Zebul said to him, “Where now are your bragging words, ¹  ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the men ²  you insulted? ³  Go out now and fight them!”

Haman then recounted to them his fabulous wealth, ¹  his many sons, ²  and how the king had magnified him and exalted him over the king’s other officials and servants.

But when ¹  the sovereign master ²  finishes judging ³  Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I ⁴  will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays. ⁵ 

Listen, you ¹  who sit enthroned above the valley on a rocky plateau. I am opposed to you,’ ²  says the Lord. ³  ‘You boast, “No one can swoop down on us. No one can penetrate into our places of refuge.” ⁴ 

For you say, “We have made a treaty with death, with Sheol ¹  we have made an agreement. ²  When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by ³  it will not reach us. For we have made a lie our refuge, we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” ⁴ 

I, the Lord, affirm ¹  that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies. ²  I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all. ³  I, the Lord, affirm it!” ⁴ 

This is how the once-proud city will end up ¹  – the city that was so secure. ²  She thought to herself, ³  “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” ⁴  What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live! Everyone who passes by her taunts her ⁵  and shakes his fist. ⁶ 

I have become a fool. You yourselves forced me to do it, for I should have been commended by you. For I lack nothing in comparison ¹  to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.

Our adversaries also boasted, ¹  “Before they are aware or anticipate ²  anything, we will come in among them and kill them, and we will bring this work to a halt!”

They say, ¹  “We speak persuasively; ²  we know how to flatter and boast. ³  Who is our master?” ⁴ 

In God – I boast in his promise ¹  – in God I trust, I am not afraid. What can mere men ²  do to me? ³ 

But the king ¹  will rejoice in God; everyone who takes oaths in his name ²  will boast, for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up. ³ 

They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. ¹  They plan how to hide ²  snares, and boast, ³  “Who will see them?” ⁴ 

so I may see the prosperity ¹  of your chosen ones, rejoice along with your nation, ²  and boast along with the people who belong to you. ³ 

Deliver us, O Lord, our God! Gather us from among the nations! Then we will give thanks ¹  to your holy name, and boast about your praiseworthy deeds. ² 

Not only that, ¹  but I have seen the wicked approaching ²  and entering the temple, ³  and as they left the holy temple, ⁴  they boasted ⁵  in the city that they had done so. This also is an enigma. ⁶ 

The look on their faces ¹  testifies to their guilt; ²  like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. ³  Too bad for them! ⁴  For they bring disaster on themselves.

For this reason ¹  the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. ²  His majestic glory will go up in smoke. ³ 

I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; ¹  I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, ²  my boasting, arrogant ones. ³ 

¹ I will punish the world for its evil, ²  and wicked people for their sin. I will put an end to the pride of the insolent, I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants. ³