But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard all this, ¹  they derided us and expressed contempt toward us. They said, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

I ¹  hear many whispering words of intrigue against me. Those who would cause me terror are everywhere! ²  They are saying, “Come on, let’s publicly denounce him!” ³  All my so-called friends ⁴  are just watching for something that would lead to my downfall. ⁵  They say, “Perhaps he can be enticed into slipping up, so we can prevail over ⁶  him and get our revenge on him.

ז (Zayin) Jerusalem ¹  remembers, ²  when ³  she became a poor homeless person, ⁴  all her treasures that she owned in days of old. ⁵  When her people fell into an enemy’s grip, ⁶  none of her allies came to her rescue. ⁷  Her enemies ⁸  gloated over ⁹  her; they sneered at her downfall.

So prophesy and say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Surely because they have made you desolate and crushed you from all directions, so that you have become the property of the rest of the nations, and have become the subject of gossip ¹  and slander among the people,

In that day people will sing this taunt song to you – they will mock you with this lament: ¹  ‘We are completely destroyed; they sell off ²  the property of my people. How they remove it from me! ³  They assign our fields to the conqueror.’ ⁴