“Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I have spoken in my zeal and in my anger, because you have endured the insults of the nations.

“The Lord who rules over all says, ‘Ask the priests about the law. ¹ 

so that you may know for certain ¹  the things you were taught. ² 

This ¹  report ²  about Jesus ³  circulated ⁴  throughout ⁵  Judea and all the surrounding country.

just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you –

I asked the Lord three times about this, that it would depart from me.

The king ¹  heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was marching out to fight him. ²  He again sent messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them:

This is what the Lord says about him: ¹  “The virgin daughter Zion ²  despises you, she makes fun of you; Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head after you. ³ 

You have also established prophets to announce ¹  in Jerusalem ²  on your behalf, ‘We have a king in Judah!’ Now the king is going to hear about these rumors. So come on! Let’s talk about this.” ³ 

Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Because you prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria, ¹ 

this is what the Lord says about him: ¹  “The virgin daughter Zion ²  despises you – she makes fun of you; daughter Jerusalem shakes her head after you. ³ 

Here is what the Lord says concerning the false prophets: ²  My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed. I tremble all over. ³  I am like a drunk person, like a person who has had too much wine, ⁴  because of the way the Lord and his holy word are being mistreated. ⁵ 

Then, on Belshazzar’s orders, ¹  Daniel was clothed in purple, a golden collar was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom.

Then a stone was brought and placed over the opening ¹  to the den. The king sealed ²  it with his signet ring and with those ³  of his nobles so that nothing could be changed with regard to Daniel.

The men of Judah approached Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said about you and me to Moses, the man of God, at Kadesh Barnea. ¹ 

(Now this used to be the customary way to finalize a transaction involving redemption in Israel: ¹  A man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party. ²  This was a legally binding act ³  in Israel.)

David said, “I will express my loyalty ¹  to Hanun son of Nahash, for his father was loyal ²  to me.” So David sent messengers to express his sympathy over his father’s death. ³  When David’s servants entered Ammonite territory to visit Hanun and express the king’s sympathy, ⁴ 

“The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  also has something to say about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you and claiming my authority to do so. ²  ‘I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and he will execute them before your very eyes.

He spoke about Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt which was encamped along the Euphrates River at Carchemish. Now this was the army that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling ¹  over Judah. ² 

Then I heard a holy one ¹  speaking. Another holy one said to the one who was speaking, “To what period of time does the vision pertain – this vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the destructive act of rebellion and the giving over of both the sanctuary and army to be trampled?”