“I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength, ¹  and I give it to whomever I see fit. ² 

I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power ¹  of my servant, ²  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him. ³ 

Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the disaster I intend to bring on them, they will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. ¹  If they do, I will forgive their sins and the wicked things they have done.” ² 

For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon a host of mighty nations ¹  from the land of the north. They will set up their battle lines against her. They will come from the north and capture her. ²  Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier ³  who does not return from the battle empty-handed. ⁴ 

He said to me, “Daniel, you are of great value. ¹  Understand the words that I am about to ²  speak to you. So stand up, ³  for I have now been sent to you.” When he said this ⁴  to me, I stood up shaking.

“I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest. ¹  I gave rain to one city, but not to another. One field ²  would get rain, but the field that received no rain dried up.

Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land,” says the Lord, “but instead I will turn every last person over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from them.”

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.

He said, “See, I am going to make ¹  a covenant before all your people. I will do wonders such as have not been done ²  in all the earth, nor in any nation. All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you. ³ 

So now, look, the Lord has preserved my life, just as he promised, these past forty-five years since the Lord spoke these words to Moses, during which Israel traveled through the wilderness. Now look, I am today eighty-five years old.

“Look, today I am about to die. ¹  You know with all your heart and being ²  that not even one of all the faithful promises the Lord your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized – not one promise is unfulfilled! ³ 

David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the Lord said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hand, and you can do to him whatever seems appropriate to you.’” ¹  So David got up and quietly cut off an edge of Saul’s robe.

These words of Ish-bosheth really angered Abner and he said, “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah? This very day I am demonstrating ¹  loyalty to the house of Saul your father and to his relatives ²  and his friends! I have not betrayed you into the hand of David. Yet you have accused me of sinning with this woman today! ³ 

The man replied to Joab, “Even if ¹  I were receiving ²  a thousand pieces of silver, ³  I would not strike ⁴  the king’s son! In our very presence ⁵  the king gave this order to you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ ⁶ 

I am presently eighty years old. Am I able to discern good and bad? Can I ¹  taste what I eat and drink? Am I still able to hear the voices of male and female singers? Why should I ²  continue to be a burden to my lord the king?

may your ear be attentive and your eyes be open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying to you today throughout both day and night on behalf of your servants the Israelites. I am confessing the sins of the Israelites that we have committed ¹  against you – both I myself and my family ²  have sinned.