O Lord God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, maintain the motives of your people and keep them devoted to you. ¹ 

The high places were not eliminated from Israel, yet Asa was wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord throughout his lifetime. ¹ 

He was committed to following the Lord; ¹  he even removed the high places and Asherah poles from Judah.

Now Ezra had dedicated himself ¹  to the study of the law of the Lord, to its observance, and to teaching ²  its statutes and judgments in Israel.

Everyone who did not come within three days would thereby forfeit all his property, in keeping with the counsel of the officials and the elders. Furthermore, he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.

Please remember me for this, O my God, and do not wipe out the kindness that I have done for the temple of my God and for its services!

² There was a man ³  in the land of Uz ⁴  whose ⁵  name was Job. ⁶  And that man was pure ⁷  and upright, ⁸  one who feared God and turned away from evil. ⁹ 

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 

Then you ¹  spoke through a vision to your faithful followers ²  and said: “I have energized a warrior; ³  I have raised up a young man ⁴  from the people.

The Lord says, ¹  “Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him; I will protect him ²  because he is loyal to me. ³ 

Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. ¹  There is no end to the making ²  of many books, and much study is exhausting to the body. ³ 

For the Lord is angry at all the nations and furious with all their armies. He will annihilate them and slaughter them.

Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands. ¹  Do you really think you will be rescued? ² 

“For a remnant will leave Jerusalem; survivors will come out of Mount Zion. The intense devotion of the Lord who commands armies ¹  will accomplish this.

In a burst ¹  of anger I rejected you ²  momentarily, but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,” says your protector, ³  the Lord.

Moreover, ¹  the Lord says, ²  “Both the prophets and priests are godless. I have even found them doing evil in my temple!

Come from far away and attack Babylonia! ¹  Open up the places where she stores her grain! Pile her up in ruins! ²  Destroy her completely! ³  Do not leave anyone alive! ⁴ 

I did this ¹  because they rejected my regulations, did not follow my statutes, and desecrated my Sabbaths; for their hearts followed their idols. ² 

But reports will trouble him from the east and north, and he will set out in a tremendous rage to destroy and wipe out many.

But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” ¹