“This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The Philistines ¹  have exacted merciless revenge, ²  showing intense scorn ³  in their effort to destroy Judah ⁴  with unrelenting hostility. ⁵ 

The elders of Gebal ¹  and her skilled men were within you, mending cracks; ²  all the ships of the sea and their mariners were within you to trade for your merchandise. ³ 

On that day I will make Israel powerful, ¹  and I will give you the right to be heard ²  among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

O Israel, you have sinned since the time ¹  of Gibeah, and there you have remained. Did not war overtake the evildoers in Gibeah?

Water engulfed me up to my neck; ¹  the deep ocean ²  surrounded me; seaweed ³  was wrapped around my head.

You will be loyal to Jacob and extend your loyal love to Abraham, ¹  which you promised on oath to our ancestors ²  in ancient times. ³ 

For the Lord will restore ¹  the majesty ²  of Jacob, as well as ³  the majesty of Israel, though ⁴  their enemies have plundered them ⁵  and have destroyed their fields. ⁶ 

Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.

Others said, “He is Elijah.” Others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets from the past.”

(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing, ¹  holding fast to the tradition of the elders.

So ¹  Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth ²  in Galilee to Judea, to the city ³  of David called Bethlehem, ⁴  because he was of the house ⁵  and family line ⁶  of David.

Rejoice in that day, and jump for joy, because ¹  your reward is great in heaven. For their ancestors ²  did the same things to the prophets. ³ 

Then ¹  Jesus ²  took the twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, ³  and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. ⁴ 

Now some men came down from Judea ¹  and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised ²  according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

The Nephilim ¹  were on the earth in those days (and also after this) ²  when the sons of God were having sexual relations with ³  the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. ⁴  They were the mighty heroes ⁵  of old, the famous men. ⁶ 

When they went up through the Negev, they ¹  came ²  to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, ³  descendants of Anak, were living. (Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan ⁴  in Egypt.)

Joshua told all the people, “Here is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘In the distant past your ancestors ¹  lived beyond the Euphrates River, ²  including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshiped ³  other gods,

Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders ¹  – older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established ²  – were weeping loudly, ³  and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout.

I responded to them by saying, “The God of heaven will prosper us. We his servants will start the rebuilding. ¹  But you have no just or ancient right in Jerusalem.” ² 

Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a member of the goldsmiths’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. Hananiah, a member of the perfumers’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. They plastered ¹  the city wall of Jerusalem ²  as far as the Broad Wall.