Ecclesiastes 9 Cross References - VIN

¹ I considered all this in my heart and declared that the righteous and their works are in the hand of God. No man knows if love or hatred awaits him in the future. ² The same fate comes to everyone: to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the wicked, to the clean and to the unclean, to those who sacrifice and to those who do not sacrifice. As with the good man, so also to the sinner; as with those who swear an oath, so also those who fear oaths. ³ There is a tragedy that infects everything that happens on earth: a common event happens to everyone. In fact, the hearts of human beings are full of evil. Madness remains in their hearts while they live, and afterwards they join the dead. ⁴ Whoever is joined to all the living has hope. A living dog is better than a dead lion. ⁵ For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything. They no longer have a reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. ⁶ Furthermore, their love, their hate, and their envy have been long lost. Never again will they have a part in what happens on earth. ⁷ Go, eat your bread with mirth, and drink your wine with a joyful heart; for now God has favorably accepted your works. ⁸ Always be clothed in white garments, and never let your head lack oil! ⁹ See life with a wife whom you love all the days of your vain life, Which He gives to you under the sun--all your vain days, For this is your portion in life And in your toil that you are toiling under the sun." ¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do—do it with all your might; for in Sheol—where you are going—no one works, plans, knows, or thinks about anything. ¹¹ I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to the intelligent, nor yet favour to men of knowledge; but time and chance happeneth to them all. ¹² For man does not know his time. Just as fish are caught in a cruel net and like birds who are seized in a snare, so also humans are ensnared at a cruel time when it falls suddenly upon them. ¹³ I also observed this example of wisdom on earth, and it seemed important to me: ¹⁴ There was a small city with only a few mortals in it, And a great king came against it and surrounded it, And he built great siege works against it." ¹⁵ but there was found therein, a man, poor [but] wise, and, he, delivered the city by his wisdom,—yet, no one, remembered that poor man. ¹⁶ And I said, Wisdom is better than strength; but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. ¹⁷ The softly spoken words of the wise are to be heard rather than the shouts of a ruler of fools. ¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

³ Yes, he loves the people. All his holy ones are in your hand. They sat down at your feet; each receives your words.

⁹ He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

²⁵ And the king said to Zadok, Take the ark of God back to the city. If I find grace in the eyes of the LORD, then He will bring me back and show it and His dwelling place to me. ²⁶ But if he says, I have no delight in you: then, here I am; let him do to me what seems good to him.

⁸ But as for me, I would make my prayer to God, and I would put my cause before him:

¹⁰ "In his hand are the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

¹⁴ But you do see trouble and grief. You consider it to take it into your hand. You help the victim and the fatherless.

⁵ Into your hands I commit my spirit. You redeem me, LORD, God of truth.

⁵ Commit your way to the LORD. Trust also in him, and he will do this: ⁶ He will cause your righteousness to shine like a light, your just cause like the noonday sun.

³ For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

¹¹ Then they say, "How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?" ¹² Look, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches. ¹³ Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, and washed my hands in innocence.

³ Commit your deeds to the LORD, and your plans shall succeed.

¹⁷ I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind.

¹⁵ In the days of my vanity I took a view of all classes. Here is a righteous man perishing for his righteous act: there a wicked man continuing in his wickedness.

²⁵ I applied my heart to know and to search and to seek out wisdom and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the madness of error;

¹⁴ There is a vanity that happens on earth: sometimes the righteous suffer what the wicked deserve, and sometimes the wicked receive what the righteous deserve. I said, "This also is vanity!"

¹⁶ When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth (even though eyes see no sleep day or night),

¹⁴ A fool moreover multiplies words. No man knows what has been, nor what will be. Who shall tell him what will come after him?

⁹ And besides that Koheleth was wise, he also taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. ¹⁰ The Teacher searched to find appropriate expressions, and what is written here is right and truthful.

¹² the LORD, you establish peace for us. All that we have accomplished you have done for us.

¹ Hearken, ye Coastlands, unto me, And give ear ye peoples afar off,—the LORD, called me, from my birth, From my nativity, made he mention of my name; ² And He made My mouth like a sharp sword; He hid Me in the shadow of His hand, and made Me a polished arrow; He hid me in His quiver; ³ He said to me: "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will show my glory." ⁴ But I said, “I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength in vain for nothing; yet surely the justice due to me is with the LORD, and my reward with my God.”

¹⁸ For, behold, today I have made you a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against her princes, against her priests, and to the people of the land. ¹⁹ "They will fight you but they will not defeat you. I am with you, and I will rescue you," declares the LORD.

¹⁵ Now we call the proud blessed; indeed, evildoers prosper. They even tempt God and escape.' ¹⁶ Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other. The LORD listened and took note, and a scroll of remembrance was written in his presence about those who fear the LORD and honor His name. ¹⁷ "They'll be mine," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "in the day when I prepare my treasured possession. I'll spare them, just as a man spares his own son who serves him. ¹⁸ When you return, you will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not."

²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me; ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one shall snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one."

⁵ What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role. ⁶ I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷ So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. ⁹ For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. ¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise master builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds. ¹¹ For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, ¹³ his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴ If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as one being snatched from the fire.

¹² This is why I am suffering as I am, but I am not ashamed of it, for I know whom I have trusted and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have intrusted to him for that Day.

⁵ who through faith are protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

³ I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live.

⁸ And if the woman will not be willing to go after you, then you shall be clear from this oath of mine; only do not take my son back there. ⁹ And the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham, and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁷ The men said to her: »We will be free from this oath you made us swear. ¹⁸ When we come to the land, you must tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you must gather your father and mother, and your brothers, and your whole family to your house. ¹⁹ Then if anyone goes out of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, we will not be responsible; but if any damage comes to anyone in the house, his blood will be on our heads. ²⁰ »if you tell what we are doing we will be released from the oath you made us swear.«

²⁶ And when the people came into the forest, behold the honey dropped, but no man put his hand to his mouth. For the people feared the oath.

²² "It is all the same. Therefore I say he destroys the blameless and the wicked.

⁷ Why do the wicked live? They grow old, and become mighty in power. ⁸ Their children are ever with them, and their offspring before their eyes. ⁹ Their houses are safe without fear, and the rod of God is not upon them. ¹⁰ Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and do not miscarry. ¹¹ They send forth their children by flocks, and their sons lead the dance. ¹² They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the flute. ¹³ They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment they go down to Sheol ¹⁴ "They say to God: 'Leave us alone! We do not desire to know your ways.' ¹⁵ "Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what do we gain if we pray to him? ¹⁶ Lo, their prosperity is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me ¹⁷ How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and their calamity comes on them! He shares out pangs in His anger; ¹⁸ "How often are they like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away? ¹⁹ [Ye say], God lays up his iniquity for his sons. Let him recompense it to himself that he may know it. ²⁰ Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. ²¹ For what does he care for his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off? ²² Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he himself judges high ones? ²³ One dies in his full strength, wholly secure and at ease; ²⁴ His sides are full of milk, his bones are wet with marrow. ²⁵ Another dieth with bitterness of soul, having never tasted any thing good. ²⁶ They lie together in the soil, And worms cover them both. ²⁷ "Look, I know your thoughts, the devices with which you would wrong me. ²⁸ You ask, 'Where is the noble person's house?' and 'Where are the tents where the wicked live?' ²⁹ Have ye not asked the wayfarers? and do ye not regard their tokens: ³⁰ that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, that they are led forth to the day of wrath? ³¹ Who denounces his way to his face? And who repays him for what he has done? ³² Yet is he carried to the graves, and watch is kept over the tomb. ³³ The clods of the valley will be sweet to him. All men will draw after him, as there were innumerable before him. ³⁴ How then, can you console me so worthlessly? What is left of your answers is treachery."

¹⁴ The wise man, his eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness. And I also perceived that one event happeneth to them all. ¹⁵ Then I said in my heart: "As it happens to the fool, so it will happen to me. Why have I been so wise?" Then I said in my heart: "This also is vanity." ¹⁶ For neither the wise nor the fool will be long remembered, since in days to come everything will be forgotten. The wise man dies the same way as the fool, does he not?

²⁶ For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

⁶ "Even though he lives a thousand years twice over, yet he has seen no good. Do not all go to one place?"

² It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; for that is the end of all men, and the living should take this to heart.

¹⁸ It is good to take hold of the one and also must not let go of the other; for whoever fears God will hold both of them secure.

¹² Though a sinner commits crimes a hundred times, and lives long, yet surely I know that it will be better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. ¹³ but not good with the wicked: he prolongs not his days as a shadow; because he awes not at the face of Elohim. ¹⁴ There is a vanity that happens on earth: sometimes the righteous suffer what the wicked deserve, and sometimes the wicked receive what the righteous deserve. I said, "This also is vanity!"

¹⁸ Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, see, he had given his hand, and has done all these things, he shall not escape. ¹⁹ “Therefore the Sovereign LORD says: 'As I live, I will surely bring on his own head my oath that he has despised and my covenant that he has broken.

³ He responded to me, "This is the curse that is going out over the surface of the whole earth, because, according to this side of the scroll, all thieves will be ejected, and according to the other side of the scroll, all liars will be ejected." ⁴ I will cause it to go out," says the LORD of hosts, "and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it will remain in the midst of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones."

⁵ I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and do not fear me," says the LORD of hosts.

¹⁵ Now we call the proud blessed; indeed, evildoers prosper. They even tempt God and escape.'

¹⁸ When you return, you will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not."

⁵ the LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become. Every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.

²¹ the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, for the intent of his heart is evil from childhood. I will never again destroy every living creature, as I have done.

¹⁶ how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water!

⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me.

³² The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.

¹¹ Whenever a sentence for a crime is not carried out swiftly, the human mind becomes determined to commit evil.

² The same fate comes to everyone: to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the wicked, to the clean and to the unclean, to those who sacrifice and to those who do not sacrifice. As with the good man, so also to the sinner; as with those who swear an oath, so also those who fear oaths.

⁷ and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things, and incurable; who can know it?

¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. ²⁰ "These things make a man unclean. Eating food with unwashed hands does not make a man unclean."

²¹ For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²² Greed, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, haughtiness, folly; ²³ All these evil things come from inside, and make the man unclean.

¹¹ But they were filled with rage, and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

¹⁷ "Then he came to his senses and said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more food than they can eat, and here I am starving to death!

²³ Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

¹¹ I frequently had them punished in the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme. In my raging fury against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

²⁴ As he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are crazy. Your great learning is driving you insane."

²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and hatred. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents. ³¹ They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.

³ For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

¹⁶ but he was rebuked for his own transgression by a donkeya beast without speechwho spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

⁷ "At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. ⁸ "Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, ⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth growth like a plant. ¹⁰ "On the other hand man dies and is laid low. He breathes his last and is no more! ¹¹ "Just like water that disappears from the sea or a riverbed that becomes parched and dry, ¹² so men lie down and do not rise. Until the heavens are no more, men will not awake or be roused from their sleep.

⁸ For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

¹⁸ "For the grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise. Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.

²¹ But this I call to my mind; therefore I have hope: ²² ( η - [Cheth.]) Because of the LORD's gracious love we are not consumed, since his compassions never end.

²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' ²⁷ "The rich man said, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house ²⁸ for I have five brothers; let him warn them so that they will not also come to this place of torture.' ²⁹ Abraham answered, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.'

⁸ The eye of him who sees me will see me no longer: your eyes will be looking for me, but I will be gone. ⁹ A cloud vanishes, and it goes away, so he who goes down to Sheol will not come up. ¹⁰ He shall turn back no more to his house, and his place shall know him no more.

²¹ »His sons are honored and he does not know it. They are brought low and he does not see it.

²³ "Yes, I know that you will bring me to death, to the house appointed for all living.

⁵ No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave?

¹⁰ Do you show wonders to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise you? Selah. ¹¹ Is Your grace declared in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in Destruction? ¹² Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

¹⁵ let them be always before the LORD, so that He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;

¹¹ There is no memory of former things. Those who follow will not remember those who are yet to come.

¹⁶ For neither the wise nor the fool will be long remembered, since in days to come everything will be forgotten. The wise man dies the same way as the fool, does he not?

¹⁰ In such a case I saw the wicked entombed, Those who used to come and go from the holy place And were lauded in the city where they had done such things. This too is vanity."

¹⁴ They are now dead and they live no more. The deceased do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin. You wiped out all memory (memorial) (commemoration) of them.

¹⁶ For you are our father, although Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, the LORD are our father, Our Redeemer from of old is your name.

²⁷ Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

⁸ A new king, who knew nothing about Joseph, began to rule in Egypt.

¹⁷ There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest; ¹⁸ "Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver's shout.

³ Don’t put your trust in princes, in a son of man in whom there is no help. ⁴ When they stop breathing, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans evaporate!

²⁸ The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish.

¹⁸ I hated all the work I had done under the sun, because I would leave it behind for the man who comes after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰ So I began to despair of all the toil with which I toiled under the sun. ²¹ For although a person may toil with great wisdom and skill, he must leave his reward to someone who has not toiled for it. This also is vanity and a great calamity. ²² For what does a man have of all his labor and of the striving of his heart, in which he labors under the sun? ²³ All his days are sorrow, and his work is full of grief. Even in the night his heart has no rest. This again is vanity.

¹² For who knows what is good for a man in his life during the few days of his fleeting life, which are fleeting as a shadow? For who can tell anyone what will happen in the future under the sun?

²⁰ and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead."

⁴ But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn (firstlings) of his flock. the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering. ⁵ but to Cain and to his offering he did not look with favor. And Cain became very angry, and his face fell.

¹⁹ "Why did you say: 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!"

⁸ And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and he said, "Look, the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words." ⁹ Then went Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and the seventy elders of Israel up, ¹⁰ and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, and as clear as the sky. ¹¹ But he did not lay his hand upon the princes of the sons of Israel, and they saw God and ate and drank.

⁷ and there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye and your households shall rejoice in every work of your hands in which the LORD thy God has blessed thee.

¹² And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God; you, your sons, your daughters, your menservants, your female servants, and the Levite that is within your gates (because he has no part nor inheritance with you).

¹⁴ You shall rejoice in your feast, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates. ¹⁵ For seven days you shall celebrate before the LORD your God at the place where the LORD will choose; for the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in everything you do, and your joy will be complete.

⁶⁶ On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king, and went to their tents rejoicing and glad of heart for all the good that the LORD had done to His servant David, and to His people Israel.

¹ And they brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before God. ² After David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD ³ And he gave to everyone, every man and woman of Israel, a cake of bread, some meat, and a cake of dry grapes.

²¹ And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings unto the LORD, on the next day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel: ²² And they ate and drank before the LORD on that day with great joy, and made Solomon the son of David king a second time, and anointed him before the LORD as ruler, and Zadok as priest. ²³ So Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king in the place of his father David. He prospered, and all of Israel obeyed him.

²³ Then the whole assembly decided to celebrate the festival for seven more days. So they joyfully celebrated for seven more days. ²⁴ for Hezekiah the king of Judah had provided one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the princes provided one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the assembly. And many priests consecrated themselves. ²⁵ Everyone in the assembly of Judah rejoiced, as did the priests, the Levites, and the people who gathered together from throughout Israel, including whose who came from the land of Israel and those who lived in Judah. ²⁶ So there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was nothing like this in Jerusalem. ²⁷ And the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer went up unto his holy dwelling place heaven.

¹⁰ Then he said unto them, Go, eat the fat, and drink sweet wine, and send portions unto those who have nothing prepared; for this day is holy unto our Lord, and not sad; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. ¹¹ And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be still! for the day is holy; neither be grieved. ¹² And all the people went to eat and to drink and to send portions and to rejoice with great joy because they had understood the words that were taught unto them.

²⁴ There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink, and delight in his work. This also I saw was from the hand of God. ²⁵ For who will eat, or who will enjoy, if not I? ²⁶ For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

¹² I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live. ¹³ And also every man shall eat and drink, and see the good in all his labor; it is the gift of God.

¹⁸ This is what I have seen: it is good and fair for a man to take meat and drink and to have joy in all his work under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; that is his reward.

¹⁵ So I recommend enjoyment. For there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat and to drink and to rejoice. This will accompany him in his toil the days of his life that God gives to him under the sun.

¹⁹ A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh life merry; but money answereth everything.

²⁹ Then Jesus told her, “Because of this answer, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.”

⁴¹ So give what is inside to the poor, and then everything will be clean for you.

⁵⁰ “Go,” said Jesus. “Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at His word and departed.

³⁵ but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.

³ "Wash and perfume yourself and put on your best clothes. Go down to the floor. Make yourself known to the man after he is done eating and drinking.

² Joab sent someone to Tekoa to get a wise woman from there. He told her: "Please act like a mourner. Dress in mourning clothes. Do not use any cosmetic lotions. Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time.

²⁴ Meanwhile, Saul's grandson Mephibosheth also went out to greet the king. He had not taken care of his feet, trimmed his mustache, or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely.

¹⁵ Mordecai left the king's presence in royal robes of blue and white, wearing a large golden crown and a purple robe made of fine linen; and the city of Susa shouted with joy.

⁵ You prepare a table before me, even in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

³ I had no pleasing food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, and I put no oil on my body till three full weeks were ended.

⁶ who drink bowls of wine, and they anoint with the best of oils; but they are not grieved for the breaking of Joseph!

¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

⁴⁶ You put no oil on my head: but she has put perfume on my feet.

⁴ But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me in white clothes because they are worthy. ⁵ "'He who overcomes will be clothed in white garments. I will not blot out his name from the book of life. In fact I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

⁹ After this I looked, and there was a vast throng that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me: “These in white robes,” he asked, “who are they, and where have they come from?” ¹⁴ I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵ ("Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.")

⁸ She was given clothing of fine linen, linen bright and pure.” For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints.

¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses, and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.

⁵ Behold, you have made my days mere handbreadths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath. Selah.

⁴ Man is like the breath: his days are like a passing shadow.

¹⁸ May your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth. ¹⁹ A loving doe and a graceful deer-- let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.

²² Whoever finds a wife finds what is good, and receives favor from the LORD.

¹⁴ House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers; but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

¹⁰ I neither withheld anything from my eyes that they desired, nor did I deprive any pleasure from my heart. My heart rejoiced in all my toil, for this was my reward from all my toil.

²⁴ There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink, and delight in his work. This also I saw was from the hand of God.

¹³ And also every man shall eat and drink, and see the good in all his labor; it is the gift of God.

²² So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than that he rejoices in his works Since that is his portion; For who can bring him to see what shall come after him?

¹⁵ Did he not make them one? And the vestige of the spirit remains in him. And why did he make them one? He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and don't break faith with the wife of your youth.

³⁰ Caleb silenced the people for Moses and said: Let's go up and possess the land for we can definitely conquer it.

¹⁹ "Devote your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God. Begin to build the sanctuary of the LORD God. That way you may bring the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD and the sacred articles belonging to God into the Temple that will be built for the name of the LORD."

²⁰ David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and courageous, and do it. Don't be afraid, nor be dismayed; for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not fail you, nor forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.

² and with all my force I prepared for the house of my Elohim: gold for the gold; silver for the silver; copper for the copper; iron for the iron; timber for the timber; onyx stones and fillings; stibium stones and of embroidery; and all manner of precious stones and marble stones in abundance. ³ And moreover, in my affection for the house of my God I have given of my own property of gold and silver, for the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the house of the sanctuary:

²⁰ This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what was good and right and true to the LORD his God. ²¹ And in every work which he undertook in the service of the house of the Lord, and in the law and in the statutes, he sought his God with his whole heart, and did it and prospered.

¹⁴ So the elders of the Jews were building and prospering, through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building by the command of the God of Israel and by the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia. ¹⁵ The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar during the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

¹² I got up during the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anybody what my God put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. No animal was with me except the animal that I was riding on. ¹³ I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackal's well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down, and its gates which were consumed with fire. ¹⁴ Then I went on to the door of the fountain and to the king's pool: but there was no room for my beast to get through. ¹⁵ I traveled the valley by night to inspect the wall, returning through the Valley Gate. ¹⁶ The local officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done {— } I informed neither the Judeans, nor the priests, nor the nobles, nor the officials, nor any of the rest who would be doing the work.

¹² Next to him Shallum son of Hallohesh, commander of half of the district of Jerusalem, repaired with his daughters. ¹³ The valley-gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up its doors, its locks and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the dung-gate. ¹⁴ But the Dung Gate was repaired by Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Beth-haccerem. He built it and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars. ¹⁵ And the Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah. He built it and covered it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars, and the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the King's Garden, and to the stairs that go down from the City of David. ¹⁶ After him Nehemiah son of Azbuk, commander of half of the district of Beth Zur, repaired up to a point opposite the burial sites of David, and up to the artificial pool and to the house of the mighty warriors.

² And he spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burnt?

⁶ So we rebuilt the wall, and all of the wall was joined up to half its height. For the people had a heart to do it.

⁹ But we prayed to our God. We also set up guards day and night because of them. ¹⁰ Meanwhile, the people of Judah said, "The builders are tired and there's so much rubble that we can't reconstruct the wall!" ¹¹ Our enemies said, "Before they notice or see us, we'll penetrate their midst, kill them, and stop the work!" ¹² When the Jews who lived by them came, they said to us ten times from all places, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.” ¹³ I stationed the people behind the deepest part of the wall in the open places according to their families, with their swords, spears, and bows.

¹⁷ who worked on the wall. Those who carried building materials worked with one hand, carrying a spear in the other. ¹⁸ Each of the builders had his sword tied to his side while building. And the man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. ¹⁹ I said to the leaders and the rest of the people: "The work is extensive and widely spaced and we are far away from one another on the wall. ²⁰ Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally there to us. Our God will fight for us." ²¹ So we labored in the work. And half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars came out. ²² At the time I also said to the people, "Let each man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they will be a guard for us in the night and work in the day." ²³ So neither I nor my brothers nor my young men nor the men of the guard who were behind me took off our clothes. Each one kept his weapon even in the water.

⁸ It grieved me severely. Therefore I threw all Tobiah's household stuff out of the room. ⁹ Then I gave orders, and they made the rooms clean: and I put back in them the vessels of the house of God, with the meal offerings and the perfume. ¹⁰ I also learned that the allotments for the Levites had not been distributed. As a result, the Levites and singers who were responsible for the service had each left to go back to their fields. ¹¹ So I confronted the officials and asked, "Why is the temple of God neglected?" Then I gathered them together and put them back in their places. ¹² So all of Judah brought the tithe of grain, new wine, and olive oil into the storehouses. ¹³ to the charge of Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites. And next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Matthaniah; for they were accounted faithful. It was their office to distribute to their brothers. ¹⁴ Remember me, my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its observances. ¹⁵ In those days, saw I in Judah—some treading winepresses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves and lading asses, moreover also wine, grapes, and figs, and every kind of burden, which they were bringing into Jerusalem on the sabbath day,—so I protested against it, as a day for them to sell provisions. ¹⁶ Furthermore, Tyrians were living there who were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise, selling them to the people of Judah on the Sabbath, even in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ And I rebuked the chief men of Juda, and said to them: What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day: ¹⁸ Did not our fathers do these things, and our God brought all this evil upon us, and upon this city? And you bring more wrath upon Israel by violating the sabbath. ¹⁹ When the streets of Jerusalem were getting dark before the Sabbath, I gave orders for the gate to be shut and not to be open again until after the Sabbath. I put some of my servants by the gate so that nothing might be taken in on the Sabbath day. ²⁰ And the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods stayed the night outside Jerusalem once or twice. ²¹ But I warned them and said to them, "Why are you spending the night opposite the wall? If you do it again, I will lay hands against you." From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. ²² Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and to come as gate keepers to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember me, my God, and show mercy to me according to the greatness of your gracious love. ²³ Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. ²⁴ and their children spoke half in the language of Ashdod, and did not know how to speak in the Jewish language. ²⁵ So I quarreled with them and cursed them and beat some of their men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath by God: "Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. ²⁶ "Was it not in these things that Solomon, king of Israel, did wrong? Among a number of nations there was no king like him. He was dear to his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But even he was made to do evil by strange women. ²⁷ And should we hearken to you to do all this great evil, to act unfaithfully to our God by marrying foreign wives? ²⁸ One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the chief priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite, so I sent him away from me. ²⁹ Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites. ³⁰ I purified them from everything foreign, arranged duties for the priests and the Levites, each to his task, ³¹ And provided for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

¹⁵ My mouth will tell about your righteousness, and of your salvation all day, though I don’t know its full measure. ¹⁶ I will come in to tell the mighty deeds of Sovereign LORD. I will make known your righteousness, yours only. ¹⁷ O God, you have taught me from my youth: and to this day have I declared your wondrous works. ¹⁸ And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare your strength to this generation, your power to all who are to come.

⁵ For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything. They no longer have a reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. ⁶ Furthermore, their love, their hate, and their envy have been long lost. Never again will they have a part in what happens on earth.

³ If the clouds be full, they will pour out rain upon the earth. If the tree fall to the south, or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be.

⁶ Sow your seed in the morning and do not withhold your hand in the evening, because you do not know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be good alike.

¹⁸ "For the grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise. Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness. ¹⁹ "The living, yes the living praise you, as I am doing today! Fathers tell their children about your faithfulness.

¹³ You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.

³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you as well.

³⁴ "My food," replied Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me, and to complete his work.

⁴ While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

²⁵ And now I know that none of you among whom I went about preaching the kingdom will ever see my face again. ²⁶ Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. ²⁷ For I did not hesitate to declare to you the whole counsel of God. ²⁸ Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. ²⁹ I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰ Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore be alert and remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.

¹⁸ I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, ¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. ²⁰ In this way, I have aspired to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize.

²⁶ Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air.

¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

¹⁰ If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am.

¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because these days are evil.

²³ Whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as work for the Lord and not for men,

¹² Therefore I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. ¹³ I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body, ¹⁴ since I know that it will soon be laid aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. ¹⁵ And I will make every effort to ensure that after my departure, you will be able to recall these things at all times.

¹⁸ But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is today.

³ Don't continue to talk proudly, and don't speak arrogantly, for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. ⁴ The bows of the mighty men are broken, those who stumbled are armed with strength. ⁵ Those who were full must hire themselves out for bread, but those who are hungry will become fat. As for the infertile, she will bear seven, but she who has many sons withers away. ⁶ The LORD kills, and makes alive: he brings down to the grave, and brings up. ⁷ The lord makes poor, and he enriches; he humbles, and elevates. ⁸ he raises the poor from the dust; and lifts the needy from the dunghill - to set them among volunteers - to inherit the throne of honor: for the pillars of the earth are unto Yah Veh and on them he set the world. ⁹ He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. ¹⁰ Those who contend with the LORD will be broken to pieces. He will thunder against them in heaven. the LORD will judge the ends of the earth and he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.

⁵⁰ So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him without a sword in his hand.

¹⁸ The three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai and Asahel: and Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle. ¹⁹ and followed after Abner and turned neither to the righthand nor to the left from Abner. ²⁰ When Abner looked behind him, he said, "Is that you, Asahel?" He answered, "I am." ²¹ Then Abenner said to him, Turn thee to the right, or to the left, and lay hold on one of the young men, and take his armour. But Asael would not turn aside from following him. ²² so Abner told Asahel again, "Stop following me. Why should I strike you down? How could I show my face to your brother Joab?" ²³ But he would not desist. So Abenner smote him with a back stroke of his spear, into the loin, and the spear passed quite through him, and he fell there and died under him. And every one who came to the place where Asael fell and died, stood still.

¹⁴ Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than the advice of Ahithophel." (Now the LORD had ordained to frustrate the good counsel of Ahithophel in order for the LORD to bring misery upon Absalom).

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, and arose, and went home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.

¹⁵ And he said, Listen, all Judah, and you people of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! So says the LORD to you, Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude. For the battle is not yours, but God's.

¹¹ to set the lowly on high, and those mourning are lifted to safety. ¹² He frustrates the plans of the crafty; so that what they work for never succeeds. ¹³ He is capturing the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are rushed. ¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.

²⁹ "If he is remains silent, who will condemn him? If he conceals his face, who can see him? He watches over both nation and individual alike,

¹⁶ The king is not saved by great force; a mighty man is not saved by great strength. ¹⁷ It is vain to trust in a horse for deliverance, even with its great strength, it cannot deliver.

⁶ Therefore pride is their necklace and violence covers them like a garment. ⁷ Their eyes bulge with fat, their minds pass the limits of conceit.

¹⁰ He takes no delight in the strength of the horse, nor any pleasure in the legs of a man. ¹¹ the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, the ones who hope for his loyal love.

³⁰ There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD. ³¹ The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with the LORD.

¹² I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly: for what can the king's successor do? Just that which has been done long ago.

¹⁴ The wise man, his eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness. And I also perceived that one event happeneth to them all. ¹⁵ Then I said in my heart: "As it happens to the fool, so it will happen to me. Why have I been so wise?" Then I said in my heart: "This also is vanity."

¹⁴ I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God does it so that they fear before Him.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time for every purpose and for every work.

¹ And I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors was power, and they had no comforter.

⁴ And I saw all labor, and all the diligent work, that this is a man's envy from his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹³ Consider the work of God. Who can make straight what he has made crooked?

²³ [J] Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom: nor the mighty man boast of his strength; neither let the rich man boast of his riches:

⁶ "The swift cannot flee, nor can the strong escape. In the north, beside the Euphrates River, they stumble and fall.

³⁷ Who can speak and it will happen if the Lord has not commanded it? ³⁸ Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that disaster and good will come?

³⁵ And all the people of the earth are as nothing: he does his pleasure in the army of heaven and among the people of the earth: and no one is able to keep back his hand, or say to him, What are you doing?

¹⁴ So the swift runner will not escape, the valiant will not fortify his strength, and the mighty warrior will not save his life. ¹⁵ The archer shall not abide, and the swift of foot shall not escape. The horseman shall not save his life, ¹⁶ Even the bravest of elite troops will run away naked at that time," declares the LORD.

¹¹ In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,

⁸ "His feet cast him into a net and he wanders into its mesh. ⁹ "A trap seizes him by the heel and a snare holds him fast. ¹⁰ "A noose is hidden for him on the ground and a trap lies in his path.

⁶ On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

¹⁸ Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down into ruin. ¹⁹ How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors. ²⁰ As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.

¹⁵ Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.

²² He followed her immediately, as an ox goes to the slaughter, as a fool stepping into a noose. ²³ until an arrow pierces his entrails, like a bird rushing into a snare, but he does not know that it will cost him his life.

⁶ An evil man is snared by his sin, but the righteous can sing and be glad.

⁵ Whoever keeps the commandment shall not come to harm, and his wise heart will know the time and procedure. ⁶ For there is a proper time and right procedure for every matter, even though the trouble of man weighs heavy upon him. ⁷ for he knows not what becomes; for who can tell him when it became?

¹³ This sin will be to you like a crack in a high wall, causing its fall suddenly and in a minute.

¹⁴ You have fashioned mankind like fish in the ocean, like creeping things that have no ruler. ¹⁵ He takes up all of them with the hook; he catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad. ¹⁶ Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good. ¹⁷ Will they keep on emptying their nets and keep on destroying nations without mercy?

²⁰ But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul will be demanded of you. Then who will have all you have prepared?'

³⁹ But understand this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

²⁶ Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. ²⁹ But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ A man who is on the roof of his house that day, with his goods in the house, must not go down to get them, and a man in the field, too, must not turn back.

⁴² and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, ⁴⁴ They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

³⁴ But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare. ³⁵ For it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ But watch at all times, and pray that ye may be able to escape all the things that are about to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

² For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!

³ While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

²⁶ And that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

¹² Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

¹² But these, speaking evil of the things that they do not understand (as natural animals without reason, who are made to be taken and destroyed), shall utterly perish in their own corruption,

¹ There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men:

¹¹ I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to the intelligent, nor yet favour to men of knowledge; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

¹⁵ And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth–maacah, and they cast up a mount against the city, and it stood against the rampart: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down ¹⁶ Then a wise woman cried out in the city, Hear, hear, I pray you, tell Joab to come here, that I may speak with him. ¹⁷ Joab came over and the woman asked him, "Are you Joab?" "I am," he answered. So she told him, "Listen to what your servant has to say!" "I'm listening," he replied. ¹⁸ Then spake she, saying,—They, used to speak, in former times, saying, Enquire, in Abel! And, so, they ended it. ¹⁹ I am among those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the LORD's inheritance?” ²⁰ Joab answered, “Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy. ²¹ The matter is not so. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David. Deliver him only, and I will depart from the city." The woman said to Joab, "Look, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall." ²² Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab. And he blew the trumpet and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

²⁴ It happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Aram assembled all of his army and marched up and laid siege against Samaria.

²³ Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

²² Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab. And he blew the trumpet and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

² It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus. ³ The king said: "What honor and reward have been given to Mordecai for this?" The servants waiting on the king said: "Nothing has been done for him."

¹³ Better is a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king, who knoweth no more how to be admonished.

¹⁵ The wealth of rich men is a strong city; but poverty is the ruin of the ungodly.

²² A wise man attacks the city of the mighty, and pulls down the stronghold in which they trust.

⁵ A wise man is strong; and a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

¹⁹ Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a town.

¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

² When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these ideas?” they asked. “What is this wisdom He has been given? And how can He perform such miracles? ³ Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well?” And they took offense at Him.

⁴⁷ "What! Have you been led astray too?" the Pharisees replied. ⁴⁸ Has any of the rulers, or of the Pharisees, believed on him? ⁴⁹ But this mob that does not know the law they're under a curse!"

²⁴ So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, "Give God the praise; we know this man is a sinner." ²⁵ He answered, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see." ²⁶ Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he heal your eyes?" ²⁷ He answered them, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?" ²⁸ Then they heaped insults on him and said, “You are His disciple; we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses; but as for this fellow we do not know where he comes from." ³⁰ The man answered, "Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will. ³² Never before has anyone heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." ³⁴ They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.

²⁶ Brothers, think about your own calling. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ that no flesh may boast before him.

² Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. ³ If you give special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Please take this seat," but you say to the poor man, "Stand over there" or "Sit on the floor at my feet," ⁴ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my dearly loved brothers; did not God choose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be wealthy in faith and to inherit the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court?

³³ And now will Pharaoh look out a man discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt ³⁴ Let Pharaoh act and let him appoint rulers over the land and take a fifth of the land of Egypt in the seven years of plenty. ³⁵ Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and store grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. ³⁶ "This food will be a reserve supply for our country during the seven years of famine that will happen in Egypt. Then the land will not be ruined by the famine." ³⁷ And this seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants. ³⁸ And Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find any man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God? ³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all of this known to you there is no one as discerning and wise as you. ⁴⁰ You shall be over my house, and to your word all my people shall submit. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you."

³ And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, saying, If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, put aside the alien gods from among you, and the Ashtoreths. And prepare your heart to the LORD, and serve Him only, and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. ⁴ So the Israelites removed the Baals and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only. ⁵ Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you." ⁶ So they came together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted there and said, "We have sinned against the LORD." Then Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.

²³ He who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with the tongue.

² He will not shout or raise his voice or make loud speeches in the streets.

⁴ He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands wait for his law.”

²⁰ for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires.

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. ¹⁸ Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.

¹ But the Israelites broke faith concerning the devoted things. Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took from the devoted things; and the LORD's anger was kindled against the Israelites.

⁵ The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them, and they chased them from the gate up to Shebarim and killed them on the slope. And the hearts of the people melted and became like water.

¹¹ "Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things and put them in their own possessions. ¹² Therefore the children of Israel can’t stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will not be with you any more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.

²⁰ Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a sin in the cursed thing, and was there not wrath on all the company of Israel? And he was not the only one to die in his iniquity.

²⁸ Then one of the people told him: "Your father forced the people to take a solemn oath, saying: 'Cursed is anyone who eats food today.'" That is why the people were exhausted. ²⁹ Jonathan answered: "My father brought trouble to the country. See how my eyes lit up when I tasted a little of this honey?

³⁶ Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning, and let us not leave any of them alive. They said, Do whatever seems good to you. But the priest said, Let us enquire of God. ³⁷ Saul inquired of God, "Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?" But God did not answer him that day. ³⁸ Saul said, Come here, all you chiefs of the people and let us find out which of us has sinned today. ³⁹ Indeed, as the LORD who delivers Israel lives, even if the sin is with my son Jonathan, he shall surely die!" Not a single one of the soldiers answered him. ⁴⁰ Then Saul said to them: "All of you stand over there. Jonathan and I will stand over here." "Do whatever you think best," they answered. ⁴¹ Therefore Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel, Show the right. And Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, but the people escaped. ⁴² And Saul said: (Cast lots between me, and Jonathan, my son. And Jonathan was taken. ⁴³ Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what you have done! Jonathan told him, I only tasted a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand, and now must I die? ⁴⁴ Saul said, God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan. ⁴⁵ And the people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has worked out this great salvation in Israel? Far be it! As the LORD lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, so that he did not die. ⁴⁶ Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own land.

¹ And there happened to be an unthrifty fellow named Sheba, the son of Bichri a man of Benjamin which blew a trumpet and said, "We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Jesse, O Israel. ² So all the men of Israel went up from after David and followed Sheba, the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah cleaved unto their king from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ And I said, Wisdom is better than strength; but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the power of Satan. He will use every kind of power, including miraculous signs, lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all the deception of wickedness for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹ For this reason, God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie, ¹² and so that all may be condemned who have not believed the truth but have taken pleasure in wickedness.

¹⁶ But avoid worldly, empty chatter, for those who practice it will become more and more ungodly, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have gone astray from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and upset the faith of some.

⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these oppose the truth—men of depraved mind, disqualified as regards the faith—

³ For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. ⁴ So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

¹⁰ For there are many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, ¹¹ They must be silenced, for such men upset whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach, for the sake of dishonest gain.

¹⁵ See that no one misses the grace of God; that no bitter root spring up to cause trouble and defile many. ¹⁶ See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.