and they are afraid of heights and the dangers ¹  in the street; the almond blossoms ²  grow white, ³  and the grasshopper ⁴  drags itself along, ⁵  and the caper berry ⁶  shrivels up ⁷  – because man goes to his eternal home, ⁸  and the mourners go about in the streets –

So know and understand: From the issuing of the command ¹  to restore and rebuild Jerusalem ²  until an anointed one, a prince arrives, ³  there will be a period of seven weeks ⁴  and sixty-two weeks. It will again be built, ⁵  with plaza and moat, but in distressful times.

and you must teach ¹  them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, ²  as you lie down, and as you get up.

Teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, ¹  as you lie down, and as you get up.

Your hands ¹  were not bound, and your feet were not put into irons. You fell the way one falls before criminals.” All the people ²  wept over him again.

How could I ever be rid of my humiliation? And you would be considered one of the fools ¹  in Israel! Just ²  speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”

The Lord says, “The women ¹  of Zion are proud. They walk with their heads high ²  and flirt with their eyes. They skip along ³  and the jewelry on their ankles jingles. ⁴ 

You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners, or to fall among those who have been killed. ¹  Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ² 

Sounds of violence ¹  will no longer be heard in your land, or the sounds of ²  destruction and devastation within your borders. You will name your walls, ‘Deliverance,’ and your gates, ‘Praise.’

Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. ¹  Stop killing innocent people ²  in this land. Stop paying allegiance to ³  other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. ⁴ 

ח (Khet) Now their appearance ¹  is darker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it is dried up, like tree bark.

“‘But you trusted in your beauty and capitalized on your fame by becoming a prostitute. You offered your sexual favors to every man who passed by so that your beauty ¹  became his.

For her blood was in it; she poured it on an exposed rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.

With his horses’ hoofs he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will tumble down to the ground.

O Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly ¹  like the nations, for you are unfaithful ²  to your God. You love to receive a prostitute's wages ³  on all the floors where you thresh your grain.

Therefore they will disappear like ¹  the morning mist, ²  like early morning dew that evaporates, ³  like chaff that is blown away ⁴  from a threshing floor, like smoke that disappears through an open window.

Woe ¹  to those who live in ease in Zion, ²  to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria. They think of themselves as ³  the elite class of the best nation. The family ⁴  of Israel looks to them for leadership. ⁵ 

The charioteers ¹  will charge ahead; ²  their swords ³  will flash ⁴  and their spears ⁵  will glimmer! ⁶  There will be many people slain; ⁷  there will be piles of the dead, and countless casualties ⁸  – so many that people ⁹  will stumble over the corpses.

Reach agreement ¹  quickly with your accuser while on the way to court, ²  or he ³  may hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the warden, and you will be thrown into prison.

Now ¹  as Jesus ²  was starting out on his way, someone ran up to him, fell on his knees, and said, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ³