Rich people from Tyre ¹  will seek your favor by bringing a gift. ² 

Listen, for I will speak excellent things, ¹  and my lips will utter ²  what is right.

A fool will no longer be called honorable; a deceiver will no longer be called principled.

The Babylonians are all like lions roaring for prey. They are like lion cubs growling for something to eat. ¹ 

And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I ¹  stood to strengthen him and to provide protection for him.)

I said, “Listen, you leaders ¹  of Jacob, you rulers of the nation ²  of Israel! You ought to know what is just, ³ 

So he said, “These are the two anointed ones ¹  who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

He has brought down the mighty ¹  from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position; ² 

He answered, ¹  “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army. ²  Now I have arrived!” ³  Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground ⁴  and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?”

Indeed, they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race ¹  has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all of this!”

This is the order Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went to King Zedekiah of Judah in Babylon during the fourth year of his reign. ¹  (Seraiah was a quartermaster.) ² 

Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent out a summons to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, ¹  and all the other authorities of the province to attend the dedication of the statue that he ²  had erected.

He will also take their gods into captivity to Egypt, along with their cast images and prized utensils of silver and gold. Then he will withdraw for some years from ¹  the king of the north.

Then he will turn his attention ¹  to the coastal regions and will capture many of them. But a commander ²  will bring his shameful conduct to a halt; in addition, ³  he will make him pay for his shameful conduct. ⁴ 

and from Jesus Christ – the faithful ¹  witness, ²  the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free ³  from our sins at the cost of ⁴  his own blood

So the royal scribes ¹  were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month. Everything Haman commanded was written to the king’s satraps ²  and governors who were in every province and to the officials of every people, province by province according to its script and people by people according to its language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

But now your kingdom will not continue! The Lord has sought out ¹  for himself a man who is loyal to him ²  and the Lord has appointed ³  him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you.”

“Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. The day after tomorrow ¹  you will go up to the Lord’s temple.

His officials also willingly contributed to the people, priests, and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the leaders of God’s temple, supplied 2,600 Passover sacrifices and 300 cattle.

Now when these things had been completed, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the local residents ¹  who practice detestable things similar to those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.