So now, bear your disgrace, because you have given your sisters reason to justify their behavior. ¹  Because the sins you have committed were more abominable than those of your sisters; they have become more righteous than you. So now, be ashamed and bear the disgrace of making your sisters appear righteous.

“‘Say to them: This is what the sovereign Lord says: “‘Will it prosper? Will he not rip out its roots and cause its fruit to rot ¹  and wither? All its foliage ²  will wither. No strong arm or large army will be needed to pull it out by its roots. ³ 

When you present your sacrifices ¹  – when you make your sons pass through the fire – you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. Will I allow you to seek me, ²  O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me! ³ 

“But as for you, son of man, your people ¹  (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, ²  ‘Come hear the word that comes ³  from the Lord.’

I will increase the number of people and animals on you; they will increase and be fruitful. ¹  I will cause you to be inhabited as in ancient times, and will do more good for you than at the beginning of your history. ²  Then you will know that I am the Lord.

tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the branch of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place them on the stick of Judah, ¹  and make them into one stick – they will be one in my hand.’ ² 

But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it will be his until the year of liberty; ¹  then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance will only remain with his sons.

But he ¹  responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided ²  your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? ³  If that happened, ⁴  you would endanger my life ⁵  with the king!”

But leave its taproot ¹  in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it ²  surrounded by the grass of the field. Let it become damp with the dew of the sky, and let it live with ³  the animals in the grass of the land.

The king called out loudly ¹  to summon ²  the astrologers, wise men, and diviners. The king proclaimed ³  to the wise men of Babylon that anyone who could read this inscription and disclose its interpretation would be clothed in purple ⁴  and have a golden collar ⁵  placed on his neck and be third ruler in the kingdom.

However, I have heard ¹  that you are able to provide interpretations and to decipher knotty problems. Now if you are able to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, you will wear purple and have a golden collar around your neck and be third ²  ruler in the kingdom.”

By his treachery ¹  he will succeed through deceit. ²  He will have an arrogant attitude, ³  and he will destroy many who are unaware of his schemes. ⁴  He will rise up against the Prince of princes, yet he will be broken apart – but not by human agency. ⁵ 

Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to pacify ¹  the LORD our God by turning back from our sin and by seeking wisdom ²  from your reliable moral standards. ³ 

Shortly after his rise to power, ¹  his kingdom will be broken up and distributed toward the four winds of the sky ²  – but not to his posterity or with the authority he exercised, for his kingdom will be uprooted and distributed to others besides these.

The ships of Kittim ¹  will come against him, leaving him disheartened. ²  He will turn back and direct his indignation against the holy covenant. He will return and honor ³  those who forsake the holy covenant.

(2:1) ¹  However, ²  in the future the number of the people ³  of Israel will be like the sand of the sea which can be neither measured nor numbered. Although ⁴  it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it will be said to them, “You are ⁵  children ⁶  of the living God!”

The descendants of Jacob will be a fire, and the descendants of Joseph a flame. The descendants of Esau will be like stubble. They will burn them up and devour them. There will not be a single survivor ¹  of the descendants of Esau!” Indeed, the Lord has spoken it.

All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces; all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire. ¹  I will make a waste heap ²  of all her images. Since ³  she gathered the metal ⁴  as a prostitute collects her wages, the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.” ⁵ 

At that time I will search through Jerusalem with lamps. I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin, ¹  those who think to themselves, ²  ‘The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.’ ³ 

Flocks and herds ¹  will lie down in the middle of it, as well as every kind of wild animal. ²  Owls ³  will sleep in the tops of its support pillars; they will hoot through the windows. ⁴  Rubble will cover the thresholds; ⁵  even the cedar work ⁶  will be exposed to the elements. ⁷