Then she wrote some letters, signed Ahab's name to them, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the officials and leading citizens of Jezreel.

The king acts with authority, and no one can challenge what he does.

King Nebuchadnezzar sent the following message to the people of all nations, races, and languages in the world: "Greetings!

Runners took this proclamation to every province of the empire. It contained the instructions that on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, all Jews---young and old, women and children---were to be killed. They were to be slaughtered without mercy and their belongings were to be taken.

Messengers went out at the command of the king and his officials through all Judah and Israel with the following invitation: "People of Israel, you have survived the Assyrian conquest of the land. Now return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he will return to you.

My days race by, not one of them good.

to shatter horses and riders, to shatter chariots and their drivers,

Great caravans of camels will come, from Midian and Ephah. They will come from Sheba, bringing gold and incense. People will tell the good news of what the LORD has done!

They will bring back all your people from the nations as a gift to me. They will bring them to my sacred hill in Jerusalem on horses, mules, and camels, and in chariots and wagons, just as Israelites bring grain offerings to the Temple in ritually clean containers.

How can you say you have not defiled yourself, that you have never worshiped Baal? Look how you sinned in the valley; see what you have done. You are like a wild camel in heat, running around loose,