¹ “You descendants of Jacob, my servants, ²  do not be afraid; do not be terrified, people of Israel. For I will rescue you and your descendants from the faraway lands where you are captives. ³  The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace. They will be secure and no one will terrify them.

When I say to the wicked, “You will certainly die,” ¹  and you do not warn him – you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked deed and wicked lifestyle so that he may live – that wicked person will die for his iniquity, ²  but I will hold you accountable for his death. ³ 

Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are exiled. They will realize ¹  how I was crushed by their unfaithful ²  heart which turned from me and by their eyes which lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves ³  because of the evil they have done and because of all their abominable practices.

and say ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to those who sew bands ¹  on all their wrists ²  and make headbands ³  for heads of every size to entrap people’s lives! ⁴  Will you entrap my people’s lives, yet preserve your own lives?

Yet some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their behavior and their deeds, you will be consoled about the catastrophe I have brought on Jerusalem – for everything I brought on it.

“And you, son of man, say to your people, ¹  ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him if he rebels. ²  As for the wicked, his wickedness will not make him stumble if he turns from it. ³  The righteous will not be able to live by his righteousness ⁴  if he sins.’ ⁵ 

Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ¹  “Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel ²  and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring ³  the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than ⁴  serve or pay homage to any god other than their God!

At that time my sanity returned to me. I was restored ¹  to the honor of my kingdom, and my splendor returned to me. My ministers and my nobles were seeking me out, and I was reinstated ²  over my kingdom. I became even greater than before.

He said to me, “Don’t be afraid, you who are valued. ¹  Peace be to you! Be strong! Be really strong!” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened. I said, “Sir, you may speak now, ²  for you have given me strength.”

“At that time Michael, the great prince who watches over your people, ¹  will arise. ²  There will be a time of distress unlike any other from the nation’s beginning ³  up to that time. But at that time your own people, all those whose names are ⁴  found written in the book, will escape.

I saw the sovereign One ¹  standing by the altar ²  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ³  so the thresholds shake! Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ⁴  and I will kill the survivors ⁵  with the sword. No one will be able to run away; ⁶  no one will be able to escape. ⁷ 

So give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal his body ¹  and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”

Therefore produce ¹  fruit ²  that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say ³  to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ⁴  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ⁵ 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ¹  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ²  How often I have longed ³  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ⁴  you would have none of it! ⁵ 

I ¹  am no longer in the world, but ²  they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe ³  in your name ⁴  that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. ⁵ 

if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ¹  without shifting ²  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

Ben Hadad ¹  said, “I will return the cities my father took from your father. You may set up markets ²  in Damascus, just as my father did in Samaria.” ³  Ahab then said, “I want to make a treaty with you before I dismiss you.” ⁴  So he made a treaty with him and then dismissed him.

So Jehoshabeath, ¹  the daughter of King Jehoram, ²  took Ahaziah’s son Joash and sneaked him away ³  from the rest of the royal descendants who were to be executed. She hid him and his nurse in the room where the bed covers were stored. So Jehoshabeath the daughter of King Jehoram, wife of Jehoiada the priest and sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah so she could not execute him.