I also know that whatever God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it. God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.

Then a trustworthy king will be established; he will rule in a reliable manner, this one from David’s family. ¹  He will be sure to make just decisions and will be experienced in executing justice. ² 

“Please, Lord. Remember how I have served you ¹  faithfully and with wholehearted devotion, ²  and how I have carried out your will.” ³  Then Hezekiah wept bitterly. ⁴ 

Who acts and carries out decrees? ¹  Who ²  summons the successive generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning, and at the very end – I am the one. ³ 

Who is like me? Let him make his claim! ¹  Let him announce it and explain it to me – since I established an ancient people – ²  let them announce future events! ³ 

Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid! ¹  Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it? You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me? There is no other sheltering rock; ²  I know of none.

In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. ¹  No, it is realized as I desire and is fulfilled as I intend.” ² 

Because of the long distance you must travel, you get tired, ¹  but you do not say, ‘I give up.’ ²  You get renewed energy, ³  so you don’t collapse. ⁴ 

“For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain.

The Lord says, ¹  “These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows. Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. ²  They have become powerful in the land, but they have not done so by honest means. ³  Indeed, they do one evil thing after another ⁴  and do not pay attention to me. ⁵ 

Their tongues are like deadly arrows. ¹  They are always telling lies. ²  Friendly words for their neighbors come from their mouths. But their minds are thinking up ways to trap them. ³ 

I, the Lord, say: ¹  ‘You people have deserted me! You keep turning your back on me.’ ²  So I have unleashed my power against you ³  and have begun to destroy you. ⁴  I have grown tired of feeling sorry for you!” ⁵ 

I said, ¹  “Oh, mother, how I regret ²  that you ever gave birth to me! I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land. ³  I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone. Yet all of these people are treating me with contempt.” ⁴ 

The Lord said, “Jerusalem, ¹  I will surely send you away for your own good. I will surely ²  bring the enemy upon you in a time of trouble and distress.

But you are always thinking and looking for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means. Your eyes and your heart are set on killing some innocent person and committing fraud and oppression. ¹ 

ר (Resh) Our very life breath – the Lord’s anointed king ¹  – was caught in their traps, ²  of whom we thought, ³  “Under his protection ⁴  we will survive among the nations.”

The Lord said to me: “This gate will be shut; it will not be opened, and no one will enter by it. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it will remain shut.

I prayed to the LORD my God, confessing in this way: “O Lord, ¹  great and awesome God who is faithful to his covenant ²  with those who love him and keep his commandments,

They turn to Baal; ¹  they are like an unreliable bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because their prayers to Baal ²  have made me angry. So people will disdain them in the land of Egypt. ³ 

O Ephraim, I do not want to have anything to do ¹  with idols anymore! I will answer him and care for him. I am like ²  a luxuriant cypress tree; ³  your fruitfulness comes from me! ⁴