“Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your great reputation ¹  and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds; ²  they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple.

Messengers ¹  arrived and reported to Jehoshaphat, “A huge army is attacking you from the other side of the Dead Sea, ²  from the direction of Edom. ³  Look, they are in Hazezon Tamar (that is, En Gedi).”

They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. ¹  The king ²  told the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer burnt sacrifices on the altar of the Lord.

The majority of the many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun were ceremonially unclean, yet they ate the Passover in violation of what is prescribed in the law. ¹  For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: “May the Lord, who is good, forgive ² 

The men worked faithfully. Their supervisors were Jahath and Obadiah (Levites descended from Merari), as well as Zechariah and Meshullam (descendants of Kohath). The Levites, all of whom were skilled musicians,

They reserved the burnt offerings and the cattle for the family divisions of the people to present to the Lord, as prescribed in the scroll of Moses. ¹ 

So Jeshua appointed both his sons and his relatives, ¹  Kadmiel and his sons (the sons of Yehudah ² ), to take charge of the workers in the temple of God, along with the sons of Henadad, their sons, and their relatives ³  the Levites.

Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God. It is being built with large stones, ¹  and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and is prospering in their hands.

“I hereby give orders that if anyone changes this directive a beam is to be pulled out from his house and he is to be raised up and impaled ¹  on it, and his house is to be reduced ²  to a rubbish heap ³  for this indiscretion. ⁴ 

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!”

And the leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their colleagues, who stood opposite them to offer praise and thanks, one contingent corresponding to the other, as specified by ¹  David the man of God.

On that day men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, first fruits, and tithes, to gather into them from ¹  the fields of the cities the portions prescribed by the law for the priests and the Levites, for the people of Judah ²  took delight in the priests and Levites who were ministering. ³ 

I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; ¹  I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. ²  I will turn the darkness in front of them into light, and level out the rough ground. ³  This is what I will do for them. I will not abandon them.

This is what the Lord, your protector, ¹  says, the Holy One of Israel: ²  “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you how to succeed, who leads you in the way you should go.

The Lord said to his people: ¹  “You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. ²  Ask where the old, reliable paths ³  are. Ask where the path is that leads to blessing ⁴  and follow it. If you do, you will find rest for your souls.” But they said, “We will not follow it!”

If people want to boast, they should boast about this: They should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire people to do these things,” ¹  says the Lord.

“Please ask the Lord to come and help us, ¹  because King Nebuchadnezzar ²  of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will perform one of his miracles as in times past and make him stop attacking us and leave.” ³ 

Wail and cry out in anguish, you rulers! Roll in the dust, you who shepherd flocks of people! ¹  The time for you to be slaughtered has come. You will lie scattered and fallen like broken pieces of fine pottery. ² 

I will say, ¹  ‘My dear children of Israel, ²  keep in mind the road you took when you were carried off. ³  Mark off in your minds the landmarks. Make a mental note of telltale signs marking the way back. Return, my dear children of Israel. Return to these cities of yours.

The Lord God of Israel told Jeremiah ¹  to go and give King Zedekiah of Judah a message. He told Jeremiah ²  to tell him, “The Lord says, ‘I am going to ³  hand this city over to the king of Babylon and he will burn it down.