He lifts the weak ¹  from the dust; he raises ²  the poor from the ash heap to seat them with princes and to bestow on them an honored position. ³  The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord, and he has placed the world on them.

The prophet then went and stood by the road, waiting for the king. He also disguised himself by putting a bandage down over his eyes.

The prophet ¹  quickly removed the bandage from his eyes and the king of Israel recognized he was one of the prophets.

¹ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot ²  from a furnace, and have Moses throw it ³  into the air while Pharaoh is watching. ⁴ 

So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh, Moses threw it into the air, and it caused festering boils to break out on both people and animals.

He cuts down cedars and acquires a cypress ¹  or an oak. He gets ²  trees from the forest; he plants a cedar ³  and the rain makes it grow.

He removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. ¹  He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard. ² 

he makes the Bear, ¹  Orion, ²  and the Pleiades, ³  and the constellations of the southern sky; ⁴ 

They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. ¹  When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

ז (Zayin) Remember ¹  my impoverished and homeless condition, ²  which is a bitter poison. ³ 

and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold.

but the one ¹  whom God raised up did not experience ²  decay.

He made all the utensils of the altar – the pots, the shovels, the tossing bowls, the meat hooks, and the fire pans – he made all its utensils of bronze.

They also took the pots, shovels, ¹  trimming shears, ²  basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. ³ 

Be sure of this! The Lord who commands armies has decreed: The nations’ efforts will go up in smoke; their exhausting work will be for nothing. ¹ 

May he take notice ¹  of your offerings; may he accept ²  your burnt sacrifice! (Selah)

The nations will be burned to ashes; ¹  like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.

The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed.

Huram Abi ¹  made the pots, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on God’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. ² 

They removed the altars in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley. ¹