The shackles hurt his feet; his neck was placed in an iron collar,

Offer to the Lord a song of thanks! Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp!

When that time comes, sing about a delightful vineyard!

They raped women in Zion, virgins in the towns of Judah.

“They are dismayed and cannot answer any more; they have nothing left to say.

They have sex with their father’s wife within you; they violate women during their menstrual period within you.

They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever!

(Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than any man on the face of the earth.)

Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well, sing to it!

And I have waited. But because they do not speak, because they stand there and answer no more,

They were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”

They again replied, “Let the king inform us of the dream; then we will disclose its interpretation.”

He went up from there to Penuel and made the same request. The men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth had.

The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying. They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died.

The people were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”

Then I said, “O Lord, intervene for the honor of your name even though our sins speak out against us. Indeed, we have turned away from you many times. We have sinned against you.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, “We do not need to give you a reply concerning this.

Here I am. Bring a charge against me before the Lord and before his chosen king. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I wronged? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I taken a bribe so that I would overlook something? Tell me, and I will return it to you!”

Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision? If the Lord is the true God, then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” But the people did not say a word.

The wise men replied to the king, “There is no man on earth who is able to disclose the king’s secret, for no king, regardless of his position and power, has ever requested such a thing from any magician, astrologer, or wise man.