Egypt will be desolate and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, because of the violence they did to the people of Judah, ¹  in whose land they shed innocent blood.

Then Jesus said to those Judeans ¹  who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, ²  you are really ³  my disciples

The Judeans ¹  replied, ²  “Aren’t we correct in saying ³  that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?” ⁴ 

Thus Jesus no longer went ¹  around publicly ²  among the Judeans, ³  but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, ⁴  and stayed there with his disciples.

Now a large crowd of Judeans ¹  learned ²  that Jesus ³  was there, and so they came not only because of him ⁴  but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead.

Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, ¹  for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect ²  in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah, equipped with large shields and spears. He also had 280,000 men from Benjamin who carried small shields and were adept archers; they were all skilled warriors.

Now the troops Amaziah had dismissed and had not allowed to fight in the battle ¹  raided ²  the cities of Judah from Samaria ³  to Beth Horon. They killed ⁴  3,000 people and carried off a large amount of plunder.

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. ²  O God, you are my God! I long for you! ³  My soul thirsts ⁴  for you, my flesh yearns for you, in a dry and parched ⁵  land where there is no water.

The king of Assyria sent his chief adviser ¹  from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, ²  along with a large army. The chief adviser ³  stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth. ⁴ 

Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, ¹  for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect ²  in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

That is, I will punish the Egyptians, the Judeans, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples. ¹  I will do so because none of the people of those nations are really circumcised in the Lord’s sight. ²  Moreover, none of the people of Israel ³  are circumcised when it comes to their hearts.” ⁴ 

And all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use them as examples when they put a curse on anyone. They will say, “May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted to death in the fire!” ¹ 

All the people living in Jerusalem ¹  and all the people who came into Jerusalem from the towns of Judah came to observe a fast before the Lord. The fast took place in the ninth month of the fifth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah. ² 

“Take some large stones ¹  and bury them in the mortar of the clay pavement ²  at the entrance of Pharaoh’s residence ³  here in Tahpanhes. Do it while the people of Judah present there are watching. ⁴ 

“The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says, ‘You have seen all the disaster I brought on Jerusalem ²  and all the towns of Judah. Indeed, they now lie in ruins and are deserted. ³ 

None of the Judean remnant who have come to live in the land of Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah. Though they long to return and live there, none of them shall return except a few fugitives.’” ¹ 

Then all the men who were aware that their wives were sacrificing to other gods, as well as all their wives, answered Jeremiah. There was a great crowd of them representing all the people who lived in northern and southern Egypt. ¹  They answered,

Some who survive in battle will return to the land of Judah from the land of Egypt. But they will be very few indeed! ¹  Then the Judean remnant who have come to live in the land of Egypt will know whose word proves true, ²  mine or theirs.’

In the thirtieth year, ¹  on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles ²  at the Kebar River, ³  the heavens opened ⁴  and I saw a divine vision. ⁵