These who are wise among the people will teach the masses. ¹  However, they will fall ²  by the sword and by the flame, ³  and they will be imprisoned and plundered for some time. ⁴ 

I heard, but I did not understand. So I said, “Sir, ¹  what will happen after these things?”

But they do not know what the Lord is planning; they do not understand his strategy. He has gathered them like stalks of grain to be threshed ¹  at the threshing floor.

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning ¹  as you are!

Remember the ancient days; bear in mind ¹  the years of past generations. ²  Ask your father and he will inform you, your elders, and they will tell you.

When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he ¹  realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” They replied, “Yes, he’s dead.”

I ¹  grant your request, ²  and give ³  you a wise and discerning mind ⁴  superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you. ⁵ 

I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, ¹  dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby.” ² 

Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a wise adviser and scribe; ¹  Jehiel son of Hacmoni cared for ²  the king’s sons.

He wisely placed some of his many sons throughout the regions of Judah and Benjamin in the various fortified cities. ¹  He supplied them with abundant provisions and acquired many wives for them. ² 

He followed ¹  God during the lifetime of ²  Zechariah, who taught him how to honor God. As long as he followed ³  the Lord, God caused him to succeed. ⁴ 

I had them assemble ¹  at the canal ²  that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I observed that the people and the priests were present, but I found no Levites there.

So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, ¹  Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers.

So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard. (This happened on the first day of the seventh month.)

So all the people departed to eat and drink and to share their food ¹  with others ²  and to enjoy tremendous joy, ³  for they had gained insight in the matters that had been made known to them.

and I returned to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah by supplying him with a storeroom in the courts of the temple of God.

Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways! ¹  How faint is the whisper ²  we hear of him! But who can understand the thunder of his power?”

you asked, ¹  ‘Who is this who darkens counsel without knowledge?’ But ²  I have declared without understanding ³  things too wonderful for me to know. ⁴ 

Do not be ¹  like an unintelligent horse or mule, ²  which will not obey you unless they are controlled by a bridle and bit. ³ 

If you say, “But we did not know about this,” does not the one who evaluates ¹  hearts consider? Does not the one who guards your life know? Will he not repay each person according to his deeds? ²