The poles were so long their ends extending out from the ark were visible from in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. ¹  They have remained there to this very day.

In each city there were shields and spears; he strongly fortified them. ¹  Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

Powerful kings have been over Jerusalem who ruled throughout the entire Trans-Euphrates ¹  and who were the beneficiaries of ²  tribute, custom, and toll.

Then they presented the decrees of the king to the king’s satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who gave help to the people and to the temple of God.

Then I ¹  said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! ²  Should you not conduct yourselves ³  in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies?

In those days the aristocrats of Judah repeatedly sent letters to Tobiah, and responses from Tobiah were repeatedly coming to them.

But he went no further than the king’s gate, for no one was permitted to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.

You have seized me, ¹  and it ²  has become a witness; my leanness ³  has risen up against me and testifies against me.

¹ Why do you insist on being battered? Why do you continue to rebel? ²  Your head has a massive wound, ³  your whole body is weak. ⁴ 

“So, once more I will state my case ¹  against you,” says the Lord. “I will also state it against your children and grandchildren. ² 

The Lord said to me, ¹  “Tell them, ‘The Lord says, Do people not get back up when they fall down? Do they not turn around when they go the wrong way? ² 

“You and your people ¹  are right in saying, ‘War, ²  starvation, and disease are sure to make this city fall into the hands of the king of Babylon.’ ³  But now I, the Lord God of Israel, have something further to say about this city: ⁴ 

Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people, particularly to all the women. ¹  “Listen to what the Lord has to say all you people of Judah who are in Egypt.

I will shoot against them deadly, ¹  destructive ²  arrows of famine, ³  which I will shoot to destroy you. ⁴  I will prolong a famine on you and will remove the bread supply. ⁵ 

I also gave them my Sabbaths ¹  as a reminder of our relationship, ²  so that they would know that I, the Lord, sanctify them. ³ 

I also swore ¹  to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them to the land I had given them – a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.

I also swore ¹  to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands. ² 

“‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says: At the end of forty years ¹  I will gather Egypt from the peoples where they were scattered.

Now I have come to help you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to future days.”

Then with smooth words he will defile ¹  those who have rejected ²  the covenant. But the people who are loyal to ³  their God will act valiantly. ⁴