My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. ¹  My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.’” ² 

Zedekiah son of Kenaanah approached, hit Micaiah on the jaw, and said, “Which way did the Lord’s spirit go when he went from me to speak to you?”

The entire assembly worshiped, as the singers sang and the trumpeters played. They continued until the burnt sacrifice was completed.

If ¹  I have sinned – what have I done to you, ²  O watcher of men? ³  Why have you set me as your target? ⁴  Have I become a burden to you? ⁵ 

People ¹  have opened their mouths against me, they have struck my cheek in scorn; ²  they unite ³  together against me.

In a moment they die, in the middle of the night, ¹  people ²  are shaken ³  and they pass away. The mighty are removed effortlessly. ⁴ 

Be careful that ¹  no one entices you with riches; do not let a large bribe ²  turn you aside.

Rise up, ¹  Lord! Deliver me, my God! Yes, ²  you will strike ³  all my enemies on the jaw; you will break the teeth ⁴  of the wicked. ⁵ 

You terrified the nations with your battle cry; ¹  you destroyed the wicked; ²  you permanently wiped out all memory of them. ³ 

He is secure at all times. ¹  He has no regard for your commands; ²  he disdains all his enemies. ³ 

As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ¹  As wax melts before fire, so the wicked are destroyed before God.

For as the churning ¹  of milk produces butter and as punching the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger ²  produces strife. ³ 

If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth, and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lie wherever it falls.

The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak, those watchmen on the walls!

From the soles of your feet to your head, there is no spot that is unharmed. ¹  There are only bruises, cuts, and open wounds. They have not been cleansed ²  or bandaged, nor have they been treated ³  with olive oil. ⁴ 

Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: ¹  Like strong winds blowing in the south, ²  one invades from the desert, from a land that is feared.

When you summon her for divorce, you prosecute her; ¹  he drives her away ²  with his strong wind in the day of the east wind. ³ 

I offered my back to those who attacked, ¹  my jaws to those who tore out my beard; I did not hide my face from insults and spitting.

Look, your fasting is accompanied by ¹  arguments, brawls, and fistfights. ²  Do not fast as you do today, trying to make your voice heard in heaven.

“It did no good for me to punish your people. They did not respond to such correction. You slaughtered your prophets like a voracious lion.” ¹