Proverbs 17 Cross References - EJ2000

¹ ¶ Better is a dry morsel in peace than the house of contention full of sacrifices for a feast. ² ¶ A prudent slave shall have rule over a son that causes shame and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren. ³ ¶ The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tries the hearts. ⁴ ¶ An evil doer gives heed to false lips, and a liar gives ear to the tongue which curses. ⁵ ¶ Whosoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker, and he that is glad regarding the calamity of someone else shall not go unpunished. ⁶ ¶ Children’s children are the crown of old men, and the honour of the children are their fathers. ⁷ ¶ Excellent speech is not suitable for a fool: much less lying lips for a prince! ⁸ ¶ A bribe is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that has it; wherever it turns, it prospers. ⁹ ¶ He that covers a transgression seeks love, but he that repeats a matter separates very friends. ¹⁰ ¶ Reproof is of more benefit to a wise man than a hundred stripes to a fool. ¹¹ ¶ The rebellious man seeks only evil; therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. ¹² ¶ It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly. ¹³ ¶ Whosoever rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. ¹⁴ ¶ To release the waters (to speak rashly) is the beginning of contention; therefore, leave off strife before it gets started. ¹⁵ ¶ He that justifies the wicked and he that condemns the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD. ¹⁶ ¶ Of what good is the price to buy wisdom in the hand of the fool, seeing he has no heart to understand? ¹⁷ ¶ A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. ¹⁸ ¶ A man void of understanding strikes hands and becomes surety in the presence of his friend. ¹⁹ ¶ Transgression loves him that loves strife, and he that exalts his gate seeks destruction. ²⁰ ¶ He that has a perverse heart shall never find good, and he that stirs up trouble with his tongue shall fall into evil. ²¹ ¶ He that begets a fool does it to his sorrow, and the father of a fool shall have no joy. ²² ¶ A joyful heart shall do good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones. ²³ ¶ A wicked man takes a gift in secret to pervert the paths of judgment. ²⁴ ¶ Wisdom appears upon the countenance of him that has understanding, but the eyes of a fool manifest his folly unto the ends of the earth. ²⁵ ¶ The foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her that bore him. ²⁶ ¶ It is certainly not good to condemn the just, nor to smite princes for doing that which is upright. ²⁷ ¶ He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. ²⁸ Even a fool, when he is silent is counted wise, and he that shuts his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

⁸ Then Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee and between my pastors and thine, for we are brethren. ⁹ Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

²⁵ That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked and that the righteous should be treated as the wicked that are far from thee. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

⁴ but thou shalt go unto my country and to my kindred and take a wife unto my son Isaac. ⁵ And the slave said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land, must I therefore bring thy son again unto the land from which thou didst come? ⁶ And Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou not bring my son there again. ⁷ The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred and who spoke unto me and swore unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from there. ⁸ And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be free from this my oath; only do not bring my son there again. ⁹ Then the slave put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning that matter. ¹⁰ ¶ And the slave took ten camels of the camels of his master and departed with the best of what his master had in his hand; and he arose and went to Ara-naharaim, unto the city of Nahor. ¹¹ And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water. ¹² And he said, O LORD, God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, to have a good encounter this day and show mercy unto my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, I stand here by the fountain of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out for water: ¹⁴ And let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels to drink also; let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy slave Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shown mercy unto my master. ¹⁵ And it came to pass before he had done speaking that, behold, Rebekah came out (who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother) with her pitcher upon her shoulder. ¹⁶ And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known; and she went down to the fountain and filled her pitcher and was coming back up. ¹⁷ Then the slave ran to meet her and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. ¹⁸ And she said, Drink, my lord, and she hastened to let down her pitcher upon her hand and gave him drink. ¹⁹ And when she had finished giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also until they have finished drinking. ²⁰ And she hastened and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water and drew for all his camels. ²¹ And the man marveled at her in silence, to see whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not. ²² And it came to pass as the camels had finished drinking that the man took a golden pendant of half a shekel weight and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold ²³ and said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee; is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in? ²⁴ And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she gave birth unto Nahor. ²⁵ She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and fodder enough and room to lodge in. ²⁶ Then the man bowed down his head and worshipped the LORD. ²⁷ And he said, Blessed be the LORD, God of my master Abraham, who has not lifted his mercy and his truth from my master, the LORD leading me in the way to the house of my master’s brethren. ²⁸ And the damsel ran and told those of her mother’s house these things. ²⁹ ¶ And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban; and Laban ran out unto the man to the fountain. ³⁰ And it came to pass when he saw the pendant and the bracelets upon his sister’s hands, she said, Thus spoke the man unto me; then he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the fountain. ³¹ And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; why dost thou stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and the place for the camels. ³² Then the man came into the house, and Laban ungirded his camels and gave straw and fodder for the camels and water to wash his feet and the men’s feet that were with him. ³³ And they set food before him to eat, but he said, I will not eat until I have told my errand. And he said unto him, Speak on. ³⁴ And he said, I am Abraham’s slave. ³⁵ And the LORD has blessed my master greatly, and he is become great; and he has given him flocks and herds and silver and gold and menslaves and maidslaves and camels and asses. ³⁶ And Sarah, my master’s wife, bore a son to my master when she was old, unto whom he has given all that he has. ³⁷ And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; ³⁸ but thou shalt go unto my father’s house and to my kindred and take from there a wife for my son. ³⁹ And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. ⁴⁰ And he said unto me, The LORD, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my lineage and of my father’s house; ⁴¹ then shalt thou be free from this my oath, when thou hast come unto my lineage; and if they give her not unto thee, thou shalt be free from my oath. ⁴² And I came this day unto the fountain and said, O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if now thou dost prosper my way by which I go, ⁴³ behold, I stand by the fountain of water; let it come to pass, therefore, that the virgin who comes forth to draw water unto whom I say, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink; ⁴⁴ and if she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels, let the same be the woman whom the LORD has prepared for my master’s son. ⁴⁵ And before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder, and she went down unto the fountain and drew water, and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee. ⁴⁶ And she made haste and let down her pitcher from her shoulder and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also; so I drank, and she gave to drink unto the camels also. ⁴⁷ And I asked her and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore unto him. Then I put the pendant over her nose and the bracelets upon her hands. ⁴⁸ And I bowed down my head and worshipped the LORD and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of the truth to take my master’s brother’s daughter unto his son. ⁴⁹ And now if ye will deal in mercy and truth with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left. ⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceeds from the LORD; we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. ⁵¹ Behold, Rebekah is before thee; take her and go and let her be thy master’s son’s wife, as the LORD has spoken. ⁵² And it came to pass that when Abraham’s slave heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth. ⁵³ And the slave brought forth vessels of silver and vessels of gold and raiment and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. ⁵⁴ ¶ And they ate and drank, he and the men that were with him, and slept; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master. ⁵⁵ Then her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go. ⁵⁶ And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD has prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master. ⁵⁷ Then they said, We will call the damsel and enquire at her mouth. ⁵⁸ And they called Rebekah and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. ⁵⁹ So they sent away Rebekah, their sister, and her nurse and Abraham’s slave and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her, Thou art our sister; be thou the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let thy seed possess the gate of those who hate them. ⁶¹ And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels and followed the man; and the slave took Rebekah and went away. ⁶² ¶ And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the land of the Negev. ⁶³ And Isaac had gone out to pray in the field at the evening hour; and he lifted up his eyes and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. ⁶⁴ And Rebekah also lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. ⁶⁵ For she had asked the slave, What man is this that walks in the field to meet us? And the slave had said, This is my master; therefore she took a veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ Then the slave told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷ And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent and took Rebekah as his wife; and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

³⁴ ¶ And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon, the Hittite:

⁹ And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep what thou hast unto thyself. ¹⁰ And Jacob said, No, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present from my hand, that for this I have seen thy face as though I had seen the face of God; and do me the pleasure. ¹¹ Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee because God has dealt graciously with me, and all that is here is mine. And he urged him, and he took it.

¹¹ ¶ Then their father Israel answered them, If it must be so now, do this: take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and take the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, aromas, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds.

²³ And Joseph saw Ephraim’s sons unto the third generation; the sons also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.

¹⁴ And God answered unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM. And he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel: I AM (YHWH) has sent me unto you. ¹⁵ And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel: The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me unto you. This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all ages.

⁷ Keep thee far from a false matter; and slay thou not the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked. ⁸ And thou shalt take no bribe; for the bribe blinds the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.

²⁹ O that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always that it might be well with them and with their children for ever!

¹⁹ Thou shalt not twist that which is right; thou shalt not respect persons neither take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.

¹ ¶ And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus that thou didst not call us when thou didst go to fight against Midian? And they chided with him sharply. ² And he replied unto them, What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? ³ God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was abated toward him when he spoke that word.

¹ ¶ And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together towards the Aquilon and said unto Jephthah, Why didst thou go over to fight against the sons of Ammon and didst not call us to go with thee? We will burn thy house upon thee with fire. ² And Jephthah replied unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the sons of Ammon, and when I called you, ye did not defend me from their hands. ³ Seeing, therefore, that ye did not defend me, I put my life in my hands and went over against the sons of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have ye come up against me this day to fight with me? ⁴ Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim because they had said, Ye are fugitives of Ephraim; ye are Gileadites among Ephraim and Manasseh. ⁵ And the Gileadites took the passages of the Jordan from Ephraim; and it was such that when any of those of Ephraim who had escaped would say, May I pass? The men of Gilead would ask them, Art thou an Ephrathite? If he said, No; ⁶ then they would say unto him, Now say Shibboleth. {Heb. a flowing stream}. And he would say Sibboleth; {Heb. an ear of wheat}; for he could not pronounce it the same. Then they would take him and slay him at the passages of the Jordan. And at that time forty-two thousand of those of Ephraim fell.

¹⁶ And Ruth said, Do not intreat me to leave thee or to return from following after thee, for wherever thou goest, I will go; and wherever thou shalt lodge, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people and thy God my God.

³² And thou shalt see a competitor in my tabernacle in all the things in which I shall do good unto Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever. ³³ I shall not totally cut off all thy men from my altar to consume thine eyes and to grieve thy soul, and all the increase of thy house shall die as young men. ³⁴ And this shall be a sign unto thee that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall both die. ³⁵ And I will raise me up a faithful priest that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind, and I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before my anointed {Heb. Messiah} for ever.

³ And his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after greed, receiving bribes and perverting that which is right.

³ Behold, here I am; witness against me before the LORD and before his anointed. If I have taken anyone’s ox or if I have taken anyone’s ass or if I have defrauded anyone or if I have oppressed anyone or if I have received a bribe {Heb. ransom} from anyone to blind my eyes, I will restore it you.

³ Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul.

² But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David, and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul, my father, seeks to kill thee: now, therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning and abide in a secret place and hide thyself.

¹⁷ And Jonathan swore unto David again because he loved him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

⁷ then Saul said unto his slaves that stood about him, Hear now, ye sons of Jemini, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds ⁸ that all of you have conspired against me, and there is no one that shows me that my son has made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me or shows unto me that my son has stirred up my slave against me, to lie in wait against me, as at this day? ⁹ Then Doeg, the Edomite, who was set over the slaves of Saul, answered and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub. ¹⁰ And he enquired of the LORD for him and gave him provision and gave him the sword of Goliath, the Philistine. ¹¹ Then the king sent to call Ahimelech, the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests that were in Nob; and they all came to the king.

¹⁶ Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God.

¹⁷ And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I, for thou hast repaid me with good, whereas I have repaid thee with evil.

³⁵ So David received of her hand that which she had brought him and said unto her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice and have accepted thy person. ³⁶ ¶ And Abigail came to Nabal, and, behold, he held a banquet in his house like the banquet of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken; therefore, she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. ³⁷ But it came to pass in the morning when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. ³⁸ And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, and he died.

² And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons, and the Philistines slew Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. ³ And the battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was sore afraid of the archers.

²⁶ I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant hast thou been unto me; thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.

¹⁴ And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise and sport before us. And Joab said, Let them arise. ¹⁵ Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, who pertained to Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and twelve of the slaves of David. ¹⁶ And each one caught his fellow by the head and thrust his sword in his fellow’s side; so they fell down together; therefore, that place was called Helkathhazzurim, {Heb. the inheritance of the strong}, which is in Gibeon. ¹⁷ And there was a very severe battle that day where Abner and the men of Israel were overcome before the slaves of David.

²³ When Joab and all the host that was with him were come, they told Joab, saying, Abner, the son of Ner, came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he is gone in peace. ²⁴ Then Joab came to the king and said, What hast thou done? Behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast let him go? ²⁵ Dost thou not know that Abner, the son of Ner, came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in and to know all that thou doest?

³⁹ And I am this day a tender anointed king, and these men the sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me; the LORD shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.

¹ ¶ And David said, Is anyone left of the house of Saul that I may show him mercy for Jonathan’s sake? ² And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy slave is he. ³ And the king said, Is there no one left of the house of Saul that I may show the mercy of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, There remains a son of Jonathan, who is lame on his feet. ⁴ And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar. ⁵ Then King David sent and took him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. ⁶ Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face and worshipped. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy slave! ⁷ And David said unto him, Fear not; for I will surely show thee mercy for Jonathan, thy father’s sake, and will restore unto thee all the land of Saul, thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. ⁸ And he bowed himself and said, Who is thy slave, that thou should look upon such a dead dog as I am? ⁹ ¶ Then the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master’s son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. ¹⁰ Thou, therefore, and thy sons and thy slaves shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits that thy master’s son may have bread to eat, but Mephibosheth, thy master’s son, shall eat bread always at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty slaves. ¹¹ Then Ziba said unto the king, According to all that my lord the king has commanded his slave, so shall thy slave do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table as one of the king’s sons. ¹² And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. ¹³ So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table and was lame on both his feet.

¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from thy house because thou hast despised me and hast taken the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, to be thy wife.

¹ ¶ And it came to pass after this that Absalom, the son of David, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar, and Amnon, the son of David, loved her. ² And Amnon was so distressed that he fell sick for his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and Amnon thought it difficult for him to do any thing to her. ³ But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, and Jonadab was a very astute man. ⁴ And he said unto him, Why art thou, being the king’s son, becoming thinner from day to day? Wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister. ⁵ And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed and pretend to be sick; and when thy father comes to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come and give me food and make the food in my sight that I may see it and eat it at her hand. ⁶ So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick, and when the king came to see him, Amnon said unto the king, I pray thee, let Tamar, my sister, come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight that I may eat at her hand. ⁷ Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to thy brother Amnon’s house and make him something to eat. ⁸ So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, and he was lying down. And she took flour and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and baked the cakes. ⁹ Then she took a pan and poured them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Send everyone out from me. And they all went out from him. ¹⁰ Then Amnon said unto Tamar, Bring the food into the chamber that I may eat from thy hand. And Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them into the chamber to Amnon, her brother. ¹¹ And when she had brought them unto him to eat, he took hold of her and said unto her, Come lie with me, my sister. ¹² And she answered him, No, my brother, do not force me, for no such thing ought to be done in Israel. Do not commit this folly. ¹³ And I, where shall I go with my reproach? And as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now, therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king, for he will not withhold me from thee. ¹⁴ Howbeit, he would not hearken unto her voice, but, being stronger than she, forced her and lay with her. ¹⁵ Then Amnon hated her exceedingly so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone. ¹⁶ And she said unto him, There is no cause; this evil in sending me away is greater than the other that thou didst unto me. But he would not hearken unto her. ¹⁷ Then he called his servant that ministered unto him and said, Put now this woman out from me and bolt the door after her. ¹⁸ And she had a garment of different colours upon her, for with such robes were the king’s daughters that were virgins apparelled. Then his servant brought her out and bolted the door after her. ¹⁹ And Tamar put ashes on her head and rent her garment of different colours that was on her and laid her hand on her head and went on crying. ²⁰ And Absalom, her brother, said unto her, Has Amnon thy brother been with thee? But now remain silent, my sister; he is thy brother; do not regard this thing in thy heart. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house. ²¹ ¶ But when King David heard of all these things, he was very angry. ²² And Absalom spoke neither good nor bad unto his brother Amnon, for Absalom hated Amnon because he had forced his sister Tamar.

¹ ¶ And it came to pass after this that Absalom prepared himself chariots and horses and fifty men to run before him.

¹² Absalom also sent for Ahithophel, the Gilonite, of David’s counsel, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong, for the people increased continually with Absalom.

¹ ¶ And when David was a little past the top of the mountain, behold, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him with a couple of asses saddled and upon them two hundred loaves of bread and one hundred bunches of raisins and one hundred of summer fruits and a bottle of wine. ² And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses are for the king’s household to ride on, and the bread and summer fruit for the servants to eat, and the wine that those that become weary in the wilderness may drink. ³ And the king said, And where is thy master’s son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abides at Jerusalem, for he said, Today shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. ⁴ Then the king said to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba bowed down and said, Let me find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king. ⁵ ¶ And when King David came to Bahurim, behold, a man of the family of the house of Saul came forth, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came forth cursing ⁶ and casting stones at David and at all the slaves of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. ⁷ And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial;

⁷ And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial; ⁸ the LORD has returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom, thy son; and, behold, thou art taken in thy evil because thou art a bloody man.

⁸ the LORD has returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom, thy son; and, behold, thou art taken in thy evil because thou art a bloody man. ⁹ Then Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse, my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.

⁸ For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and now their souls are bitter, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field. And thy father is a man of war and will not lodge with the people.

¹⁵ And ten young men that bore Joab’s armour surrounded and smote Absalom and slew him.

¹⁹ ¶ Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said, Let me now run and bear the king tidings, how that the LORD has vindicated him of his enemies.

³³ Then the king was much moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept; and as he went, he said this: O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! I would rather have died instead of thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

⁷ Now, therefore, arise, go forth and speak unto the heart of thy slaves, for I swear by the LORD, if thou go not forth, not one of them will abide with thee tonight and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that has come upon thee from thy youth until now.

⁴¹ And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah, stolen thee away and have brought the king and his household and all David’s men with him, over the Jordan?

¹ ¶ And a man of Belial happened to be there, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a man of Jemini, and he blew the shofar, saying, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, O Israel.

²² Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba, the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew the shofar, and they retired from the city, each one to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.

¹ ¶ Then there was a famine in the days of David for three consecutive years, and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is because of Saul and because of his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. ² And the king called the Gibeonites and said unto them: (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the sons of Israel had sworn unto them, and Saul had sought to slay them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). ³ Therefore, David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make reconciliation that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD? ⁴ And the Gibeonites replied unto him, We have no quarrel regarding silver nor gold with Saul, nor with his house; neither do we desire that anyone in Israel should die. And he said unto them, What ye shall say that will I do for you. ⁵ And they answered the king, The man that consumed us and that devised against us, let us destroy him that nothing of him remains in any of the borders of Israel. ⁶ Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will disjoint them, hanging them from a tree, unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them. ⁷ But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the LORD’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. ⁸ But the king took the two sons of Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, whom she gave birth unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and five sons of Michal, the daughter of Saul, whom she had given birth unto Adriel, the son of Barzillai, the Meholathite; ⁹ and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they disjointed them hanging them from a tree in the hill before the LORD; and they fell all seven together and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest. ¹⁰ ¶ And Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took sackcloth and spread it upon the rock from the beginning of harvest until water rained upon them out of heaven and allowed neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. ¹¹ And it was told David what Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. ¹² Then David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan, his son, from the men of Jabeshgilead, who had stolen them from the plaza of Bethshan where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa; ¹³ and he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan, his son; and they gathered the bones of those that had been disjointed by being hanged from a tree, ¹⁴ and they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan, his son, in the land of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father; and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.

³ The God of Israel dictated unto me, the strong One of Israel spoke): He that rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

⁵ ¶ Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, exalted himself, saying, I will reign, and he prepared chariots and horsemen for himself and fifty men to run before him.

²⁴ Now, therefore, as the LORD lives, who has confirmed me, and set me on the throne of David, my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today. ²⁵ Then King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.

³¹ And the king said unto him, Do as he has said and fall upon him and bury him that thou may take away from me and from the house of my father the blood which Joab shed without a cause.

⁴⁶ Then the king commanded Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, who went out and fell upon him that he died. And the kingdom was confirmed in the hand of Solomon.

¹² But I will not do it in thy days for David, thy father’s sake, but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.

⁴ Nevertheless for David’s sake, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem.

¹³ Then the two men, sons of Belial, came in and sat before him; and those men of Belial witnessed against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth blasphemed God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones that he died.

⁶ Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. ⁷ And Jehoshaphat said, Is there even yet a prophet of the LORD here that we might enquire of him? ⁸ And the king of Israel replied unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD; but I hate him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. ⁹ Then the king of Israel called a eunuch and said, Bring Micaiah, the son of Imlah, here quickly. ¹⁰ And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in the plaza at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them. ¹¹ And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron, and he said, Thus hath the LORD said, With these shalt thou push the Syrians until thou have consumed them. ¹² And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead and be prospered, for the LORD shall deliver it into the king’s hand. ¹³ And the messenger that had gone to call Micaiah spoke unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth; now let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them and speak that which is good. ¹⁴ And Micaiah said, As the LORD lives, all that the LORD says unto me, that will I speak. ¹⁵ ¶ So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go and be prospered, for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king. ¹⁶ And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD? ¹⁷ Then he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains as sheep without a shepherd; and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return each man to his house in peace. ¹⁸ And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? ¹⁹ Then he said, Hear thou, therefore, the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne and all the host of the heavens standing by him on his right hand and on his left. ²⁰ And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said in this manner and another said in that manner. ²¹ And there came forth a spirit and stood before the LORD and said, I will persuade him. ²² And the LORD said unto him, In what manner? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also; go forth and do so. ²³ Now, therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD has decreed evil concerning thee. ²⁴ Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, went near and smote Micaiah on the cheek and said, Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak unto thee? ²⁵ And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself. ²⁶ Then the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and carry him back unto Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son ²⁷ and say, Thus hath the king said, Put this fellow in the prison and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace. ²⁸ And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me. Then he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.

²⁴ And he turned back and looked on them and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And two bears came forth out of the forest and tore apart forty-two young men of them.

¹⁷ I know also, my God, that thou dost try the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things; and now have I seen with joy that thy people, who are present here, have given willingly unto thee.

¹⁴ and answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. ¹⁵ So the king did not hearken unto the people, for the cause was of God, that the LORD might perform his word, which he spoke by the hand of Ahijah, the Shilonite, unto Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. ¹⁶ And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David or inheritance in the son of Jesse? Every man to your tents, O Israel! Now, David, see to thine own house! So all Israel went to their tents.

¹⁷ And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter; so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.

¹⁷ ¶ Then Amaziah, king of Judah, took advice and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us see one another face to face. ¹⁸ And Joash, king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife. And behold, the wild beasts that were in Lebanon, passed by, and trode down the thistle. ¹⁹ Thou sayest, Behold, I have smitten Edom; and with this thy heart lifts thee up to boast; abide now at home; why should thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou should fall, even thou, and Judah with thee? ²⁰ But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought after the gods of Edom. ²¹ So Joash the king of Israel went up; and they saw one another face to face, both he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Bethshemesh, which is of Judah. ²² But Judah fell before Israel, and they fled each man to his tent. ²³ And Joash, the king of Israel, took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits. ²⁴ And he took all the gold and the silver and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obededom and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

⁶ ¶ For Pekah, the son of Remaliah, slew in Judah one hundred and twenty thousand in one day, who were all valiant men, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers.

¹⁴ For if thou art silent at this time, then enlargement and deliverance shall arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed; and who knows whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

⁵ O that ye would altogether be silent! And it would be unto you instead of wisdom.

²⁹ If I rejoiced at the destruction of the one that hated me or lifted up myself when evil found him;

¹² Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.

¹⁸ Is it fit to say to the king, Thou art of Belial and to the princes, Ye are ungodly? ¹⁹ How much less to him who is not a respecter of the persons of princes, nor respects the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of his hands.

¹⁶ After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations. ¹⁷ So Job died, being old and full of days.

¹⁶ He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

²⁶ with the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the perverse thou wilt show thyself adversary.

⁶ His going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

¹³ Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy valour.

¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

² Examine me, O LORD and prove me; melt my kidneys and my heart.

⁴ The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

¹ A Psalm of David, Maschil. ¶ Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

³ When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. ⁴ For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my green growth is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

¹² They rewarded me evil for good until my soul was alone.

¹⁶ Tet A little that a righteous man has is better than the many riches of the sinners.

²⁰ rendering evil for good they are against me because I follow that which is good.

¹⁶ ¶ But unto the wicked God saith, What part hast thou to declare my statutes or that thou should take my covenant in thy mouth? ¹⁷ Seeing thou dost hate chastening and dost cast my words behind thee.

¹² For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it, neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: ¹³ But it was thou, who in my estimation was, my lord, and of my own family. ¹⁴ We took sweet counsel together and walked unto the house of God in company. ¹⁵ Let them be condemned unto death, and let them go down alive into Sheol for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.

¹⁰ For thou, O God, hast proved us; thou hast refined us as silver is refined.

⁹ For the zeal of thy house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

¹¹ But my people did not hearken to my voice, and Israel did not love me. ¹² So I gave them up unto the hardness of their heart, and they walked in their own counsels. ¹³ Oh, if my people would hearken unto me and Israel would walk in my ways!

³ I will set nothing of Belial before my eyes: I hate the work of those that betray; it shall not cleave to me. ⁴ A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know a wicked person. ⁵ Whosoever secretly slanders his neighbour, I will cut off; he that has a high look and a proud heart I will not suffer.

³ For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as in a hearth. ⁴ My heart is smitten and withered like grass so that I forget to eat my bread. ⁵ By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin.

⁴ They have responded to my love by becoming my adversaries, but I give myself unto prayer. ⁵ And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. ⁶ ¶ Set thou the wicked man over him, and let Satan stand at his right hand. ⁷ When he shall be judged, let him be condemned, and let his prayer become sin. ⁸ Let his days be few, and let another take his office. ⁹ Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. ¹⁰ Let his children be continually vagabonds and beg; let them seek their bread out of their desolate places. ¹¹ Let the extortioner catch all that he has, and let the strangers spoil his labour. ¹² Let there be no one to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children. ¹³ Let his posterity be cut off, and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

³⁷ ¶ Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity, and cause me to live in thy way.

³ Behold, sons are a heritage of the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is to be desired. ⁴ As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the young men. ⁵ Happy is the man that has filled his quiver with them: he shall not be ashamed when he speaks with the enemies in the gate.

³ Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thy house; thy children like olive plants round about thy table. ⁴ Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that fears the LORD. ⁵ The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion, and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. ⁶ Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children and peace upon Israel.

⁵ ¶ Let the righteous smite me in mercy, and let him reprove me: and let not a flattering evil prince anoint my head, for my prayer shall ever be against his evil.

²² How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and the fools hate knowledge? ²³ Return at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

³² For the perverse is an abomination to the LORD; but his secret is with the righteous.

¹ ¶ My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, ² thou art snared with the words of thy mouth; thou art taken with the words of thy mouth. ³ Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, for thou hast fallen into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend. ⁴ Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. ⁵ Escape as a roe from the hand of the hunter and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

¹² ¶ A wicked man of Belial walks with a perverse mouth. ¹³ He winks with his eyes, he speaks with his feet, he teaches with his fingers; ¹⁴ there is perversion in his heart; he devises evil continually; he sows discord. ¹⁵ Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; suddenly he shall be broken without remedy. ¹⁶ These six things does the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

¹⁴ I had promised sacrifices of peace; today I have payed my vows.

⁴ Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of men. ⁵ O ye simple, understand prudence; and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.

¹³ The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride, arrogancy, the evil way, and the perverse mouth, do I hate.

⁴ whosoever is simple, let him turn in here; as for those that lack understanding, {Heb. lacking of heart}, she saith unto him, ⁵ Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. ⁶ Forsake that which is foolish and live and go in the way of understanding.

⁸ Chasten not a scorner lest he hate thee; chasten a wise man, and he will love thee. ⁹ Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

¹ ¶ A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son is sadness unto his mother.

⁵ ¶ He that gathers in summer is a wise son, but he that sleeps in harvest is a son that causes shame.

¹⁰ ¶ He that winks with the eye causes sorrow, and he that speaks foolishness shall fall.

¹² ¶ Hatred stirs up strifes, but love covers all sins.

¹⁴ ¶ Wise men keep knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near unto calamity.

¹⁹ ¶ In the multitude of words there is no lack of rebellion, but he that refrains his lips is wise.

³¹ ¶ The mouth of the just shall bring forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue shall be cut out.

¹ ¶ A false balance is abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is his delight.

¹⁵ ¶ With anxiety shall he that is surety for a stranger be afflicted, and he that hates suretiship shall live securely.

²⁹ ¶ He that troubles his own house shall inherit the wind, and the fool shall be slave to the wise of heart.

¹⁹ ¶ The lip of truth shall be established for ever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

²⁵ ¶ Heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop: but a good word makes it glad.

¹ ¶ A wise son takes his father’s chastening: but a scorner does not hear rebuke.

¹⁰ ¶ Pride shall certainly give birth to contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.

²² ¶ A good man shall leave an inheritance to his children’s children, and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

⁶ ¶ The scorner sought wisdom and found it not, but wisdom comes easy unto him that understands.

²¹ ¶ The sinner despises his neighbour, but he that has mercy on the poor is blessed.

²⁹ ¶ He that is slow to wrath is of great intelligence, but he that is short of spirit exalts folly.

³¹ ¶ He that oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, but he that has mercy on the poor, honours him.

³⁵ ¶ The king’s favour is toward the wise slave, but his wrath is against him that causes shame.

¹ ¶ A soft answer turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. ² ¶ The tongue of the wise shall adorn wisdom, but the mouth of fools shall speak foolishness.

⁵ ¶ The fool despises his father’s chastening, but he that regards reproof shall become prudent.

⁸ ¶ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

¹³ ¶ A joyful heart makes a beautiful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is abated. ¹⁴ ¶ The heart of him that has understanding seeks wisdom, but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.

¹⁷ Better is a dinner of vegetables where love is than a fatted calf and hatred therewith.

²⁰ ¶ The wise son makes a glad father, but the foolish man despises his mother.

²⁸ ¶ The heart of the righteous studies to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

⁵ ¶ Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; the covenant that he makes, shall not be without chastening.

¹⁰ ¶ A divine sentence is in the lips of the king; his mouth does not transgress in judgment. ¹¹ ¶ A just weight and balance are the LORD’s; all the weights of the bag are his work. ¹² ¶ It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness, for the throne is to be established with righteousness. ¹³ ¶ Righteous lips are the delight of kings, and they love him that speaks that which is right.

¹⁸ ¶ Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

²⁸ The perverse man sows strife, and the tale bearer separates princes.

³¹ ¶ Old age is a crown of glory if it is found in the way of righteousness. ³² ¶ He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that rules his spirit than he that takes a city.

⁸ ¶ A bribe is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that has it; wherever it turns, it prospers.

¹⁴ ¶ To release the waters (to speak rashly) is the beginning of contention; therefore, leave off strife before it gets started. ¹⁵ ¶ He that justifies the wicked and he that condemns the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.

¹⁹ ¶ Transgression loves him that loves strife, and he that exalts his gate seeks destruction.

²³ ¶ A wicked man takes a gift in secret to pervert the paths of judgment.

²⁵ ¶ The foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her that bore him.

⁵ ¶ To respect the person of the wicked so that the righteous loses that which is rightfully his is not good. ⁶ ¶ A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calls for strokes. ⁷ A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.

¹² ¶ Before being broken, the heart of man is haughty, and before coming into honour, comes being brought to humility.

¹⁴ ¶ The spirit of man will bear his infirmity, but a broken spirit who can bear? ¹⁵ ¶ The heart of the man of understanding acquires wisdom, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. ¹⁶ ¶ A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men.

²⁴ ¶ The man that has friends must show himself to be a friend, and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

⁷ All the brethren of the poor hate him; how much more shall his friends separate themselves from him? He shall seek their friendship and not find it.

¹¹ ¶ The discretion of a man defers his anger, and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.

¹³ ¶ A foolish son is a pain unto his father, and the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping.

²⁵ ¶ Smite a scorner, and the simple will become prudent, and reproving one that has understanding, he will understand knowledge. ²⁶ ¶ He that steals from his father and chases away his mother is a son that causes shame and brings reproach.

³ ¶ It is an honour for a man to cease from strife, but every fool will be meddling.

¹⁶ ¶ Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him that is surety for a strange woman.

⁹ ¶ It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop than with a brawling woman in a wide house.

¹⁴ ¶ A gift in secret pacifies anger, and a bribe in the bosom strong wrath.

¹⁹ ¶ It is better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and an angry woman.

²⁵ ¶ The desire of the slothful kills him; for his hands refuse to labour. ²⁶ There is one who covets greedily all day long, but the righteous gives and keeps on giving.

¹⁶ ¶ He that oppresses the poor to increase his riches and who gives to the rich shall surely come to want.

²⁶ ¶ Be not thou one of them that strike hands or of them that are sureties for debts. ²⁷ If thou hast nothing to pay, why should they take away thy bed from under thee?

⁵ Wilt thou set thine eyes upon riches which are not? For they shall certainly make themselves wings; they shall fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

¹⁵ My son, if thy heart is wise, my heart shall also rejoice; ¹⁶ my kidneys shall also rejoice when thy lips speak right things.

²³ Buy the truth and sell it not, also wisdom and instruction and understanding.

¹⁷ ¶ Do not rejoice when thy enemy falls, and do not let thy heart be glad when he stumbles ¹⁸ lest the LORD see it and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

²³ ¶ These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment. ²⁴ He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the peoples curse, nations shall abhor him:

²⁷ ¶ Prepare thy work without and make it fit for thyself in thine inheritance, and afterwards thou shalt build thine house.

⁸ ¶ Do not go forth hastily to strive lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof when thy neighbour has put thee to shame.

⁷ Like unto the way that the one who is lame walks, so is a proverb in the mouth of the fool.

²¹ Charcoal for burning coals and wood for fire, and a contentious man to kindle strife.

³ ¶ A stone is heavy and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both.

²¹ ¶ As the fining pot tries the silver and the furnace the gold; so the man is tried by the mouth of whoever praises him. ²² ¶ Though thou should bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

⁴ ¶ Those that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them.

¹⁵ ¶ As a roaring lion and a hungry bear, so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.

⁹ ¶ If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether he rages or laughs, there is no rest.

¹² ¶ Of the ruler who hearkens unto the lying word, all his ministers are evil.

¹⁵ ¶ The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself shall bring his mother to shame.

¹⁹ ¶ A slave will not be corrected by words, for though he understands he will not obey.

²² ¶ The angry man stirs up strife, and the furious man abounds in transgression.

²² ¶ The angry man stirs up strife, and the furious man abounds in transgression. ²³ ¶ A man’s pride shall bring him low, but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.

¹⁴ The wise man has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness: And I myself also understood that one event happens to the one and to the other.

¹⁸ Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun, which I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he shall be a wise man or a fool, he who shall have rule over all my labour in which I have laboured and in which I have showed myself wise under the sun? This is also vanity.

¹³ ¶ Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king who will no longer be admonished.

³ For out of much preoccupation comes the dream, and the voice of the fool out of a multitude of words.

⁹ It is better to enjoy the good that is present than the wandering of desire; this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

⁸ Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and he who has suffered in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. ⁹ Do not be hasty in thy spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

¹ ¶ Who is as the wise man? and who is as he who knows the interpretation of all things? The wisdom of this man shall make his face to shine, and the coarseness of his face shall be changed.

⁷ Go, eat thy bread with joy and drink thy wine with a joyful heart that thy works might be acceptable unto God. ⁸ Thy garments shall always be white, and thy head shall never lack ointment. ⁹ Live joyfully with the wife whom thou dost love all the days which thou art to live in this lake of vanity, which are given unto thee; all the days of thy vanity under the sun: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour in which thou dost work under the sun.

¹⁷ The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that rules among fools.

³ Even when the fool walks by the way, he lacks prudence, and he says unto every one that he is a fool.

¹² ¶ The words from the mouth of the wise man are grace, but the lips of the fool will swallow up himself.

¹⁴ The fool multiplies words and says, Man cannot tell what shall be, and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

²³ Thy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves; every one loves bribes and follows after rewards; they do not hear the fatherless in judgment, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them.

²³ who justify the wicked for bribes and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

¹⁰ Who say to those that see, See not; and to the prophets, Do not prophesy right things unto us, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

¹⁰ Behold, I have refined thee, and not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

¹ ¶ Ho, every one that thirsts, come ye to the waters, and he that has no money; come ye, buy, and eat; come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. ² Why do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which does not satisfy? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. ³ Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an eternal covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

⁸ For my thoughts are not as your thoughts, neither are your ways as my ways, saith the LORD. ⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts more than your thoughts.

³¹ The prophets prophesied falsely, and the priests bore rule by their hands; and my people love to have it so. What will ye do in the end thereof?

¹⁰ I the LORD search the heart; I try the kidneys, even to give each man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings.

¹⁶ For I did not take it upon myself to be a pastor following thee; neither have I desired the woeful day; thou dost know: that which came out of my lips has come forth in thy presence.

²⁰ Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them and to turn away thy wrath from them. ²¹ Therefore deliver up their sons to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

¹³ Woe unto him that builds his house and not in righteousness and his chambers and not in judgment, using his neighbour’s service without wages and not giving him the wages of his work! ¹⁴ That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cuts out windows in it and covers it with cedar and anoints it with vermilion. ¹⁵ Shalt thou reign, because thou dost enclose thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink and do judgment and righteousness, and then it was well with him?

¹² In thee they have taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion and hast forgotten me, said the Lord GOD.

²⁷ Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to follow their own greed. ²⁸ And her prophets have plastered them over with loose mud, prophesying vanity and divining lies unto them, saying: Thus hath the Lord GOD said, when the LORD has not spoken. ²⁹ The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery and have done violence unto the poor and needy; they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

²⁰ The tree that thou didst see, which grew and made himself strong, whose height reached unto the heaven and the sight thereof to all the earth; ²¹ whose leaves were fair and his fruit abundant and in him was food for all, under whom the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the fowls of the heaven dwelt:

¹¹ Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

⁸ I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps and will rend the veil of their heart, and there I will devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them apart.

⁷ Ye who turn judgment to wormwood and leave off doing righteousness in the earth,

¹² For I have known of your many rebellions and your great sins that afflict the just and take a ransom and turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

¹² Shall horses run upon the rocks? will one plow there with oxen? why have ye turned judgment into hemlock, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood?

¹¹ In the day that thou didst stand on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. ¹² But thou should not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither should thou have rejoiced over the sons of Judah in the day they were lost; neither should thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. ¹³ Thou should not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; thou should not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;

¹⁶ For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the Gentiles drink continually; they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.

¹¹ the heads thereof judge for bribes, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they come near unto the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? No evil can come upon us.

¹ ¶ Now thou shalt be besieged by armies, O daughter of the army: he shall lay siege against us; they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.

³ To complete the evil with their hands, the prince demands, and the judge judges for a reward; and the great man speaks the desires of his heart: and they confirm it.

⁹ And I will put the third part into the fire and will refine them as silver is refined and will try them as gold is tried; He shall call on my name, and I will hear him; I will say, My people, and he shall say, The LORD is my God.

² But who may abide the time of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears? for he shall be like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap: ³ And he shall sit to refine and to purify the silver: for he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

¹⁶ ¶ Then Herod, seeing that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth and sent forth and killed all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had understood of the wise men.

³⁹ but I say unto you, That ye resist not with evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone desires to sue thee at the law, and take away thy clothing, let him have thy cloak also. ⁴¹ And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him two.

⁵ Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou be able to see to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

⁴¹ They say unto him, He will destroy those wicked men without mercy and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen who shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

⁷ But when the king heard of this, he became angry and sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city.

⁵ And casting down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed and went and hanged himself.

²⁵ Then all the people answered and said, His blood be on us and on our children.

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, came unto the princes of the priests to deliver him unto them. ¹¹ And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him.

²⁷ Moreover, those enemies of mine, who were unwilling that I should reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.

¹⁸ And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas ¹⁹ (who for a certain sedition made in the city and for murder was cast into prison). ²⁰ Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spoke again to them. ²¹ But they cried, saying, crucify him, crucify him. {Gr. stauroo – hang him on a stake} ²² And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil has he done? I have found no cause of death in him; I will therefore chastise him and let him go. ²³ And they insisted with loud voices, asking that he be crucified. And the voices of them and of the princes of the priests prevailed. ²⁴ And Pilate gave sentence that it should be according to their request. ²⁵ And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder had been cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

²⁰ For every one that does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

¹⁷ If anyone desires to do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it is of God or whether I speak of myself.

¹³ Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his soul for his friends. ¹⁴ Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.

²² And when he had thus spoken, one of the servants who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?

¹ ¶ And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, that their widows were neglected in the daily ministry. ² Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, It is not right that we should leave the word of God and serve tables; ³ therefore, brethren, seek out among you seven men of whom you bear witness, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. ⁴ And we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. ⁵ And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch:

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas speaking with freedom, said, It was necessary indeed that the word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

² When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. ³ And they, being accompanied by some from the congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones}, passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. ⁴ And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received by the congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} and by the apostles and elders, and they declared all the things that God had done with them. ⁵ But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. ⁶ ¶ And the apostles and elders came together to consider of this matter. ⁷ And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God chose that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe. ⁸ And God, who knows the hearts, bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us, ⁹ and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now therefore why tempt ye God, putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ¹¹ For we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. ¹² Then all the multitude kept silence and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what great miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. ¹³ And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: ¹⁴ Simeon has declared how God first visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. ¹⁵ And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, ¹⁶ After this I will return and will restore the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will repair its ruins, and I will set it up again, ¹⁷ that the men that are left might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who does all these things. ¹⁸ Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. ¹⁹ Therefore my sentence is that those from among the Gentiles who are converted to God not be troubled, ²⁰ but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols and from fornication and from things strangled and from blood. ²¹ For Moses of old time has in every city those that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

²⁶ saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see and not perceive; ²⁷ for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and should be converted and I should heal them.

⁵ But to him that does not work, but believes in him that justifies the ungodly, the faith is counted as righteousness.

² by whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and glory in hope of the glory of the sons of God. ³ And not only this, but we even glory in the tribulations, knowing that the tribulation works patience; ⁴ and patience, experience; and experience, hope; ⁵ and the hope shall not be ashamed, because the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.

¹⁵ Rejoice with those that rejoice and weep with those that weep.

¹⁷ Not repaying anyone evil for evil; procuring that which is good not only in the sight of God, but even in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If it can be done, as much as is possible on your part, live in peace with all men.

³ And I wrote this same unto you, lest when I came, I should have grief from those of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.

⁷ So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with too much grief.

¹ ¶ We then, as workers together with him, exhort you also that ye have not received the grace of God in vain.

¹⁰ For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation, of which there is no need to repented; but the sorrow of the world works death.

²⁰ For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I desire and that I shall be found unto you such as ye desire not, lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, rumours, tumults,

¹¹ and that ye procure to be quiet and to do your business and to work with your hands, as we commanded you,

¹⁵ See that no one renders evil for evil unto anyone, but always follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men.

²³ But foolish and unwise questions refuse, knowing that they do beget contentions. ²⁴ That the slave of the Lord should not be contentious, but be meek unto everyone, apt to teach, patient,

³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, they shall heap up unto themselves teachers who shall speak to them according to their own lusts, ⁴ and thus they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall return unto fables.

¹⁹ I Paul have written it with my own hand, I will repay it; albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. ²⁰ Therefore, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord, that thou might refresh my heart in the Lord.

¹¹ For both he that sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

¹⁹ ¶ Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; ²⁰ for the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.

² For we all offend in many things. If any man offends not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to govern the whole body with restraint.

⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of our nature; and it is set on fire of hell. ⁷ For every nature of beasts and of birds and of serpents and of beings in the sea may be tamed and is tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no man can tame the tongue, which is an evil that cannot be restrained and is full of deadly poison.

¹⁴ But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, boast not and do not be liars against the truth.

¹⁴ But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, boast not and do not be liars against the truth. ¹⁵ This wisdom is not that which descends from above, but is earthly, natural, diabolical.

¹⁵ This wisdom is not that which descends from above, but is earthly, natural, diabolical. ¹⁶ For where there is envy and contention, there is confusion and every perverse work.

¹⁶ For where there is envy and contention, there is confusion and every perverse work. ¹⁷ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, modest, benevolent, full of mercy and of good fruits, not judgmental, unfeigned. ¹⁸ And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace unto those that make peace.

¹⁸ And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace unto those that make peace.

⁶ Ye have condemned and murdered the just, and he does not resist you.

⁷ that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold (which perishes, nevertheless it is tried with fire), might be found unto praise and glory and honour when Jesus, the Christ, is made manifest;

⁹ not rendering evil for evil or curse for curse, but to the contrary, blessing, knowing that ye are called, that ye should possess a blessing by inheritance.

⁸ And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves; for charity shall cover a multitude of sins.

¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

¹⁷ But whosoever has this world’s goods and sees his brother have need and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how does the charity of God abide in him?

⁵ They are of the world; therefore, they speak of the world, and the world hears them.

⁴ I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my sons walk in the truth.

²³ And I will kill her children with death, and all the congregations {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} shall know that I AM he that searches the kidneys and hearts, and I will give unto each one of you according to your works.

¹⁹ As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent.

³ And I saw one of its heads as it were wounded to death; and its deadly wound was healed; and all the earth marveled, and followed the beast. ⁴ And they worshipped the dragon which had given the authority unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast; saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with it? ⁵ And there was given unto it a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto it to continue forty and two months. ⁶ And it opened its mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and those that dwell in heaven. ⁷ And it was given unto it to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and power was given it over all kindreds and tongues and nations. ⁸ And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship it, whose names are not written in the book of the life of the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world.