⁹ He set fire^(A) to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.^(B)

² and in the presence of his associates^(A) and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble^(B)—burned as they are?”

¹¹ Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”^(A)

And he answered: