At that time I instructed<n id="1" /> the people, &#8220;Let every man and his coworker spend the night in Jerusalem and let them be guards for us by night and workers by day.

<p class="bodytext">The king then inquired of the wise men who were discerners of the times &#8211; for it was the royal custom to confer with all those who were proficient in laws and legalities.<n id="1" />

Yet all of this fails to satisfy me so long as I have to see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king&#8217;s gate.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">He is like<n id="1" /> a tree planted by flowing streams;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">it<n id="3" /> yields<n id="4" /> its fruit at the proper time,<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">and its leaves never fall off.<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">He succeeds in everything he attempts.<n id="7" />p>

<p class="poetry">For this reason every one of your faithful followers<n id="1" /> should pray to youp> <p class="poetry">while there is a window of opportunity.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Certainly<n id="3" /> when the surging water<n id="4" /> rises,p> <p class="poetry">it will not reach them.<n id="5" />p>

<t /><p class="psasuper">Written by David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will praise<n id="3" /> the <sc>Lordsc> at all times;p> <p class="poetry">my mouth will continually praise him.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Trust in him at all times, you people!p> <p class="poetry">Pour out your hearts before him!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">God is our shelter! (Selah)p>

<p class="poetry">O <sc>Lordsc>, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">O God, because of your great loyal love,p> <p class="poetry">answer me with your faithful deliverance!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I thought to myself, &#8220;God will judge both the righteous and the wicked;p> <p class="poetry">for there is an appropriate time for every activity,p> <p class="poetry">and there is a time of judgment<n id="1" /> for every deed. p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been ill and had recovered.

<p class="poetry">Approach me! Listen to this!p> <p class="poetry">From the very first I have not spoken in secret;p> <p class="poetry">when it happens,<n id="1" /> I am there.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">So now, the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> has sent me, accompanied by his spirit.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;p> <p class="poetry">in the day of deliverance I will help you;p> <p class="poetry">I will protect you<n id="1" /> and make you a covenant mediator for people,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">to rebuild<n id="3" /> the land<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and to reassign the desolate property.p>

<p class="poetry">They say to a wooden idol,<n id="1" /> &#8216;You are my father.&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">They say to a stone image, &#8216;You gave birth to me.&#8217;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Yet when they are in trouble, they say, &#8216;Come and save us!&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">But where are the gods you made for yourselves?p> <p class="poetry">Let them save you when you are in trouble.p> <p class="poetry">The sad fact is that<n id="1" /> you have as many godsp> <p class="poetry">as you have towns, Judah.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem<n id="1" /> will be told,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;A scorching wind will sweep downp> <p class="poetry">from the hilltops in the desert on<n id="2" /> my dear people.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">It will not be a gentle breezep> <p class="poetry">for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">They do not say to themselves,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Let us revere the <sc>Lordsc> our God.p> <p class="poetry">It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time.p> <p class="poetry">It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Even the stork knowsp> <p class="poetry">when it is time to move on.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The turtledove, swallow, and crane<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">recognize<n id="3" /> the normal times for their migration.p> <p class="poetry">But my people pay no attentionp> <p class="poetry">to<n id="4" /> what I, the <sc>Lordsc>, require of them.<n id="5" />p>

Then those living in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem will<n id="1" /> go and cry out for help to the gods to whom they have been sacrificing. However, those gods will by no means<n id="2" /> be able to save them when disaster strikes them.

<p class="poetry">May that man be like the cities<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">that the <sc>Lordsc> destroyed without showing any mercy.p> <p class="poetry">May he hear a cry of distress in the morningp> <p class="poetry">and a battle cry at noon.p>

<p class="poetry">Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">There has never been any like it.p> <p class="poetry">It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob,p> <p class="poetry">but some of them will be rescued out of it.<n id="2" />p>