The messengers journeyed from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but people mocked and ridiculed them. ¹ 

They were hiring advisers to oppose them, so as to frustrate their plans, throughout the time ¹  of King Cyrus of Persia until the reign of King Darius ²  of Persia. ³ 

Then this Sheshbazzar went and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem. From that time to the present moment ¹  it has been in the process of being rebuilt, although it is not yet finished.’

After him Malkijah, one of the goldsmiths, worked as far as the house of the temple servants and the traders, opposite the Inspection Gate, ¹  and up to the room above the corner.

So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard. (This happened on the first day of the seventh month.)

They went over the Fountain Gate and continued directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall. They passed the house of David and continued on to the Water Gate toward the east.

The second choir was proceeding ¹  in the opposite direction. I followed them, along with half the people, on top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall,

over the Ephraim Gate, the Jeshanah Gate, ¹  the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate. They stopped ²  at the Gate of the Guard.

When those days ¹  were completed, the king then provided a seven-day ²  banquet for all the people who were present ³  in Susa the citadel, for those of highest standing to the most lowly. ⁴  It was held in the court located in the garden of the royal palace.

And let the king’s decision which he will enact be disseminated ¹  throughout all his kingdom, vast though it is. ²  Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the most prominent to the lowly.”

God has made everything fit beautifully ¹  in its appropriate time, but ²  he has also placed ignorance ³  in the human heart ⁴  so that ⁵  people ⁶  cannot discover what God has ordained, ⁷  from the beginning to the end ⁸  of their lives. ⁹ 

From the soles of your feet to your head, there is no spot that is unharmed. ¹  There are only bruises, cuts, and open wounds. They have not been cleansed ²  or bandaged, nor have they been treated ³  with olive oil. ⁴ 

The splendor of his forest and his orchard will be completely destroyed, ¹  as when a sick man’s life ebbs away. ² 

His father’s family will gain increasing prominence because of him, ¹  including the offspring and the offshoots. ²  All the small containers, including the bowls and all the jars will hang from this peg.’ ³ 

A destructive army ¹  will come marching over the hilltops in the desert. For the Lord will use them as his destructive weapon ²  against ³  everyone from one end of the land to the other. No one will be safe. ⁴ 

The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. ¹  In days to come ²  you people will come to understand this clearly. ³ 

He said through them, ¹  ‘Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and stop doing the evil things you are doing. ²  If you do, I will allow you to continue to live here in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors as a lasting possession. ³ 

The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. In days to come you will come to understand this. ¹ 

This will happen because ¹  the people of this city have aroused my anger and my wrath since the time they built it until now. ²  They have made me so angry that I am determined to remove ³  it from my sight.

“I, the Lord who rules over all, say: ¹  ‘This place will indeed lie in ruins. There will be no people or animals in it. But there will again be in it and in its towns sheepfolds where shepherds can rest their sheep.