murder on the road to Shechem; they have done heinous crimes!

Violent men perjure themselves, ¹  and falsely accuse me. ² 

They spew out threats ¹  and speak defiantly; all the evildoers boast. ² 

for they ¹  are eager ²  to inflict harm, ³  and they hasten ⁴  to shed blood. ⁵ 

But you, Lord, know all their plots to kill me. Do not pardon their crimes! Do not ignore their sins as though you had erased them! ¹  Let them be brought down in defeat before you! Deal with them while you are still angry! ² 

“Blessed ¹  are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;

Fathers must not be put to death for what their children ¹  do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin.

Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes ¹  and still live a long time, ²  yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people ³  – for they stand in fear ⁴  before him.

This is what the Lord says: “Because Damascus has committed three crimes ¹  – make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³  They ripped through Gilead like threshing sledges with iron teeth. ⁴ 

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.

This is what the Lord says: “Because Tyre has committed three crimes ¹  – make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³  They sold ⁴  a whole community ⁵  to Edom; they failed to observe ⁶  a treaty of brotherhood. ⁷ 

This is what the Lord says: “Because Moab has committed three crimes ¹  – make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³  They burned the bones of Edom’s king into lime. ⁴ 

No one denounces his conduct to his face; no one repays him for what ¹  he has done. ²