After these faithful deeds were accomplished, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities, intending to seize them. ¹ 

“You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and you allocated them to every corner of the land. ¹  They inherited the land of King Sihon of Heshbon ²  and the land of King Og of Bashan.

You prolonged your kindness ¹  with them for many years, and you solemnly admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they paid no attention, ²  so you delivered them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. ³ 

But he does not agree with this, his mind does not reason this way, ¹  for his goal is to destroy, and to eliminate many nations. ² 

Prepare to execute ¹  his sons for the sins their ancestors have committed. ²  They must not rise up and take possession of the earth, or fill the surface of the world with cities.” ³ 

I will make you as strong as a wall to these people, a fortified wall of bronze. They will attack you, but they will not be able to overcome you. For I will be with you to rescue you and deliver you,” ¹  says the Lord.

So do not listen to your prophets or to those who claim to predict the future by divination, ¹  by dreams, by consulting the dead, ²  or by practicing magic. They keep telling you, ‘You do not need to be ³  subject to the king of Babylon.’

Then he will turn his attention ¹  to the coastal regions and will capture many of them. But a commander ²  will bring his shameful conduct to a halt; in addition, ³  he will make him pay for his shameful conduct. ⁴ 

You will be convinced ¹  that I the Lord am your God, dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem ²  will be holy – conquering armies ³  will no longer pass through it.

As a result they ¹  will conquer those left in Edom ²  and all the nations subject to my rule.” ³  The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking!

You will eat, but not be satisfied. Even if you have the strength ¹  to overtake some prey, ²  you will not be able to carry it away; ³  if you do happen to carry away something, I will deliver it over to the sword.

Look, I am about to empower ¹  the Babylonians, that ruthless ²  and greedy ³  nation. They sweep across the surface ⁴  of the earth, seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades ¹  will not overpower it.

who will transform these humble bodies of ours ¹  into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.

The one who conquers ¹  will be dressed like them ²  in white clothing, ³  and I will never ⁴  erase ⁵  his name from the book of life, but ⁶  will declare ⁷  his name before my Father and before his angels.

Moses said to them: “If the Gadites and the Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, each one equipped for battle in the Lord’s presence, and you conquer the land, ¹  then you must allot them the territory of Gilead as their possession.

Then you responded to me and admitted, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will now go up and fight as the Lord our God has told us to do.” So you each put on your battle gear and prepared to go up to the hill country.

From Aroer, ¹  which is at the edge of Wadi Arnon (it is the city in the wadi), ²  all the way to Gilead there was not a town able to resist us – the Lord our God gave them all to us.

Understand today that the Lord your God who goes before you is a devouring fire; he will defeat and subdue them before you. You will dispossess and destroy them quickly just as he ¹  has told you.

When you come to the land the Lord your God is giving you and take it over and live in it and then say, “I will select a king like all the nations surrounding me,”