When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife ¹  was taken ²  into the household of Pharaoh, ³ 

Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as the leader over his brothers, for he intended to name him his successor. ¹ 

Ahaz gathered riches ¹  from the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and the officials and gave them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help.

(10:1) ¹  “Because of all of this we are entering into a binding covenant ²  in written form; ³  our leaders, our Levites, and our priests have affixed their names ⁴  on the sealed document.”

for it is better for him ¹  to say to you, “Come up here,” ²  than to put you lower ³  before a prince, whom your eyes have seen. ⁴ 

Arrange the table, lay out ¹  the carpet, eat and drink! ²  Get up, you officers, smear oil on the shields! ³ 

Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught, so the people of Israel ¹  will suffer dishonor for what they have done. ²  So will their kings and officials, their priests and their prophets.

“When this happens,” ¹  says the Lord, “the king and his officials will lose their courage. The priests will be struck with horror, and the prophets will be speechless in astonishment.”

The Lord says, “When that time comes, ¹  the bones of the kings of Judah and its leaders, the bones of the priests and prophets and of all the other people who lived in Jerusalem will be dug up from their graves.

I made Jerusalem ¹  and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. ²  I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object ³  of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. ⁴  Such is already becoming the case! ⁵ 

“Moab, you trust in the things you do and in your riches. So you too will be conquered. Your god Chemosh ¹  will go into exile ²  along with his priests and his officials.

ז (Zayin) Her consecrated ones ¹  were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies more ruddy than corals, their hair ²  like lapis lazuli. ³ 

Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit.

They turn to Baal; ¹  they are like an unreliable bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because their prayers to Baal ²  have made me angry. So people will disdain them in the land of Egypt. ³ 

They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ¹  government officials and judges take bribes, ²  prominent men make demands, and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ³ 

But when the Pharisees ¹  heard this they said, “He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebul, ²  the ruler ³  of demons!”

The experts in the law ¹  who came down from Jerusalem ²  said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” ³  and, “By the ruler ⁴  of demons he casts out demons.”

The leaders offered ¹  gifts ²  for ³  the dedication ⁴  of the altar when it was anointed. ⁵  And the leaders presented ⁶  their offering before the altar.

These who are named above were the leaders of their clans. Their extended families increased greatly in numbers.

All the officials and all the people gladly brought their silver and threw it into the chest until it was full.