But stand up ¹  and enter the city and you will be told ²  what you must do.”

I will chase after them with war, ¹  starvation, and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to them. I will make them examples of those who are cursed, objects of horror, hissing scorn, and ridicule among all the nations where I exile them.

Finally the Lord could no longer endure your wicked deeds and the disgusting things you did. That is why your land has become the desolate, uninhabited ruin that it is today. That is why it has become a proverbial example used in curses. ¹ 

ט (Tet) Her menstrual flow ¹  has soiled ²  her clothing; ³  she did not consider ⁴  the consequences of her sin. ⁵  Her demise ⁶  was astonishing, ⁷  and there was no one to comfort her. She cried, “Look, ⁸  O Lord, on my ⁹  affliction because my enemy boasts!”

You will be ¹  an object of scorn and taunting, ²  a prime example of destruction ³  among the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger and raging fury. ⁴  I, the Lord, have spoken!

All the princes of the sea will vacate ¹  their thrones. They will remove their robes and strip off their embroidered clothes; they will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground; they will tremble continually and be shocked at what has happened to you. ² 

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw ¹  into ²  the fire?” They replied to the king, “For sure, O king.”

Now at that very moment his disciples came back. ¹  They were shocked ²  because he was speaking ³  with a woman. However, no one said, “What do you want?” ⁴  or “Why are you speaking with her?”

The Lord will also subject you to madness, blindness, and confusion of mind. ¹ 

Therefore do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, ¹  if the world hates you. ² 

They panic – cramps and pain seize hold of them like those of a woman who is straining to give birth. They look at one another in astonishment; their faces are flushed red. ¹ 

You will be shocked and amazed! ¹  You are totally blind! ²  They are drunk, ³  but not because of wine; they stagger, ⁴  but not because of beer.

Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people – an absolutely extraordinary deed. ¹  Wise men will have nothing to say, the sages will have no explanations.” ² 

“See how Babylon ¹  has been captured! See how the pride of the whole earth has been taken! See what an object of horror Babylon has become among the nations! ² 

One said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river, “When will the end of these wondrous events occur?”

Then ¹  they went out and ran from the tomb, for terror and bewilderment had seized them. ²  And they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

The man replied, ¹  “This is a remarkable thing, ²  that you don’t know where he comes from, and yet he caused me to see! ³ 

and they recognized him as the man who used to sit and ask for donations ¹  at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with astonishment and amazement ²  at what had happened to him.

While the man ¹  was hanging on to Peter and John, all the people, completely astounded, ran together to them in the covered walkway ²  called Solomon’s Portico. ³ 

When they saw the boldness ¹  of Peter and John, and discovered ²  that they were uneducated ³  and ordinary ⁴  men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus.