and wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons ¹  and put headbands on them, and so the ministry of priesthood will belong to them by a perpetual ordinance. Thus you are to consecrate ²  Aaron and his sons.

This is what the sovereign Lord says: “Look I will raise my hand to the nations; I will raise my signal flag to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

Bakbukiah and Unni, ¹  their colleagues, stood opposite them in the services.

Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for good to come to these people! ¹ 

Those who worship ¹  worthless idols ²  forfeit the mercy that could be theirs. ³ 

where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.

While they were screaming ¹  and throwing off their cloaks ²  and tossing dust ³  in the air,

And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths. ¹ 

Fathers must not be put to death for what their children ¹  do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin.

These were the areas where Aaron’s descendants lived: ¹  The following belonged to the Kohathite clan, for they received the first allotment: ² 

From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal, has taken away ¹  all that our ancestors ²  worked for. It has taken away our flocks and our herds, and even our sons and daughters.

Fathers will hear the hoofbeats of the enemies’ horses, the clatter of their chariots and the rumbling of their wheels. They will not turn back to save their children because they will be paralyzed with fear. ¹ 

Look, I am about to empower ¹  the Babylonians, that ruthless ²  and greedy ³  nation. They sweep across the surface ⁴  of the earth, seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.

He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff ¹  – no bread, no bag, ²  no money in their belts –

[[EMPTY]]

[[EMPTY]]

“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, ¹  so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, ²  and turn to me, ³  and I would heal them.” ⁴ 

They ¹  show that the work of the law is written ²  in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend ³  them, ⁴ 

Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, they exult in their shame, and they think about earthly things. ¹ 

Remember your leaders, who spoke God’s message to you; reflect on the outcome of their lives and imitate their faith.