who loves me ¹  and is my stronghold, my refuge ²  and my deliverer, my shield and the one in whom I take shelter, who makes nations submit to me. ³ 

“How long will you simpletons ¹  love naiveté? ²  How long ³  will mockers ⁴  delight ⁵  in mockery ⁶  and fools ⁷  hate knowledge?

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 

Jerusalem certainly stumbles, Judah falls, for their words and their actions offend the Lord; ¹  they rebel against his royal authority. ² 

You must recognize the authority of the Lord who commands armies. ¹  He is the one you must respect; he is the one you must fear. ² 

The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptians, and they ¹  will acknowledge the Lord’s authority ²  at that time. ³  They will present sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them.

This is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “Go visit this administrator, Shebna, who supervises the palace, ¹  and tell him: ² 

They travel down to Egypt without seeking my will, ¹  seeking Pharaoh’s protection, and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ² 

Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk. ¹  In whom are you trusting, that you would dare to rebel against me?

Furthermore it was by the command of the Lord that I marched up against this land to destroy it. The Lord told me, ‘March up against this land and destroy it!’”’” ¹ 

If anyone dares to ¹  challenge you, it will not be my doing! Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated. ² 

Know for certain that ¹  I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be ²  uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.” ³ 

Now Pashhur son of Immer heard Jeremiah prophesy these things. He was the priest who was chief of security ¹  in the Lord’s temple.

Then the king gave Ebed Melech the Ethiopian the following order: “Take thirty ¹  men with you from here and go pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.”

Its boughs were strong, fit ¹  for rulers’ scepters; it reached up into the clouds. It stood out because of its height and its many branches. ² 

And at Daniel’s request, the king ¹  appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the administration of the province of Babylon. Daniel himself served in the king’s court. ² 

“How great are his signs! How mighty are his wonders! His kingdom will last forever, ¹  and his authority continues from one generation to the next.”

it is you, ¹  O king! For you have become great and strong. Your greatness is such that it reaches to heaven, and your authority to the ends of the earth.

While these words were still on the king’s lips, ¹  a voice came down from heaven: “It is hereby announced to you, ²  King Nebuchadnezzar, that your kingdom has been removed from you!

until the Ancient of Days arrived and judgment was rendered ¹  in favor of the holy ones of the Most High. Then the time came for the holy ones to take possession of the kingdom.