<p class="poetry">Do any of the worthless idols<n id="1" /> of the nations cause rain to fall?p> <p class="poetry">Do the skies themselves send showers?p> <p class="poetry">Is it not you, O Lord our God, who does this?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">So we put our hopes in you<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">because you alone do all this.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">King Hezekiah and all the people of Judah did not put him to death, did they? Did not Hezekiah show reverence for the <sc>Lordsc> and seek the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s favor?<n id="1" /> Did not<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> forgo destroying them<n id="3" /> as he threatened he would? But we are on the verge of bringing great disaster on ourselves.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

&#8220;Say to the rebellious house of Israel:<n id="1" /> &#8216;Don&#8217;t you know what these things mean?&#8217;<n id="2" /> Say: &#8216;See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem<n id="3" /> and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, &#8220;Wasn&#8217;t it three men that we tied up and threw<n id="1" /> into<n id="2" /> the fire?&#8221; They replied to the king, &#8220;For sure, O king.&#8221;

So they approached the king and said to him,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Did you not issue an edict to the effect that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human other than to you, O king, would be thrown into a den of lions?&#8221; The king replied, &#8220;That is correct,<n id="2" /> according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.&#8221;