Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior ¹  and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! ²  Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hand. I will no longer let them be shepherds; ¹  the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. I will rescue my sheep from their mouth, so that they will no longer be food for them.

tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the branch of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place them on the stick of Judah, ¹  and make them into one stick – they will be one in my hand.’ ² 

There were closed windows toward the alcoves and toward their jambs within the gate all around, and likewise for the porches. There were windows all around the inside, and on each jamb were decorative palm trees. ¹ 

The ledge is 24½ feet ¹  long and 24½ feet wide on four sides; the border around it is 10½ inches, ²  and its surrounding base 1¾ feet. ³  Its steps face east.”

Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.” ¹ 

At that time my sanity returned to me. I was restored ¹  to the honor of my kingdom, and my splendor returned to me. My ministers and my nobles were seeking me out, and I was reinstated ²  over my kingdom. I became even greater than before.

Consequently the supervisors and satraps were trying to find ¹  some pretext against Daniel in connection with administrative matters. ²  But they were unable to find any such damaging evidence, ³  because he was trustworthy and guilty of no negligence or corruption. ⁴ 

“As I was contemplating the horns, another horn – a small one – came up between them, and three of the former horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. ¹  This horn had eyes resembling human eyes and a mouth speaking arrogant ²  things.

On that day,’ ¹  says the Lord who rules over all, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,’ ²  says the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring, ³  for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord who rules over all.” ⁴ 

Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. ¹  Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep ²  and tear off their hooves.

Edom ¹  says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all ²  responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as ³  the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased.

No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. ¹  What did our ancestor ²  do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth. ³ 

After they had gone, an ¹  angel of the Lord ²  appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod ³  is going to look for the child to kill him.”

Then, ¹  turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, ²  but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

So ¹  the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the household was furious ²  and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly ³  to the streets and alleys of the city, ⁴  and bring in the poor, ⁵  the crippled, ⁶  the blind, and the lame.’

So the soldiers said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but throw dice ¹  to see who will get it.” ²  This took place ³  to fulfill the scripture that says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they threw dice.” ⁴  So the soldiers did these things.

So do not let them persuade you to do this, ¹  because more than forty of them ²  are lying in ambush ³  for him. They ⁴  have bound themselves with an oath ⁵  not to eat or drink anything ⁶  until they have killed him, and now they are ready, waiting for you to agree to their request.” ⁷ 

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I ¹  would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else ²  if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” ³ 

I have applied these things to myself and Apollos because of you, brothers and sisters, ¹  so that through us you may learn “not to go beyond what is written,” so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of the one against the other.