Ephraim’s leader is Samaria, and Samaria’s leader is the son of Remaliah. If your faith does not remain firm, then you will not remain secure.” ¹ 

Who would have believed ¹  what we ²  just heard? ³  When ⁴  was the Lord’s power ⁵  revealed through him?

How tragic that the once-faithful city has become a prostitute! ¹  She was once a center of ²  justice, fairness resided in her, but now only murderers. ³ 

Then I will summon ¹  as my reliable witnesses Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”

I will fasten him like a peg into a solid place; ¹  he will bring honor and respect to his father’s family. ² 

This is the person who will live in a secure place; ¹  he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds; ²  he will have food and a constant supply of water.

I will reestablish honest judges as in former times, wise advisers as in earlier days. ¹  Then you will be called, ‘The Just City, Faithful Town.’”

Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says: “Look, I am laying ¹  a stone in Zion, an approved ²  stone, set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ³  The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ⁴ 

Pay attention and come to me! Listen, so you can live! ¹  Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to ²  you, just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. ³ 

Look all around you! ¹  They all gather and come to you – your sons come from far away and your daughters are escorted by guardians.

“At that time,” ¹  says the Lord who commands armies, “the peg fastened into a solid place will come loose. It will be cut off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off.” ²  Indeed, ³  the Lord has spoken.

You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider ¹  and believe in me, and understand that I am he. No god was formed before me, and none will outlive me. ² 

This is what the Lord, the protector ¹  of Israel, their Holy One, ²  says to the one who is despised ³  and rejected ⁴  by nations, ⁵  a servant of rulers: “Kings will see and rise in respect, ⁶  princes will bow down, because of the faithful Lord, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”

Kings will be your children’s ¹  guardians; their princesses will nurse your children. ²  With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you and they will lick the dirt on ³  your feet. Then you will recognize that I am the Lord; those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame.