And the streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing.

All of the officers of the Judahite army and their troops heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to govern. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The officers who came were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite.

In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, King Evil-Merodach of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison.

“I am the Lord your God, he who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery.

be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery.

My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked, from the hand of the cruel oppressor!

They set the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved as with the engravings of a seal with the names of the sons of Israel.

These were the leaders of their families: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were skilled warriors, men of reputation, and leaders of their families.

These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: It so happened that in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, I was in Susa the citadel.

After him Hananiah son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, worked on another section. After them Meshullam son of Berechiah worked opposite his quarters.

ל (Lamed) Neither the kings of the earth nor the people of the lands ever thought that enemy or foe would enter the gates of Jerusalem.

“As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they will be ashamed of their sins and measure the pattern.

Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho they selected Bezer in the desert on the plain belonging to the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan belonging to the tribe of Manasseh.

And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai (who had married a woman from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name).

The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead, the one beyond the rivers of Cush,

King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth.

King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth.

But you, however, are inventors of lies; all of you are worthless physicians!

I constructed pools of water for myself, to irrigate my grove of flourishing trees.

Now may the God of peace be with all of you. Amen.