But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. ¹  These false teachers ²  will ³  infiltrate your midst ⁴  with destructive heresies, ⁵  even to the point of ⁶  denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring ⁷  swift destruction on themselves.

For certain men ¹  have secretly slipped in among you ²  – men who long ago ³  were marked out ⁴  for the condemnation I am about to describe ⁵  – ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil ⁶  and who deny our only Master ⁷  and Lord, ⁸  Jesus Christ.

with these words: ¹  “We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, ²  the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun to reign. ³ 

For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth ¹  to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful. ² 

Then ¹  I heard what sounded like the voice of a vast throng, like the roar of many waters and like loud crashes of thunder. They were shouting: ²  “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, ³  the All-Powerful, ⁴  reigns!

He answered, “I have been absolutely loyal ¹  to the Lord, the sovereign God, ²  even though the Israelites have abandoned the agreement they made with you, ³  torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.” ⁴ 

He answered, “I have been absolutely loyal ¹  to the Lord, the sovereign God, ²  even though the Israelites have abandoned the agreement they made with you, ³  torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.” ⁴ 

So the king of Israel assembled about four hundred prophets and asked them, “Should I attack Ramoth Gilead or not?” ¹  They said, “Attack! The sovereign one ²  will hand it over to the king.”

Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ¹  ‘With my many chariots ²  I climbed up the high mountains, the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedars, and its best evergreens. I invaded its most remote regions, ³  its thickest woods.

O Lord, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign ¹  over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler ²  of all.

At that time ¹  the sovereign master will use a razor hired from the banks of the Euphrates River, ²  the king of Assyria, to shave the head and the pubic hair; ³  it will also shave off the beard.

So the sovereign master was not pleased ¹  with their young men, he took no pity ²  on their orphans and widows; for the whole nation was godless ³  and did wicked things, ⁴  every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. ⁵  Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁶ 

But when ¹  the sovereign master ²  finishes judging ³  Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I ⁴  will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays. ⁵ 

So ¹  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ² 

At that time ¹  the sovereign master ²  will again lift his hand ³  to reclaim ⁴  the remnant of his people ⁵  from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, ⁶  Cush, ⁷  Elam, Shinar, ⁸  Hamath, and the seacoasts. ⁹ 

Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ¹  ‘With my many chariots I climbed up the high mountains, the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedars and its best evergreens. I invaded its most remote regions, ²  its thickest woods.

“Say to the rebellious house of Israel: ¹  ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ ²  Say: ‘See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem ³  and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon.

take note, I have stretched out my hand against you, and I will hand you over as plunder ¹  to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands. I will destroy you; then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

They will live securely in it; they will build houses and plant vineyards. They will live securely ¹  when I execute my judgments on all those who scorn them and surround them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.’”

I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I place my sword in the hand of the king of Babylon and he extends it against the land of Egypt.