They come from a distant land, from the horizon. ¹  It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, ²  coming to destroy the whole earth. ³ 

But look, there is outright celebration! ¹  You say, “Kill the ox and slaughter the sheep, eat meat and drink wine. Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” ² 

Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you; indeed, ¹  every morning it will sweep by, it will come through during the day and the night.” ²  When this announcement is understood, it will cause nothing but terror.

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, ¹  King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.

The people cry out, ¹  “We have heard reports about them! We have become helpless with fear! ²  Anguish grips us, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!

Destructive forces will come against her false prophets; ¹  they will be shown to be fools! ²  Destructive forces will come against her soldiers; they will be filled with terror! ³ 

They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah ¹  in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there.

He broke down ¹  their strongholds ²  and devastated their cities. The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.

Even the calf idol ¹  will be carried to Assyria, as tribute for the great king. ²  Ephraim will be disgraced; Israel will be put to shame because ³  of its wooden idol. ⁴ 

They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral; they do so right ¹  beside every altar! They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied; they do so right in the temple ²  of their God! ³ 

As a result they ¹  will conquer those left in Edom ²  and all the nations subject to my rule.” ³  The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking!

The lion tore apart as much prey as his cubs needed ¹  and strangled prey to provide food ²  for his lionesses; he filled ³  his lairs with prey and his dens with torn flesh.

They mock kings and laugh at rulers. They laugh at every fortified city; they build siege ramps ¹  and capture them.

From ¹  the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and forceful people lay hold of it. ² 

For Herod had arrested John, bound him, ¹  and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,

Now when ¹  Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus ²  had been condemned, he regretted what he had done and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders,

When his family ¹  heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

They came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man sitting there, clothed and in his right mind – the one who had the “Legion” – and they were afraid.

Now ¹  they wanted to arrest him (but they feared the crowd), because they realized that he told this parable against them. So ²  they left him and went away. ³ 

But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing ¹  the word, cling to it ²  with an honest and good ³  heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance. ⁴