The king issued an order ¹  to summon the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and wise men ²  in order to explain his dreams to him. ³  So they came and awaited the king’s instructions. ⁴ 

A river of fire was streaming forth and proceeding from his presence. Many thousands were ministering to him; Many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him. ¹  The court convened ²  and the books were opened.

What he will honor is a god of fortresses – a god his fathers did not acknowledge he will honor with gold, silver, valuable stones, and treasured commodities.

He will attack ¹  mighty fortresses, aided by ²  a foreign deity. To those who recognize him he will grant considerable honor. He will place them in authority over many people, and he will parcel out land for a price. ³ 

They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and burn offerings on the hills; they sacrifice ¹  under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is so pleasant. As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery!

Look! ¹  Even if ²  they flee from the destruction, Egypt will take hold ³  of them, and Memphis will bury them. The weeds will inherit the silver they treasure ⁴  – thorn bushes will occupy their homes. ⁵ 

The prophet ¹  is a watchman ²  over Ephraim ³  on behalf of God, ⁴  yet traps ⁵  are laid for him along all of his paths; ⁶  animosity rages against him in the land ⁷  of his God.

The roar of battle will rise against your people; all your fortresses will be devastated, just as Shalman devastated ¹  Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.

“I am the Lord your God ¹  who brought you ²  out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again as in the days of old. ³ 

In that day people ¹  will come to you ²  from Assyria as far as ³  Egypt, from Egypt as far as the Euphrates River, ⁴  from the seacoasts ⁵  and the mountains. ⁶ 

Their horses are faster than leopards and more alert ¹  than wolves in the desert. ²  Their horses ³  gallop, ⁴  their horses come a great distance; like a vulture ⁵  they swoop down quickly to devour their prey. ⁶ 

Jesus ¹  went throughout all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, ²  preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of disease and sickness among the people.

Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens, and the birds in the sky ¹  have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” ² 

It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, ¹  so that the wild birds ²  come and nest in its branches.” ³ 

“Woe to you, experts in the law ¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. ² 

So then, if someone ¹  says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ ²  do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him.

Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens and the birds in the sky ¹  have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” ² 

Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ¹  the last state of that person ²  is worse than the first.” ³ 

It is like a mustard seed ¹  that a man took and sowed ²  in his garden. It ³  grew and became a tree, ⁴  and the wild birds ⁵  nested in its branches.” ⁶ 

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth, ¹  so that when it runs out you will be welcomed ²  into the eternal homes. ³