All the animals for the sacrifice for the peace offering were 24 young bulls, 60 rams, 60 male goats, and 60 lambs in their first year. These were the dedication offerings for the altar after it was anointed. ¹ 

But after it had been moved the Lord attacked ¹  that city as well, causing a great deal of panic. He struck all the people of that city ²  with sores. ³ 

Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders ¹  – older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established ²  – were weeping loudly, ³  and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout.

Remember your people ¹  whom you acquired in ancient times, whom you rescued ²  so they could be your very own nation, ³  as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell!

(5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, ¹  seemingly insignificant ²  among the clans of Judah – from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, ³  one whose origins ⁴  are in the distant past. ⁵ 

But they ¹  pay no attention; instead they observe their earlier practices.

He brought against them the king of the Babylonians, who slaughtered ¹  their young men in their temple. ²  He did not spare ³  young men or women, or even the old and aging. God ⁴  handed everyone over to him.

Is not wisdom found among the aged? ¹  Does not long life bring understanding?

By the brush ¹  they would gather ²  herbs from the salt marshes, ³  and the root of the broom tree was their food.

I am more discerning than those older than I, for I observe your precepts.

ז (Zayin) Jerusalem ¹  remembers, ²  when ³  she became a poor homeless person, ⁴  all her treasures that she owned in days of old. ⁵  When her people fell into an enemy’s grip, ⁶  none of her allies came to her rescue. ⁷  Her enemies ⁸  gloated over ⁹  her; they sneered at her downfall.

Princes were hung by their hands; elders were mistreated. ¹ 

then I will bring you down to bygone people, ¹  to be with those who descend to the pit. I will make you live in the lower parts of the earth, among ²  the primeval ruins, with those who descend to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited or stand ³  in the land of the living.

Old and new wine take away the understanding of my people. ¹ 

For this reason his parents said, “He is a mature adult, ¹  ask him.”) ² 

Now Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan arrived from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but in her haste to get away, he fell and was injured. ¹  Mephibosheth was his name.

Now Rehoboam son of Solomon ruled in Judah. He ¹  was forty-one years old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, ²  the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home. ³  His mother was an Ammonite woman ⁴  named Naamah.

King Rehoboam solidified his rule in Jerusalem; ¹  he ²  was forty-one years old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home. ³  Rehoboam’s ⁴  mother was an Ammonite named Naamah.

She said, “In the past they would always say, ‘Let them inquire in Abel,’ and that is how they settled things.

But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up. ¹