So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “He will not enter this city, nor will he shoot an arrow here. ¹  He will not attack it with his shield-carrying warriors, ²  nor will he build siege works against it.

Of course, who can really build a temple for him, since the sky ¹  and the highest heavens cannot contain him? Who am I that I should build him a temple! It will really be only a place to offer sacrifices before him. ² 

Hezekiah ordered the burnt sacrifice to be offered on the altar. As they began to offer the sacrifice, they also began to sing to the Lord, accompanied by the trumpets and the musical instruments of King David of Israel.

At the beginning of the year King Nebuchadnezzar ordered him to be brought ¹  to Babylon, along with the valuable items in the Lord’s temple. In his place he made his relative ²  Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what ¹  the king had said to me. Then they replied, “Let’s begin rebuilding right away!” ²  So they readied themselves ³  for this good project.

For the matter concerning the queen will spread to all the women, leading them to treat their husbands with contempt, saying, ‘When King Ahasuerus gave orders to bring Queen Vashti into his presence, she would not come.’

His dominion will be vast ¹  and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. ²  He will rule on David’s throne and over David’s kingdom, ³  establishing it ⁴  and strengthening it by promoting justice and fairness, ⁵  from this time forward and forevermore. The Lord’s intense devotion to his people ⁶  will accomplish this.

For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted, and the ripening fruit appears, ¹  he will cut off the unproductive shoots ²  with pruning knives; he will prune the tendrils. ³ 

The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, ¹  when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones ²  and heals their severe wound. ³ 

Who is like me? Let him make his claim! ¹  Let him announce it and explain it to me – since I established an ancient people – ²  let them announce future events! ³ 

You have heard; now look at all the evidence! ¹  Will you not admit that what I say is true? ²  From this point on I am announcing to you new events that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about. ³ 

Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen this? Can a country ¹  be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

“Get a scroll. ¹  Write on it everything I have told you to say ²  about Israel, Judah, and all the other nations since I began to speak to you in the reign of Josiah until now. ³ 

For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘Fair Babylon ¹  will be like a threshing floor which has been trampled flat for harvest. The time for her to be cut down and harvested will come very soon.’ ² 

ת (Tav) O people of Zion, ¹  your punishment ²  will come to an end; ³  he will not prolong your exile. ⁴  But, O people of Edom, ⁵  he will punish ⁶  your sin ⁷  and reveal ⁸  your offenses!

He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the house ¹  of Israel, to rebellious nations ²  who have rebelled against me; both they and their fathers have revolted ³  against me to this very day.

When you built your chamber at the head of every street and put up your pavilion in every public square, you were not like a prostitute, because you scoffed at payment. ¹ 

“But if the wicked person turns from all the sin he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.

They will designate men to scout continually ¹  through the land, burying those who remain on the surface of the ground, ²  in order to cleanse it. They will search for seven full months.

In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, ¹  he will make the same provisions for the sin offering, burnt offering, and grain offering, and for the olive oil, for the seven days.