He asked, “What is this grave marker I see?” The men from the city replied, “It’s the grave of the prophet ¹  who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel.”

King David dedicated these things to the Lord, ¹  along with the silver and gold which he had carried off from all the nations, including ²  Edom, ³  Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn’t hear even half the story! ¹  Your wisdom surpasses what was reported to me.

Now after these things had happened, during the reign of King Artaxerxes ¹  of Persia, Ezra came up from Babylon. ²  Ezra was the son of Seraiah, who was the son of Azariah, who was the son of Hilkiah,

They were telling me about his good deeds and then taking back to him the things I said. ¹  Tobiah, on the other hand, sent letters in order to scare ²  me.

When these things had been accomplished ¹  and the rage of King Ahasuerus had diminished, he remembered ²  Vashti and what she had done and what had been decided ³  against her.

They are absolutely terrified, ¹  even by things that do not normally cause fear. ²  For God annihilates ³  those who attack you. ⁴  You are able to humiliate them because God has rejected them. ⁵ 

How blessed ¹  is the one whom you choose, and allow to live in your palace courts. ²  May we be satisfied with the good things of your house – your holy palace. ³ 

But as for me, God’s presence is all I need. ¹  I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter, as ²  I declare all the things you have done.

we will not hide from their ¹  descendants. We will tell the next generation about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, ²  about his strength and the amazing things he has done.

A song of ascents, ²  by David. O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor do I have a haughty look. ³  I do not have great aspirations, or concern myself with things that are beyond me. ⁴ 

To every man whom God has given wealth, and possessions, he has also given him the ability ¹  to eat from them, to receive his reward and to find enjoyment in his toil; these things ²  are the gift of God.

During the days of my fleeting life ¹  I have seen both ²  of these things: Sometimes ³  a righteous person dies prematurely ⁴  in spite of ⁵  his righteousness, and sometimes ⁶  a wicked person lives long ⁷  in spite of his evil deeds.

O Lord, you are my God! ¹  I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame. ²  For you have done extraordinary things, and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed. ³ 

The sovereign master ¹  says, “These people say they are loyal to me; ²  they say wonderful things about me, ³  but they are not really loyal to me. ⁴  Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual. ⁵ 

They ¹  say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!” and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! ²  Tell us nice things, relate deceptive messages. ³ 

Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Don’t be afraid because of the things you have heard – these insults the king of Assyria’s servants have hurled against me. ¹ 

‘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.

I announced them to you beforehand; before they happened, I predicted them for you, so you could never say, ‘My image did these things, my idol, my cast image, decreed them.’

All of you, gather together and listen! Who among them ¹  announced these things? The Lord’s ally ²  will carry out his desire against Babylon; he will exert his power against the Babylonians. ³