Now in that city was a man named Simon, who had been practicing magic ¹  and amazing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great.

So ¹  they are astonished ²  when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you. ³ 

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. ¹  I ²  was greatly astounded ³  when I saw her.

I will see to it that all the Judean remnant that was determined to go ¹  and live in the land of Egypt will be destroyed. Here in the land of Egypt they will fall in battle ²  or perish from starvation. People of every class ³  will die in war or from starvation. They will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse. ⁴ 

I will turn Mount Seir into a desolate ruin; ¹  I will cut off ²  from it the one who passes through or returns.

And the men ¹  were amazed and said, ²  “What sort of person is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!” ³ 

All the crowds were amazed and said, “Could this one be the Son of David?”

“Do not be amazed at this, because a time ¹  is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice

For ¹  the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ²  says, ‘If you go to Egypt, I will pour out my wrath on you just as I poured out my anger and wrath on the citizens of Jerusalem. ³  You will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse. ⁴  You will never see this place again.’ ⁵ 

So I, the Lord, affirm that ¹  I will send for all the peoples of the north ²  and my servant, ³  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and all the nations that surround it. I will utterly destroy ⁴  this land, its inhabitants, and all the nations that surround it ⁵  and make them everlasting ruins. ⁶  I will make them objects of horror and hissing scorn. ⁷ 

“Then the king ¹  will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every deity and he will utter presumptuous things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the time of ²  wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must occur. ³ 

You implement the regulations of Omri, and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; ¹  you follow their policies. ²  Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, ³  the city’s ⁴  inhabitants will be taunted derisively, ⁵  and nations will mock all of you.” ⁶ 

They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem. ¹  Jesus was going ahead of them, and they were amazed, but those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was going to happen to him.

The beast you saw was, and is not, but is about to come up from the abyss ¹  and then go to destruction. The ²  inhabitants of the earth – all those whose names have not been written in the book of life since the foundation of the world – will be astounded when they see that ³  the beast was, and is not, but is to come.

Don’t be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their ancestors, ¹  provoking him to destroy them, ²  as you can see.

When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and my robe and ripped out some of the hair from my head and beard. Then I sat down, quite devastated.

Everyone who held the words of the God of Israel in awe ¹  gathered around me because of the unfaithful acts of the people of the exile. ²  Devastated, I continued to sit there until the evening offering.

You have made your people experience hard times; ¹  you have made us drink intoxicating wine. ² 

I replied, “How long, sovereign master?” He said, “Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated, and houses are uninhabited, and the land is ruined and devastated,

He sees there is no advocate; ¹  he is shocked ²  that no one intervenes. So he takes matters into his own hands; ³  his desire for justice drives him on. ⁴