The sons of Hassenaah rebuilt the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah worked on the Jeshanah Gate. ¹  They laid its beams and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

Malkijah son of Recab, head of the district of Beth Hakkerem, worked on the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

So I stationed people at the lower places behind the wall in the exposed places. ¹  I stationed the people by families, with their swords, spears, and bows.

I brought the leaders of Judah up on top of the wall, and I appointed two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed ¹  on the top of the wall southward toward the Dung Gate.

So I registered a complaint with the leaders, asking “Why is the temple of God neglected?” Then I gathered them and reassigned them to their positions. ¹ 

And let the king’s decision which he will enact be disseminated ¹  throughout all his kingdom, vast though it is. ²  Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the most prominent to the lowly.”

The kings of the earth ¹  form a united front; ²  the rulers collaborate ³  against the Lord and his anointed king. ⁴ 

It is lofty and pleasing to look at, ¹  a source of joy to the whole earth. ²  Mount Zion resembles the peaks of Zaphon; ³  it is the city of the great king.

Men are nothing but a mere breath; human beings are unreliable. ¹  When they are weighed in the scales, all of them together are lighter than air. ² 

Deceitful people will not live in my palace. ¹  Liars will not be welcome in my presence. ² 

when he gave the sea his decree that the waters should not pass over his command, ¹  when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

The people will treat each other harshly; men will oppose each other; neighbors will fight. ¹  Youths will proudly defy the elderly and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected. ² 

The look on their faces ¹  testifies to their guilt; ²  like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. ³  Too bad for them! ⁴  For they bring disaster on themselves.

I will place the key ¹  to the house of David on his shoulder. When he opens the door, no one can close it; when he closes the door, no one can open it.

King Zedekiah said to them, “Very well, you can do what you want with him. ¹  For I cannot do anything to stop you.” ² 

He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than ¹  the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, ¹  and that they are my people, the house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord. ² 

His forces ¹  will rise up and profane the fortified sanctuary, ²  stopping the daily sacrifice. In its place they will set up ³  the abomination that causes desolation.

O Israel, you have sinned since the time ¹  of Gibeah, and there you have remained. Did not war overtake the evildoers in Gibeah?