One of the members of the prophetic guild, speaking with divine authority, ordered his companion, “Wound me!” ¹  But the man refused to wound him.

When you arrive there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi and take him aside into an inner room. ¹ 

Serving beside him was his fellow Levite Asaph, ¹  son of Berechiah, son of Shimea,

Serving beside them were their fellow Levites, the descendants of Merari, led by ¹  Ethan, son of Kishi, son of Abdi, son of Malluch,

They were armed with bows and could shoot arrows or sling stones right or left-handed. They were fellow tribesmen of Saul from Benjamin. ¹ ) These were: ² 

David ¹  left Asaph and his colleagues there before the ark of the Lord’s covenant to serve before the ark regularly and fulfill each day’s requirements, ² 

Lawless good-for-nothing men ¹  gathered around him and conspired ²  against Rehoboam son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was an inexperienced young man ³  and could not resist them.

Now listen to me! Send back those you have seized from your brothers, for the Lord is very angry at you!” ¹ 

They assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves. Then they went in to purify the Lord’s temple, just as the king had ordered, in accordance with the word ¹  of the Lord.

Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves, and make preparations for your countrymen to do what the Lord commanded through Moses.” ¹ 

“Now Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar Bozenai, and their colleagues, the officials of Trans-Euphrates – all of you stay far away from there!

Hanani, who was one of my relatives, ¹  along with some of the men from Judah, came to me, ²  and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem. ³ 

Everyone rejects God; ¹  they are all morally corrupt. ²  None of them does what is right, ³  not even one!

He ¹  does not slander, ²  or do harm to others, ³  or insult his neighbor. ⁴ 

The people will treat each other harshly; men will oppose each other; neighbors will fight. ¹  Youths will proudly defy the elderly and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected. ² 

Look, the Lord will throw you far away, ¹  you mere man! ²  He will wrap you up tightly. ³ 

And I will drive you out of my sight just like I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel.’” ¹ 

But just listen to what the Lord has to say about ¹  the king who occupies David’s throne and all your fellow countrymen who are still living in this city of Jerusalem ²  and were not carried off into exile with you.

Go to the exiles, to your fellow countrymen, ¹  and speak to them – say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ whether they pay attention or not.”

So a decree went out, and the wise men were about ¹  to be executed. They also sought ²  Daniel and his friends so that they could be executed.