But prior to this time, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been appointed over the storerooms ¹  of the temple of our God.

My brothers ¹  have been as treacherous ²  as a seasonal stream, ³  and as the riverbeds of the intermittent streams ⁴  that flow away. ⁵ 

Total darkness waits to receive his treasures; ¹  a fire which has not been kindled ²  will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.

For what is his interest ¹  in his home after his death, ²  when the number of his months has been broken off? ³ 

If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, ¹ 

if ¹  the members of my household ²  have never said, ³  ‘If only there were ⁴  someone who has not been satisfied from Job’s ⁵  meat!’ –

The enemy’s cities have been reduced to permanent ruins; ¹  you destroyed their cities; ²  all memory of the enemies has perished. ³ 

God settles those who have been deserted in their own homes; ¹  he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity. ²  But sinful rebels live in the desert. ³ 

Certainly ¹  my enemies ²  chase me. They smash me into the ground. ³  They force me to live ⁴  in dark regions, ⁵  like those who have been dead for ages.

and execute the judgment to which their enemies ¹  have been sentenced. ²  All his loyal followers will be vindicated. ³  Praise the Lord!

What exists now ¹  is what will be, ²  and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth. ³ 

I decided ¹  to carefully ²  and thoroughly examine ³  all that has been accomplished on earth. ⁴  I concluded: ⁵  God has given people ⁶  a burdensome task ⁷  that keeps them ⁸  occupied. ⁹ 

But better than both is the one who has not been born ¹  and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth. ² 

For he came out of prison ¹  to become king, even though he had been born poor in what would become his ²  kingdom.

At that time ¹  every place where there had been a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels will be overrun ²  with thorns and briers.

“The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with chiseled stone; the sycamore fig trees have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.” ¹ 

Look how you have fallen from the sky, O shining one, son of the dawn! ¹  You have been cut down to the ground, O conqueror ²  of the nations! ³ 

The nations will be burned to ashes; ¹  like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.

“I have been inactive ¹  for a long time; I kept quiet and held back. Like a woman in labor I groan; I pant and gasp. ² 

He was wounded because of ¹  our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; ²  because of his wounds we have been healed. ³