³⁹ And I am ^(A)weak today, though anointed king; and these men, ^(B)the sons of Zeruiah, are too difficult for me. ^(C)May the Lord repay the evildoer in proportion to his evil.”

⁵ And King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your ^[a]hands; for the king ^(A)can do nothing against you.”

⁷ All the ^(A)commissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors, have ^(B)consulted together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who offers a prayer to any god or person besides you, O king, for thirty days, shall ^(C)be thrown into the lions’ ^[a]den.