The governor instructed them not to eat any of the sacred food until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.

You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky. You brought them to the land you had told their ancestors to enter in order to possess.

For how can I watch the calamity that will befall my people, and how can I watch the destruction of my relatives?”

“How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished? How often does their misfortune come upon them? How often does God apportion pain to them in his anger?

And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight, thinking, ‘No eye can see me,’ and covers his face with a mask.

In my time of trouble I sought the Lord. I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. I refused to be comforted.

Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us and we belong to him; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.

When the wicked see this, they will worry; they will grind their teeth in frustration and melt away; the desire of the wicked will perish.

A benevolent person leaves an inheritance for his grandchildren, but the wealth of a sinner is stored up for the righteous.

lest I become satisfied and act deceptively and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I become poor and steal and demean the name of my God.

For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything; they have no further reward – and even the memory of them disappears.

I arose to open for my beloved; my hands dripped with myrrh – my fingers flowed with myrrh on the handles of the lock.

The Beloved to the Maidens: My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the flowerbeds of balsam spices, to graze in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

I heard the voice of the sovereign master say, “Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?” I answered, “Here I am, send me!”

along with the plants by the mouth of the river. All the cultivated land near the river will turn to dust and be blown away.

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

Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”

So they took all their troops and went to fight against Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the large pool at Gibeon.

Kill all her soldiers! Let them be slaughtered! They are doomed, for their day of reckoning has come, the time for them to be punished.”