⁵ Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel ^(A)gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by ^(B)a covenant of salt?

^19 (A)All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. ^(B)It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you.”

¹³ You ^(A)shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the ^(B)salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; ^(C)with all your offerings you shall offer salt.

⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire.^{[a] 50 (A)}Salt is good, ^(B)but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? ^(C)Have salt in yourselves, and ^(D)be at peace with one another.”

²⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, ^(A)as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

^12 (A)When your days are fulfilled and ^(B)you lie down with your fathers, ^(C)I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. ^13 (D)He shall build a house for my name, and ^(E)I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ^14 (F)I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, ^(G)I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, ^15 (H)but my steadfast love will not depart from him, ^(I)as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. ^16 (J)And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.^{[a] (K)}Your throne shall be established forever.’”

³¹ And behold, ^(A)you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ^(B)you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(C)the Most High. And the Lord God ^(D)will give to him the throne of ^(E)his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob ^(F)forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

^25 (A)that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made ^(B)to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and ^(C)seven periods of time shall pass over you, till ^(D)you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. ²⁶ And as it was commanded ^(E)to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules. ²⁷ Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by ^(F)practicing righteousness, ^(G)and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, ^(H)that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.”

Nebuchadnezzar's Humiliation

²⁸ All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. ²⁹ At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, ³⁰ and the king answered and said, ^(I)“Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by ^(J)my mighty power as a royal residence and for ^(K)the glory of my majesty?” ^31 (L)While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, ^32 (M)and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, ^(N)until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.”

²⁴ You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests ^(A)shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.