So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly ¹  about all the schemes ²  they were plotting ³  against us.

The people from Tyre ¹  who lived there were bringing fish and all kinds of merchandise and were selling it on the Sabbath to the people of Judah – and in Jerusalem, of all places! ² 

And let the king’s decision which he will enact be disseminated ¹  throughout all his kingdom, vast though it is. ²  Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the most prominent to the lowly.”

The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, bringing death and destruction, and they did as they pleased with their enemies.

Let darkness and the deepest shadow ¹  claim it; ²  let a cloud settle on it; let whatever blackens the day ³  terrify it!

Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways! ¹  How faint is the whisper ²  we hear of him! But who can understand the thunder of his power?”

They say, ¹  ‘An awful disease ²  overwhelms him, ³  and now that he is bed-ridden he will never recover.’ ⁴ 

May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, and do not give Jerusalem priority over whatever gives me the most joy. ¹ 

The king’s heart ¹  is in the hand ²  of the Lord like channels of water; ³  he turns it wherever he wants.

So I perceived there is nothing better than for people ¹  to enjoy their work, ²  because that is their ³  reward; for who can show them what the future holds? ⁴ 

It is better to be content with ¹  what the eyes can see ²  than for one’s heart always to crave more. ³  This continual longing ⁴  is futile – like ⁵  chasing the wind.

What they loved, ¹  as well as what they hated ²  and envied, ³  perished long ago, and they no longer have a part in anything that happens on earth. ⁴ 

If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth, and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lie wherever it falls.

“I thought, ¹  ‘In the middle of my life ²  I must walk through the gates of Sheol, I am deprived ³  of the rest of my years.’

‘Look, a time is coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors ¹  have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.

who announces the end from the beginning and reveals beforehand ¹  what has not yet occurred, who says, ‘My plan will be realized, I will accomplish what I desire,’

But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better. ¹ 

However, I will leave some of these wicked people alive and banish them to other places. But wherever these people who survive may go, they will wish they had died rather than lived,” ¹  says the Lord who rules over all. ² 

But they just keep saying, ‘We do not care what you say! ¹  We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly!’” ² 

I will bring war, starvation, and disease ¹  on them until they are completely destroyed from the land I gave them and their ancestors.’” ²