Then a wind ¹  lifted me up and carried me to the exiles in Babylonia, ²  in the vision given to me by the Spirit of God. Then the vision I had seen went up from me.

In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, ¹  some of the elders ²  of Israel came to seek ³  the Lord, and they sat down in front of me.

So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives of Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah?

He will also take their gods into captivity to Egypt, along with their cast images and prized utensils of silver and gold. Then he will withdraw for some years from ¹  the king of the north.

This is what the Lord says: “Because Gaza ¹  has committed three crimes ²  – make that four! ³  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ⁴  They deported a whole community ⁵  and sold them ⁶  to Edom.

This is what the Lord says: “Because Tyre has committed three crimes ¹  – make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³  They sold ⁴  a whole community ⁵  to Edom; they failed to observe ⁶  a treaty of brotherhood. ⁷ 

I will bring back my people, Israel; ¹  they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble ²  and settle down. ³  They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce; ⁴  they will grow orchards ⁵  and eat the fruit they produce. ⁶ 

The exiles of this fortress ¹  of the people of Israel will take possession ²  of what belongs to the people of Canaan, as far as Zarephath, ³  and the exiles of Jerusalem ⁴  who are in Sepharad ⁵  will take possession of the towns of the Negev.

Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; ¹  shave your foreheads as bald ²  as an eagle, ³  for they are taken from you into exile.

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ, ¹  fourteen generations.

But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members.

They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; ¹  all joy turns to sorrow; ²  celebrations disappear from the earth. ³ 

Can spoils be taken from a warrior, or captives be rescued from a conqueror? ¹ 

A whirlwind has wrapped them in its wings; they will be brought to shame because of their idolatrous worship. ¹ 

They are frightening and terrifying; they decide for themselves what is right. ¹ 

discard the clothing she was wearing when captured, ¹  and stay ²  in your house, lamenting for her father and mother for a full month. After that you may have sexual relations ³  with her and become her husband and she your wife.

In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-seventh ¹  day of the twelfth month, ²  King Evil-Merodach of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned ³  King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him ⁴  from prison.

The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says, “I will restore the people of Judah to their land and to their towns. When I do, they will again say ²  of Jerusalem, ³  ‘May the Lord bless you, you holy mountain, the place where righteousness dwells.’ ⁴ 

In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-fifth ¹  day of the twelfth month, ²  Evil-Merodach, in the first year of his reign, pardoned ³  King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison.

“Therefore, son of man, pack up your belongings as if for exile. During the day, while they are watching, pretend to go into exile. Go from where you live to another place. Perhaps they will understand, ¹  although they are a rebellious house.