while seeing false visions for you and reading lying omens for you ¹  – to place that sword ²  on the necks of the profane wicked, ³  whose day has come, the time of final punishment.

then I discerned all that God has done: ¹  No one really comprehends what happens ²  on earth. ³  Despite all human ⁴  efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp ⁵  it. ⁶  Even if ⁷  a wise person claimed ⁸  that he understood, he would not really comprehend ⁹  it.

“All the leaders of the north are there, along with all the Sidonians; despite their might they have gone down in shameful terror with the dead. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, and bear their shame with those who descend to the pit.

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise ¹  me, and how long will they not believe ²  in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?

But they dared ¹  to go up to the crest of the hill, although ²  neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp.

They did not treat ¹  the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) fairly in return for all the good he had done for Israel.

You will see trouble in my dwelling place! ¹  Israel will experience blessings, ²  but there will not be an old man in your ³  house for all time. ⁴ 

But the king’s edict stood, despite the objections of ¹  Joab and the leaders of the army. So Joab and the leaders of the army left the king’s presence in order to muster the Israelite army.

Nevertheless for David’s sake the Lord his God maintained his dynasty ¹  in Jerusalem by giving him a son ²  to succeed him ³  and by protecting Jerusalem. ⁴ 

But the Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah. He preserved Judah for the sake of ¹  his servant David to whom he had promised a perpetual dynasty. ² 

Yet the Lord’s great anger against Judah did not subside; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done. ¹ 

But the king’s edict stood, despite Joab’s objections. ¹  So Joab left and traveled throughout Israel before returning to Jerusalem. ² 

But the Lord was unwilling to destroy David’s dynasty ¹  because of the promise ²  he had made to give David a perpetual dynasty. ³ 

They established the altar on its foundations, even though they were in terror of the local peoples, ¹  and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and the evening offerings.

Hear, O our God, for we are despised! Return their reproach on their own head! Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile!

Then I would yet have my comfort, ¹  then ²  I would rejoice, ³  in spite of pitiless pain, ⁴  for ⁵  I have not concealed the words ⁶  of the Holy One. ⁷ 

All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you ¹  or violated your covenant with us. ² 

Moreover, you will come away from Egypt with your hands covering your faces in sorrow and shame ¹  because the Lord will not allow your reliance on them to be successful and you will not gain any help from them. ² 

For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced with intense scorn ¹  over the land of Israel,

“This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The Philistines ¹  have exacted merciless revenge, ²  showing intense scorn ³  in their effort to destroy Judah ⁴  with unrelenting hostility. ⁵