Then I will establish your dynasty,<n id="1" /> just as I promised your father David, &#8216;You will not fail to have a successor ruling over Israel.&#8217;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Jeroboam and all the people reported to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ordered when he said, &#8220;Return to me on the third day.&#8221;

He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab&#8217;s dynasty had done, for he married Ahab&#8217;s daughter.<n id="1" /> He did evil in the sight of<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc>.

The <sc>Lordsc> was angry at Judah and Jerusalem and made them an appalling object of horror at which people hiss out their scorn,<n id="1" /> as you can see with your own eyes.

Don&#8217;t be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the <sc>Lordsc> God of their ancestors,<n id="1" /> provoking him to destroy them,<n id="2" /> as you can see.

He did evil in the sight of<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>, just like his father Manasseh had done. He offered sacrifices to all the idols his father Manasseh had made, and worshiped<n id="2" /> them.

<t /><p class="bodytext"><v id="(3:33)" /><n id="1" /> Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became angry and was quite upset. He derided the Jews,

<p class="bodytext">So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly<n id="1" /> about all the schemes<n id="2" /> they were plotting<n id="3" /> against us.p>

<p class="bodytext">They replied, &#8220;We will return these things,<n id="1" /> and we will no longer demand anything from them. We will do just as you say.&#8221; Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials<n id="2" /> swear to do what had been promised.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">So I sent messengers to them saying, &#8220;I am engaged in<n id="1" /> an important work, and I am unable to come down. Why should the work come to a halt when I leave it to come down to you?&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">So they went, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and did just as the <sc>Lordsc> had told them; and the <sc>Lordsc> had respect for Job.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">We heard about God&#8217;s mighty deeds, now we have seen them,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">in the city of the <sc>Lordsc>, the invincible Warrior,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">in the city of our God.p> <p class="poetry">God makes it permanently secure.<n id="3" /> (Selah)p>

<p class="poetry">When you make a vow<n id="1" /> to God, do not delay in paying it.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For God<n id="3" /> takes no pleasure in fools:p> <p class="poetry">Pay what you vow!p>

<p class="poetry">Just as he came forth from his mother's womb, naked will he return as he came,p> <p class="poetry">and he will take nothing in his hand that he may carry away from his toil.p>

<p class="poetry">You<n id="1" /> have enlarged the nation;p> <p class="poetry">you give them great joy.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They rejoice in your presencep> <p class="poetry">as harvesters rejoice;p> <p class="poetry">as warriors celebrate<n id="3" /> when they divide up the plunder.p>

<p class="poetry">There will be a highway leading out of Assyriap> <p class="poetry">for the remnant of his people,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">just as there was for Israel,p> <p class="poetry">when<n id="2" /> they went up from the land of Egypt.p>

<n id="1" /><p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies makes this solemn vow:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Be sure of this:p> <p class="poetry">Just as I have intended, so it will be;p> <p class="poetry">just as I have planned, it will happen.p>

Later the <sc>Lordsc> explained, &#8220;In the same way that my servant Isaiah has walked around in undergarments and barefoot for the past three years, as an object lesson and omen pertaining to Egypt and Cush,

<p class="poetry">Everyone will suffer &#8211; the priest as well as the people,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the master as well as the servant,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the elegant lady as well as the female attendant,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">the seller as well as the buyer,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">the borrower as well as the lender,<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">the creditor as well as the debtor.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">I<n id="1" /> look for<n id="2" /> you during the night,p> <p class="poetry">my spirit within me seeks you at dawn,p> <p class="poetry">for when your judgments come upon the earth,p> <p class="poetry">those who live in the world learn about justice.<n id="3" />p>