“You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon’s sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city.

For the king of Babylon stands at the fork<n id="1" /> in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens:<n id="2" /> He shakes arrows, he consults idols,<n id="3" /> he examines<n id="4" /> animal livers.<n id="5" />

The sound of a carefree crowd accompanied her,<n id="1" /> including all kinds of men;<n id="2" /> even Sabeans<n id="3" /> were brought from the desert. The sisters<n id="4" /> put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.

&#8220;Son of man, King Nebuchadrezzar<n id="1" /> of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre.<n id="2" /> Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the work he carried out against it.

They do not lie with the fallen warriors of ancient times,<n id="1" /> who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, having their swords placed under their heads and their shields on their bones,<n id="2" /> when the terror of these warriors was in the land of the living.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city<n id="1" /> was struck down, on this very day,<n id="2" /> the hand<n id="3" /> of the <sc>Lordsc> was on me, and he brought me there.<n id="4" />

But he<n id="1" /> responded to Daniel, &#8220;I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided<n id="2" /> your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age?<n id="3" /> If that happened,<n id="4" /> you would endanger my life<n id="5" /> with the king!&#8221;

<p class="poetry">They sacrifice on the mountaintops,p> <p class="poetry">and burn offerings on the hills;p> <p class="poetry">they sacrifice<n id="1" /> under oak, poplar, and terebinth,p> <p class="poetry">because their shade is so pleasant.p> <p class="poetry">As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes,p> <p class="poetry">and your daughters-in-law commit adultery!p>

<p class="poetry">Why are you doing these things to me, Tyre and Sidon?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Are you trying to get even with me, land of Philistia?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will very quickly repay you for what you have done!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">They trample<n id="1" /> on the dirt-covered heads of the poor;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">they push the destitute away.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">A man and his father go to the same girl;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">in this way they show disrespect<n id="5" /> for my moral purity.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will turn your festivals into funerals,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and all your songs into funeral dirges.p> <p class="poetry">I will make everyone wear funeral clothes<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and cause every head to be shaved bald.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">I saw the sovereign One<n id="1" /> standing by the altar<n id="2" /> and he said, &#8220;Strike the tops of the support pillars,<n id="3" /> so the thresholds shake!p> <p class="poetry">Knock them down on the heads of all the people,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and I will kill the survivors<n id="5" /> with the sword.p> <p class="poetry">No one will be able to run away;<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">no one will be able to escape.<n id="7" />p>

The <sc>Lordsc> God appointed<n id="1" /> a little plant<n id="2" /> and caused it to grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to rescue<n id="3" /> him from his misery.<n id="4" /> Now Jonah was very delighted<n id="5" /> about the little plant.p>

When the sun began to shine, God sent<n id="1" /> a hot<n id="2" /> east wind. So the sun beat down<n id="3" /> on Jonah&#8217;s head, and he grew faint. So he despaired of life,<n id="4" /> and said, &#8220;I would rather die than live!&#8221;<n id="5" />

<p class="poetry">Her<n id="1" /> leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">her priests proclaim rulings for profit,p> <p class="poetry">and her prophets read omens for pay.p> <p class="poetry">Yet they claim to trust<n id="3" /> the <sc>Lordsc> and say,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> is among us.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Disaster will not overtake<n id="5" /> us!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Yet she went into captivity as an exile;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">even her infants were smashed to pieces<n id="2" /> at the head of every street.p> <p class="poetry">They cast lots<n id="3" /> for her nobility;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">all her dignitaries were bound with chains.p>

<p class="bodytext">But the army said to Saul, &#8220;Should Jonathan, who won this great victory in Israel, die? May it never be! As surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives, not a single hair of his head will fall to the ground! For it is with the help of God that he has acted today.&#8221; So the army rescued Jonathan from death.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, &#8220;Praised be the <sc>Lordsc> who has vindicated me and avenged the insult that I suffered from Nabal!<n id="1" /> The <sc>Lordsc> has kept his servant from doing evil, and he has repaid Nabal for his evil deeds.&#8221;<n id="2" /> Then David sent word to Abigail and asked her to become his wife.p>

<p class="bodytext">But the leaders of the Philistines became angry with him and said<n id="1" /> to him, &#8220;Send the man back! Let him return to the place that you assigned him! Don&#8217;t let him go down with us into the battle, for he might become<n id="2" /> our adversary in the battle. What better way to please his lord than with the heads of these men?<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">These words of Ish-bosheth really angered Abner and he said, &#8220;Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah? This very day I am demonstrating<n id="1" /> loyalty to the house of Saul your father and to his relatives<n id="2" /> and his friends! I have not betrayed you into the hand of David. Yet you have accused me of sinning with this woman today!<n id="3" />