Say, ‘This is what the king says, “Put this man in prison. Give him only a little bread and water ¹  until I safely return.”’” ² 

The Lord humiliated ¹  Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel, ²  for he encouraged Judah to sin and was very ³  unfaithful to the Lord.

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

The enemy’s cities have been reduced to permanent ruins; ¹  you destroyed their cities; ²  all memory of the enemies has perished. ³ 

For the music director; a psalm of David. Listen to me, ²  O God, as I offer my lament! Protect ³  my life from the enemy’s terrifying attacks. ⁴ 

Their insults are painful ¹  and make me lose heart; ²  I look ³  for sympathy, but receive none, ⁴  for comforters, but find none.

A psalm of Asaph. O God, foreigners ²  have invaded your chosen land; ³  they have polluted your holy temple and turned Jerusalem ⁴  into a heap of ruins.

The fortified city (along with the very tops of your ¹  walls) ²  he will knock down, he will bring it down, he will throw it down to the dusty ground. ³ 

Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated; your adversaries ¹  will be reduced to nothing ²  and perish.

When you will look for your opponents, ¹  you will not find them; your enemies ²  will be reduced to absolutely nothing.

and rejected Esau. ¹  I turned Esau’s ²  mountains into a deserted wasteland ³  and gave his territory ⁴  to the wild jackals.”

“Now ¹  the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. ²  The ³  rich man also died and was buried. ⁴ 

I wish I could be with you now and change my tone of voice, ¹  because I am perplexed about you.

Then the priest must put on his linen robe and must put linen leggings ¹  over his bare flesh, and he must take up the fatty ashes of the burnt offering that the fire consumed on the altar, ²  and he must place them ³  beside the altar.

“I hereby give orders that if anyone changes this directive a beam is to be pulled out from his house and he is to be raised up and impaled ¹  on it, and his house is to be reduced ²  to a rubbish heap ³  for this indiscretion. ⁴ 

I will turn the land of Egypt into a desolation in the midst of desolate lands; for forty years her cities will lie desolate in the midst of ruined cities. I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them among foreign countries.

I hereby decree ¹  that any people, nation, or language group that blasphemes ²  the god of Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego will be dismembered and his home reduced to rubble! For there exists no other god who can deliver in this way.”

This was my lot ¹  for twenty years in your house: I worked like a slave ²  for you – fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, but you changed my wages ten times!

Jehoahaz had no army left ¹  except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers. The king of Syria had destroyed his troops ²  and trampled on them like dust. ³ 

Say, ‘This is what the king says: “Put this man in prison. Give him only a little bread and water ¹  until I return safely.”’”