He answered, “I have been absolutely loyal ¹  to the Lord, the sovereign God, ²  even though the Israelites have abandoned the agreement they made with you, ³  torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.” ⁴ 

He answered, “I have been absolutely loyal ¹  to the Lord, the sovereign God, ²  even though the Israelites have abandoned the agreement they made with you, ³  torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.” ⁴ 

So the sovereign master was not pleased ¹  with their young men, he took no pity ²  on their orphans and widows; for the whole nation was godless ³  and did wicked things, ⁴  every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. ⁵  Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁶ 

take note, I have stretched out my hand against you, and I will hand you over as plunder ¹  to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands. I will destroy you; then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before ¹  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.”

But at the end of the appointed time ¹  I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up ²  toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me. I extolled the Most High, and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever. For his authority is an everlasting authority, and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next.

I saw the sovereign One ¹  standing by the altar ²  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ³  so the thresholds shake! Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ⁴  and I will kill the survivors ⁵  with the sword. No one will be able to run away; ⁶  no one will be able to escape. ⁷ 

Lord, you have been active from ancient times; ¹  my sovereign God, ²  you are immortal. ³  Lord, you have made them ⁴  your instrument of judgment. ⁵  Protector, ⁶  you have appointed them as your instrument of punishment. ⁷ 

On that day,’ ¹  says the Lord who rules over all, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,’ ²  says the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring, ³  for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord who rules over all.” ⁴ 

“There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king,” ¹  says the Lord who rules over all, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”

But I have nothing definite ¹  to write to my lord ²  about him. ³  Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, ⁴  so that after this preliminary hearing ⁵  I may have something to write.

But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. ¹  These false teachers ²  will ³  infiltrate your midst ⁴  with destructive heresies, ⁵  even to the point of ⁶  denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring ⁷  swift destruction on themselves.

For certain men ¹  have secretly slipped in among you ²  – men who long ago ³  were marked out ⁴  for the condemnation I am about to describe ⁵  – ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil ⁶  and who deny our only Master ⁷  and Lord, ⁸  Jesus Christ.

Each one of the four living creatures had six wings ¹  and was full of eyes all around and inside. ²  They never rest day or night, saying: ³  “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God, the All-Powerful, ⁴  Who was and who is, and who is still to come!”

Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ¹  ‘With my many chariots ²  I climbed up the high mountains, the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedars, and its best evergreens. I invaded its most remote regions, ³  its thickest woods.

Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ¹  ‘With my many chariots I climbed up the high mountains, the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedars and its best evergreens. I invaded its most remote regions, ²  its thickest woods.

You will be driven ¹  from human society, ²  and you will live ³  with the wild animals. You will be fed ⁴  grass like oxen, ⁵  and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before ⁶  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.

He was driven from human society, his mind ¹  was changed to that of an animal, he lived ²  with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.