Then this Sheshbazzar went and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem. From that time to the present moment ¹  it has been in the process of being rebuilt, although it is not yet finished.’

Throughout that night the king was unable to sleep, ¹  so he asked for the book containing the historical records ²  to be brought. As the records ³  were being read in the king’s presence,

¹ There is a loud noise on the mountains – it sounds like a large army! ²  There is great commotion among the kingdoms ³  – nations are being assembled! The Lord who commands armies is mustering forces for battle.

All you who live in the world, who reside on the earth, you will see a signal flag raised on the mountains; you will hear a trumpet being blown.

The Egyptians are mere humans, not God; their horses are made of flesh, not spirit. The Lord will strike with ¹  his hand; the one who helps will stumble and the one being helped will fall. Together they will perish. ² 

I will do this so ¹  people ²  will observe and recognize, so they will pay attention and understand that the Lord’s power ³  has accomplished this, and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.” ⁴ 

Lord, you coerced me into being a prophet, and I allowed you to do it. You overcame my resistance and prevailed over me. ¹  Now I have become a constant laughingstock. Everyone ridicules me.

Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin. He wanted to make sure he got his share of the property that was being divided up among his family there. ¹ 

Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns that were around them. No one will live there. No human being will settle in it,” says the Lord.

I will destroy Babylonia just like I did Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns. No one will live there. ¹  No human being will settle in it,” says the Lord. ² 

“Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out my hand against it, cut off its bread supply, ¹  cause famine to come on it, and kill both people and animals.

Let his mind ¹  be altered from that of a human being, and let an animal’s mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time ²  go by for ³  him.

“For look, I am giving a command and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations. It will resemble a sieve being shaken, when not even a pebble falls to the ground. ¹ 

But when he heard that Archelaus ¹  was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, ²  he was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the regions of Galilee.

As he approached the town gate, a man ¹  who had died was being carried out, ²  the only son of his mother (who ³  was a widow ⁴ ), and a large crowd from the town ⁵  was with her.

People ¹  were eating, ²  they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage – right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then ³  the flood came and destroyed them all. ⁴ 

When a woman gives birth, she has distress ¹  because her time ²  has come, but when her child is born, she no longer remembers the suffering because of her joy that a human being ³  has been born into the world. ⁴ 

And a man lame ¹  from birth ²  was being carried up, who was placed at the temple gate called “the Beautiful Gate” every day ³  so he could beg for money ⁴  from those going into the temple courts. ⁵ 

Then the commander ¹  of the temple guard ²  went with the officers ³  and brought the apostles ⁴  without the use of force ⁵  (for they were afraid of being stoned by the people). ⁶ 

Now in those ¹  days, when the disciples were growing in number, ²  a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews ³  against the native Hebraic Jews, ⁴  because their widows ⁵  were being overlooked ⁶  in the daily distribution of food. ⁷