You must not make for yourself an image ¹  of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath. ² 

He will hand over their kings to you and you will erase their very names from memory. ¹  Nobody will be able to resist you until you destroy them.

Stand aside ¹  and I will destroy them, obliterating their very name from memory, ²  and I will make you into a stronger and more numerous nation than they are.”

When your ancestors went down to Egypt, they numbered only seventy, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky. ¹ 

When the men of Ai turned around, they saw ¹  the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. ²  In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers.

As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord’s messenger went up in it ¹  while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown ²  to the ground.

But when the signal, a pillar of smoke, began to rise up from the city, the Benjaminites turned around and saw the whole city going up in a cloud of smoke that rose high into the sky. ¹ 

As for Ahab’s family, dogs will eat the ones ¹  who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”

They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God; they made two metal calves and an Asherah pole, bowed down to all the stars in the sky, ¹  and worshiped ²  Baal.

and prayed: ¹  “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty ²  to your servants who obey you with sincerity. ³ 

then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors. ¹ 

then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help, ¹  vindicate them, ²  and forgive your sinful people.

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky ¹  and worshiped ²  them.

“Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: “‘The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has instructed me to build a temple ¹  for him in Jerusalem, ²  which is in Judah.

But after our ancestors ¹  angered the God of heaven, he delivered them into the hands ²  of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon. ³ 

But when they gazed intently ¹  from a distance but did not recognize ²  him, they began to weep loudly. Each of them tore his robes, and they threw dust into the air over their heads. ³ 

Sing to God! Sing praises to his name! Exalt the one who rides on the clouds! ¹  For the Lord is his name! ²  Rejoice before him!

Do not curse a king even in your thoughts, and do not curse the rich ¹  while in your bedroom; ²  for a bird ³  might report what you are thinking, ⁴  or some winged creature ⁵  might repeat your ⁶  words. ⁷ 

At that time ¹  they will growl over their prey, ²  it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks. ³  One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster, clouds will turn the light into darkness. ⁴ 

“O Lord who commands armies, O God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubim! ¹  You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky ²  and the earth.