He watches over ¹  his holy ones, ²  but the wicked are made speechless in the darkness, for it is not by one’s own strength that one prevails.

He will take your best fields and vineyards and give them to his own servants.

You know Abner the son of Ner! Surely he came here to spy on you and to determine when you leave and when you return ¹  and to discover everything that you are doing!”

¹ Then David asked, “Is anyone still left from the family ²  of Saul, so that I may extend kindness to him for the sake of Jonathan?”

He said, “Go and ask all your neighbors for empty containers. ¹  Get as many as you can. ² 

When you arrive there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi and take him aside into an inner room. ¹ 

Jezebel’s corpse will be like manure on the surface of the ground in the plot of land at Jezreel. People will not be able to even recognize her.’” ¹ 

The priests should receive the silver they need from the treasurers and repair any damage to the temple they discover.” ¹ 

And during the reign ¹  of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, ²  Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their colleagues ³  wrote to King Artaxerxes ⁴  of Persia. This letter ⁵  was first written in Aramaic but then translated. [Aramaic:] ⁶ 

From ¹  Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues – the judges, the rulers, the officials, the secretaries, the Erechites, the Babylonians, the people of Susa (that is, ²  the Elamites),

The king sent the following response: “To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and other parts of Trans-Euphrates: Greetings! ¹ 

Then, as soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read in the presence of Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they proceeded promptly to the Jews in Jerusalem ¹  and stopped them with threat of armed force. ² 

This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and his colleagues who were the officials of Trans-Euphrates sent to King Darius.

for they had not met the Israelites with food ¹  and water, but instead had hired Balaam to curse them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into blessing.)

But prior to this time, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been appointed over the storerooms ¹  of the temple of our God.

That person sings ¹  to others, ²  saying: ‘I have sinned and falsified what is right, but I was not punished according to what I deserved. ³ 

For the music director; according to the sheminith style; ²  a psalm of David. Deliver, Lord! For the godly ³  have disappeared; ⁴  people of integrity ⁵  have vanished. ⁶ 

For the Lord promotes ¹  justice, and never abandons ²  his faithful followers. They are permanently secure, ³  but the children ⁴  of evil men are wiped out. ⁵ 

God says this to the evildoer: ¹  “How can you declare my commands, and talk about my covenant? ² 

I will continually ¹  thank you when ²  you execute judgment; ³  I will rely ⁴  on you, ⁵  for your loyal followers know you are good. ⁶