Now at that time, ¹  the armies of the king of Babylon were besieging Jerusalem. ²  The prophet Jeremiah was confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse ³  attached to the royal palace of Judah.

He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.

Then compare our appearance ¹  with that of ²  the young men who are eating the royal delicacies; ³  deal with us ⁴  in light of what you see.”

At the end of the ten days their appearance was better and their bodies were healthier ¹  than all the young men who had been eating the royal delicacies.

And when his mind ¹  became arrogant ²  and his spirit filled with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and his honor was removed from him.

When the news ¹  reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes.

“Now if the king is so inclined, ¹  let a search be conducted in the royal archives ²  there in Babylon in order to determine whether King Cyrus did in fact issue orders for this temple of God to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us a decision concerning this matter.”

Adonijah sacrificed sheep, cattle, and fattened steers at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, ¹  as well as all the men of Judah, the king’s servants.

But Daniel made up his mind ¹  that he would not defile ²  himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. ³  He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself.

“I also hereby issue orders as to what you are to do with those elders of the Jews in order to rebuild this temple of God. From the royal treasury, from the taxes of Trans-Euphrates the complete costs are to be given to these men, so that there may be no interruption of the work. ¹ 

Hezekiah gave him all the silver in ¹  the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

For they were under royal orders ¹  which determined their activity day by day. ² 

So the warden removed the delicacies and the wine ¹  from their diet ²  and gave them a diet of vegetables instead.

“Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my child dies.”

Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were sitting on their respective thrones, ¹  dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. ²  All the prophets were prophesying before them.

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and then enter ¹  into the battle; but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and then entered into the battle.

Jehu encountered ¹  the relatives ²  of King Ahaziah of Judah. He asked, “Who are you?” They replied, “We are Ahaziah’s relatives. We have come down to see how ³  the king’s sons and the queen mother’s sons are doing.”

Nebuchadnezzar ¹  took from there all the riches in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace. He removed all the gold items which King Solomon of Israel had made for the Lord’s temple, just as the Lord had warned.

With the timber the king made steps ¹  for the Lord’s temple and royal palace as well as stringed instruments ²  for the musicians. No one had seen anything like them in the land of Judah prior to that. ³ )

King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made.