“Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man ¹  has a discharge ²  from his body, ³  his discharge is unclean.

‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father ¹  will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

We inquired of those elders, asking them, ‘Who gave you the authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?’

‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father ¹  will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

He inquired of Arioch the king’s deputy, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” ¹  Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter.

Then those men came by collusion to the king and ¹  said to him, ²  “Recall, ³  O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no edict or decree that the king issues can be changed.”

“I also hereby issue orders as to what you are to do with those elders of the Jews in order to rebuild this temple of God. From the royal treasury, from the taxes of Trans-Euphrates the complete costs are to be given to these men, so that there may be no interruption of the work. ¹ 

If the king is so inclined, ¹  let a royal edict go forth from him, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media that cannot be repealed, ²  that Vashti ³  may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king convey her royalty to another ⁴  who is more deserving than she. ⁵ 

To all the supervisors of the kingdom, the prefects, satraps, counselors, and governors it seemed like a good idea for a royal edict to be issued and an interdict to be enforced. For the next thirty days anyone who prays ¹  to any god or human other than you, O king, should be thrown into a den of lions.

So know and understand: From the issuing of the command ¹  to restore and rebuild Jerusalem ²  until an anointed one, a prince arrives, ³  there will be a period of seven weeks ⁴  and sixty-two weeks. It will again be built, ⁵  with plaza and moat, but in distressful times.

I will make you ¹  extremely ²  fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. ³ 

Any children that you father ¹  after them will be yours; they will be listed ²  under the names of their brothers in their inheritance. ³ 

“‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, ¹  and any furniture he sits on will be unclean. ² 

This is the law of the one with a discharge: the one who has a seminal emission ¹  and becomes unclean by it, ² 

So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan River ¹  across from Jericho. ²  They said,

Then Moses gave a ruling ¹  to the Israelites by the word ²  of the Lord: “What the tribe of the Josephites is saying is right.

But Israel did plunder the cattle and the goods of the city, in accordance with the Lord’s orders to Joshua. ¹ 

Joshua said, “Roll large stones over the mouth of the cave and post guards in front of it. ¹ 

Then the king told the woman, “Go to your home. I will give instructions concerning your situation.” ¹ 

Our God is a God who delivers; the Lord, the sovereign Lord, can rescue from death. ¹