Syria has plotted with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah to bring about your demise. ¹ 

Certainly the sovereign Lord does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

Your schemes will bring shame to your house. Because you destroyed many nations, you will self-destruct. ¹ 

I am not writing these things to shame you, but to correct you as my dear children.

Listen, ¹  I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, ²  but we will all be changed –

But I say, live ¹  by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. ² 

Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, ¹  continue to live your lives ²  in him,

I wrote something to the church, ¹  but Diotrephes, ²  who loves to be first among them, does not acknowledge us. ³ 

And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who ¹  will seek counsel ²  for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. ³  At his command ⁴  they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”

Some men from Manasseh joined ¹  David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (But in the end they did not help the Philistines because, after taking counsel, the Philistine lords sent David away, saying: “It would be disastrous for us if he deserts to his master Saul.”) ² 

he consulted with his advisers and military officers about stopping up the springs ¹  outside the city, and they supported him.

May the arrogant be humiliated, for they have slandered me! ¹  But I meditate on your precepts.

When you walk about, ¹  they ²  will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you wake up, ³  they will talk ⁴  to you.

The one who despises instruction ¹  will pay the penalty, ²  but whoever esteems instruction ³  will ⁴  be rewarded. ⁵ 

A poor but wise youth is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive advice.

The officials of Zoan are fools, the officials of Memphis ¹  are misled; the rulers ²  of her tribes lead Egypt astray.

They travel down to Egypt without seeking my will, ¹  seeking Pharaoh’s protection, and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ² 

I look, but there is no one, among them there is no one who serves as an adviser, that I might ask questions and receive answers.

who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers ¹  and humiliates ²  the omen readers, who overturns the counsel of the wise men ³  and makes their advice ⁴  seem foolish,

For our leaders ¹  are stupid. They have not sought the Lord’s advice. ²  So they do not act wisely, and the people they are responsible for ³  have all been scattered.