<p class="bodytext">I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Who has a word from the <sc>Lordsc> that can explain it?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Why does the land lie in ruins?p> <p class="poetry">Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then some people<n id="1" /> said, &#8220;Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah!<n id="2" /> There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God&#8217;s word.<n id="3" /> Come on! Let&#8217;s bring charges against him and get rid of him!<n id="4" /> Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.&#8221;p>

Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah there at Mizpah, &#8220;Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah before anyone knows about it. Otherwise he will kill you<n id="1" /> and all the Judeans who have rallied around you will be scattered. Then what remains of Judah will disappear.&#8221;

Say, &#8216;Mountains of Israel,<n id="1" /> Hear the word of the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>!<n id="2" /> This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am bringing<n id="3" /> a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.<n id="4" />

take note, I have stretched out my hand against you, and I will hand you over as plunder<n id="1" /> to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands. I will destroy you; then you will know that I am the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8217;&#8221;p>

They will sing this lament over you:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;How you have perished &#8211; you have vanished<n id="2" /> from the seas,p> <p class="poetry">O renowned city, once mighty in the sea,p> <p class="poetry">she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">I will destroy the idols,p> <p class="poetry">and put an end to the gods of Memphis.p> <p class="poetry">There will no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;p> <p class="poetry">so I will make the land of Egypt fearful.<n id="1" />p>

You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness<n id="1" /> you have ruled over them.

The ship&#8217;s captain approached him and said, &#8220;What are you doing asleep?<n id="1" /> Get up! Cry out<n id="2" /> to your god! Perhaps your god<n id="3" /> might take notice of us<n id="4" /> so that we might not die!&#8221;

So they cried out to the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;Oh, please, <sc>Lordsc>, don&#8217;t let us die on account of this man! Don&#8217;t hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood.<n id="1" /> After all, you, <sc>Lordsc>, have done just as you pleased.&#8221;<n id="2" />

know for certain that the <sc>Lordsc> our God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you;<n id="1" /> they will be a whip that tears<n id="2" /> your sides and thorns that blind<n id="3" /> your eyes until you disappear<n id="4" /> from this good land the <sc>Lordsc> your God gave you.p>

So now, bring to me all the prophets of Baal, as well as all his servants and priests.<n id="1" /> None of them must be absent, for I am offering a great sacrifice to Baal. Any of them who fail to appear will lose their lives.&#8221; But Jehu was tricking them<n id="2" /> so he could destroy the servants of Baal.

Letters were sent by the runners to all the king&#8217;s provinces stating that<n id="1" /> they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children,<n id="2" /> on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day<n id="3" /> of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.

<p class="bodytext">She said, &#8220;If the king is so inclined and if I have met with his approval and if the matter is agreeable to the king and if I am attractive to him, let an edict be written rescinding those recorded intentions of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite,<n id="1" /> which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king&#8217;s provinces.