As for the cities of these peoples that ¹  the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing ²  to survive.

the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he ¹  has scattered you.

When the Most High ¹  gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided up humankind, ²  he set the boundaries of the peoples, according to the number of the heavenly assembly. ³ 

They will summon peoples to the mountain, there they will sacrifice proper ¹  sacrifices; for they will enjoy ²  the abundance of the seas, and the hidden treasures of the shores. ³ 

Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies. There were about fifteen thousand survivors from the army of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand sword-wielding soldiers had been killed. ¹ 

They established the altar on its foundations, even though they were in terror of the local peoples, ¹  and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and the evening offerings.

People were unable to tell the difference between the sound of joyous shouting and the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people were shouting so loudly ¹  that the sound was heard a long way off.

Shall we once again break your commandments and intermarry with these abominable peoples? Would you not be so angered by us that you would wipe us out, with no survivor or remnant?

Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, from the descendants of Elam, ¹  addressed Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying ²  foreign women from the local peoples. ³  Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard. ⁴ 

“You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and you allocated them to every corner of the land. ¹  They inherited the land of King Sihon of Heshbon ²  and the land of King Og of Bashan.

You prolonged your kindness ¹  with them for many years, and you solemnly admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they paid no attention, ²  so you delivered them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. ³ 

A copy of the edict was to be presented as law throughout each and every province and made known to all peoples, so that the Jews might be prepared on that ¹  day to avenge themselves from their enemies.

as well as wine that makes people feel so good, ¹  and so they can have oil to make their faces shine, ²  as well as food that sustains people’s lives. ³ 

he will swallow up death permanently. ¹  The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face, and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. Indeed, the Lord has announced it! ² 

All nations gather together, the peoples assemble. Who among them announced this? Who predicted earlier events for us? ¹  Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right; let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’

This is what the sovereign Lord says: “Look I will raise my hand to the nations; I will raise my signal flag to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

The Lord told me, “Go and stand in the People’s Gate ²  through which the kings of Judah enter and leave the city. Then go and stand in all the other gates of the city of Jerusalem. ³ 

O Lord who rules over all, ¹  you test and prove the righteous. You see into people’s hearts and minds. ²  Pay them back for what they have done because I trust you to vindicate my cause.

“Therefore say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: When I regather you from the peoples and assemble you from the lands where you have been dispersed, I will give you back the country of Israel.’

“Son of man, because Tyre ¹  has said about Jerusalem, ²  ‘Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I will become rich, ³  now that she ⁴  has been destroyed,’