We inquired of those elders, asking them, ‘Who gave you the authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?’

But in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, ¹  King Cyrus enacted a decree to rebuild this temple of God.

Rely ¹  on the Lord! Obey his commands! ²  Then he will permit you ³  to possess the land; you will see the demise of evil men. ⁴ 

The sleep of the laborer is pleasant – whether he eats little or much – but the wealth of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

Is this the one who made the world like a desert, who ruined its ¹  cities, and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’ ² 

I will have compassion on you so that he in turn will have mercy on you and allow you to return to your land.’

They said to him, “Permit one of us to sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.”

Yet ¹  another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family.” ² 

He ordered the centurion ¹  to guard Paul, ²  but to let him have some freedom, ³  and not to prevent any of his friends ⁴  from meeting his needs. ⁵ 

For I do not want to see you now in passing, since I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows.

And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. ¹ 

Those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to omen readers and diviners, but the Lord your God has not given you permission to do such things.

In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel attacked Judah, and he established Ramah as a military outpost to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the land of King Asa of Judah. ¹ 

I said to the king, “If the king is so inclined, let him give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates ¹  that will enable me to travel safely until I reach Judah,

For my sake alone ¹  I will act, for how can I allow my name to be defiled? ²  I will not share my glory with anyone else! ³ 

“But you, Jeremiah, ¹  get yourself ready! ²  Go and tell these people everything I instruct you to say. Do not be terrified of them, or I will give you good reason to be terrified of them. ³ 

“Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the obstacle leading to their iniquity ¹  right before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek ²  me?

I will leave you on the ground, I will fling you on the open field, I will allow ¹  all the birds of the sky to settle ²  on you, and I will permit ³  all the wild animals ⁴  to gorge themselves on you.

I will no longer subject you to ¹  the nations’ insults; no longer will you bear the shame of the peoples, and no longer will you bereave ²  your nation, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

“I tell you the truth, ¹  whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.