By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city was so severe the residents had no food.

The Lord put fear into all the kingdoms surrounding Judah; they did not make war with Jehoshaphat.

In Judah God moved the people to unite and carry out the edict the king and the officers had issued at the Lord’s command.

But Hezekiah was ungrateful; he had a proud attitude, provoking God to be angry at him, as well as Judah and Jerusalem.

“While he is filling his belly, God sends his burning anger against him, and rains down his blows upon him.

And surely, he drew you from the mouth of distress, to a wide place, unrestricted, and to the comfort of your table filled with rich food.

I will favor the honest people of the land, and allow them to live with me. Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me.

It is like the dew of Hermon, which flows down upon the hills of Zion. Indeed that is where the Lord has decreed a blessing will be available – eternal life.

the deep waters! Grain from the Shihor region, crops grown near the Nile she receives; she is the trade center of the nations.

Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? Even if mothers were to forget, I could never forget you!

But I will rescue you when it happens. I, the Lord, affirm it! You will not be handed over to those whom you fear.

I will send people to winnow Babylonia like a wind blowing away chaff. They will winnow her and strip her land bare. This will happen when they come against her from every direction, when it is time to destroy her.

By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city was so severe the residents had no food.

ק (Qof) Those who pursued us were swifter than eagles in the sky. They chased us over the mountains; they ambushed us in the wilderness.

Their survivors will escape to the mountains and become like doves of the valleys; all of them will moan – each one for his iniquity.

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will certainly repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant!

I will sprinkle you with pure water and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols.

I listened to his voice, and as I did so I fell into a trance-like sleep with my face to the ground.

They rush into the city; they scale its walls. They climb up into the houses; they go in through the windows like a thief.

When the mountains see you, they shake. The torrential downpour sweeps through. The great deep shouts out; it lifts its hands high.