May he reign ¹  forever before God! Decree that your loyal love and faithfulness should protect him. ² 

Day after day when I was with you in the temple courts, ¹  you did not arrest me. ²  But this is your hour, ³  and that of the power ⁴  of darkness!”

Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled ¹  forty years.

And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles, in him will the Gentiles hope.” ¹ 

The ¹  ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive ruling authority ²  as kings with the beast for one hour.

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long do you intend to mourn for Saul? I have rejected him as king over Israel. ¹  Fill your horn with olive oil and go! I am sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem, ²  for I have selected a king for myself from among his sons.” ³ 

During Pekah’s reign over Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, ¹  Gilead, and Galilee, including all the territory of Naphtali. He deported the people ²  to Assyria.

In the first year of his reign, ¹  King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: ²  ‘Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place. ³  Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety ⁴  feet, ⁵ 

When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done. ¹  You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods. ² 

From that land he went ¹  to Assyria, ²  where he built Nineveh, ³  Rehoboth-Ir, ⁴  Calah, ⁵ 

But now, look, Adonijah has become king! But you, ¹  my master the king, are not even aware of it! ² 

In King Rehoboam’s fifth year, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem.

At that time the generals ¹  of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched to Jerusalem and besieged the city. ² 

Jeroboam did not regain power during the reign of Abijah. ¹  The Lord struck him down and he died.

However, the high places were not eliminated; the people were still not devoted to the God of their ancestors. ¹ 

¹ These are the words of Nehemiah ²  son of Hacaliah: It so happened that in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, ³  I was in Susa ⁴  the citadel.

In those days, as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa ¹  the citadel, ² 

to the land of utter darkness, like the deepest darkness, and the deepest shadow and disorder, ¹  where even the light ²  is like darkness.” ³ 

Sing praises to the Lord, who rules ¹  in Zion! Tell the nations what he has done! ² 

You defend ¹  the fatherless and oppressed, ²  so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them. ³