Ecclesiastes 4 Cross References - ASV

¹ Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and, behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. ² Wherefore I praised the dead that have been long dead more than the living that are yet alive; ³ yea, better than them both [did I esteem] him that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
⁴ Then I saw all labor and every skilful work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. ⁵ The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. ⁶ Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and striving after wind.
⁷ Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun. ⁸ There is one that is alone, and he hath not a second; yea, he hath neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches. For whom then, [saith he], do I labor, and deprive my soul of good? This also is vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. ⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. ¹⁰ For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and hath not another to lift him up. ¹¹ Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm [alone]? ¹² And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
¹³ Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who knoweth not how to receive admonition any more. ¹⁴ For out of prison he came forth to be king; yea, even in his kingdom he was born poor. ¹⁵ I saw all the living that walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead. ¹⁶ There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was: yet they that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

¹³ And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor: ¹⁴ and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor.

¹⁶ and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the birth-stool; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

²² And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

²³ And it came to pass in the course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. ²⁴ And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

¹⁶ There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault it in thine own people. ¹⁷ But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and sacrifice to Jehovah. ¹⁸ Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the number of bricks. ¹⁹ And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, when it was said, Ye shall not diminish aught from your bricks, [your] daily tasks.

³³ The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway;

⁴⁸ therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies that Jehovah shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

³ And the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.

⁷ And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon. ⁸ And they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel that year: eighteen years [oppressed they] all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.

¹ Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. ² For there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters, are many: let us get grain, that we may eat and live. ³ Some also there were that said, We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses: let us get grain, because of the dearth. ⁴ There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute [upon] our fields and our vineyards. ⁵ Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage [already]: neither is it in our power to help it; for other men have our fields and our vineyards.

²⁹ Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice;
Yea, return again, my cause is righteous.

⁴ I also could speak as ye do;
If your soul were in my soul's stead,
I could join words together against you,
And shake my head at you.

²¹ Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends;
For the hand of God hath touched me. ²² Why do ye persecute me as God,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?

⁷ They lie all night naked without clothing,
And have no covering in the cold. ⁸ They are wet with the showers of the mountains,
And embrace the rock for want of a shelter. ⁹ There are that pluck the fatherless from the breast,
And take a pledge of the poor; ¹⁰ [So that] they go about naked without clothing,
And being hungry they carry the sheaves. ¹¹ They make oil within the walls of these men;
They tread [their] winepresses, and suffer thirst. ¹² From out of the populous city men groan,
And the soul of the wounded crieth out:
Yet God regardeth not the folly.

⁹ By reason of the multitude of oppressions they cry out;
They cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty.

⁹ He lurketh in secret as a lion in his covert;
He lieth in wait to catch the poor:
He doth catch the poor, when he draweth him in his net. ¹⁰ He croucheth, he boweth down,
And the helpless fall by his strong ones.

⁵ Because of the oppression of the poor, because of the sighing of the needy,
Now will I arise, saith Jehovah;
I will set him in the safety he panteth for.

³ My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

⁹ I will say unto God my rock,
Why hast thou forgotten me?
Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

²⁰ Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness:
And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;
And for comforters, but I found none.

⁵ Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears,
And given them tears to drink in large measure.

⁸ Mine enemies reproach me all the day;
They that are mad against me do curse by me. ⁹ For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And mingled my drink with weeping,

⁴ Look on [my] right hand, and see;
For there is no man that knoweth me:
Refuge hath failed me;
No man careth for my soul.

⁷ All the brethren of the poor do hate him:
How much more do his friends go far from him!
He pursueth [them with] words, [but] they are gone.

³ A needy man that oppresseth the poor
Is [like] a sweeping rain which leaveth no food.

¹⁵ [As] a roaring lion, and a ranging bear,
[So is] a wicked ruler over a poor people. ¹⁶ The prince that lacketh understanding is also a great oppressor;
[But] he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days.

¹⁶ And moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.

⁸ If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a province, marvel not at the matter: for one higher than the high regardeth; and there are higher than they.

⁷ Surely extortion maketh the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroyeth the understanding.

⁷ For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry.

²³ and I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee, that have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over; and thou hast laid thy back as the ground, and as the street, to them that go over.

⁷ Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths.

¹³ transgressing and denying Jehovah, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. ¹⁴ And justice is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter. ¹⁵ Yea, truth is lacking; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey.

And Jehovah saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.

² She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks;
Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her:
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are become her enemies.

⁹ Her filthiness was in her skirts; she remembered not her latter end;
Therefore is she come down wonderfully; she hath no comforter:
Behold, O Jehovah, my affliction; for the enemy hath magnified himself.

¹³ And this again ye do: ye cover the altar of Jehovah with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, neither receiveth it with good will at your hand.

⁵ And 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 false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner [from his right], and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.

¹⁸ Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

⁵⁶ But all this is come to pass, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.} Then all the disciples left him, and fled.

¹⁶ At my first defence no one took my part, but all forsook me: may it not be laid to their account. ¹⁷ But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me; that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

⁴ Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

¹¹ Why died I not from the womb?
Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bare me? ¹² Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breast, that I should suck? ¹³ For now should I have lain down and been quiet;
I should have slept; then had I been at rest, ¹⁴ With kings and counsellors of the earth,
Who built up waste places for themselves; ¹⁵ Or with princes that had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver ¹⁶ Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been,
As infants that never saw light. ¹⁷ There the wicked cease from troubling;
And there the weary are at rest. ¹⁸ There the prisoners are at ease together;
They hear not the voice of the taskmaster. ¹⁹ The small and the great are there:
And the servant is free from his master.
²⁰ Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery,
And life unto the bitter in soul; ²¹ Who long for death, but it cometh not,
And dig for it more than for hid treasures; ²² Who rejoice exceedingly,
And are glad, when they can find the grave? ²³ [Why is light given] to a man whose way is hid,
And whom God hath hedged in? ²⁴ For my sighing cometh before I eat,
And my groanings are poured out like water. ²⁵ For the thing which I fear cometh upon me,
And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me. ²⁶ I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest;
But trouble cometh.

¹⁷ So I hated life, because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

⁴ For to him that is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion. ⁵ For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. ⁶ As well their love, as their hatred and their envy, is perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun.

¹⁰ Because it shut not up the doors of my [mother's] womb,
Nor hid trouble from mine eyes. ¹¹ Why died I not from the womb?
Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bare me? ¹² Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breast, that I should suck? ¹³ For now should I have lain down and been quiet;
I should have slept; then had I been at rest, ¹⁴ With kings and counsellors of the earth,
Who built up waste places for themselves; ¹⁵ Or with princes that had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver ¹⁶ Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been,
As infants that never saw light.

²² Who rejoice exceedingly,
And are glad, when they can find the grave?

¹⁸ Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb?
I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me. ¹⁹ I should have been as though I had not been;
I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

⁶ And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove!
Then would I fly away, and be at rest. ⁷ Lo, then would I wander far off,
I would lodge in the wilderness. [Selah
⁸ I would haste me to a shelter
From the stormy wind and tempest. ⁹ Destroy, O Lord, [and] divide their tongue;
For I have seen violence and strife in the city. ¹⁰ Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof:
Iniquity also and mischief are in the midst of it. ¹¹ Wickedness is in the midst thereof:
Oppression and guile depart not from its streets.

¹⁴ I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

³ If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he: ⁴ for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness; ⁵ moreover it hath not seen the sun nor known it; this hath rest rather than the other:

² Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. ³ And they bend their tongue, [as it were] their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah.

¹⁷ because he slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great. ¹⁸ Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

¹⁹ But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days!

²⁹ For behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave suck.

⁴ And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering: ⁵ but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. ⁶ And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? ⁷ If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door; and unto thee shall be its desire; but do thou rule over it. ⁸ And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

² These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought the evil report of them unto their father. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. ⁴ And his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren; and they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
⁵ And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. ⁶ And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: ⁷ for, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves came round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. ⁸ And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. ⁹ And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed yet a dream: and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me. ¹⁰ And he told it to his father, and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? ¹¹ And his brethren envied him; but his father kept the saying in mind.

⁸ And Saul was very wroth, and this saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? ⁹ And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

¹⁴ And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and Jehovah was with him. ¹⁵ And when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood in awe of him. ¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went out and came in before them.

²⁹ And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul was David's enemy continually.
³⁰ Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass, as often as they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by.

⁴ Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming;
But who is able to stand before jealousy?

²¹ For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skilfulness; yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

²⁶ For to the man that pleaseth him [God] giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that pleaseth God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

¹⁶ There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was: yet they that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

⁹ Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

¹¹ Seeing there are many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?

¹⁸ For he knew that for envy they had delivered him up.

⁹ And the patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt: and God was with him,

⁵ Or think ye that the scripture speaketh in vain? Doth the spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying?

¹² not as Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

¹⁴ Wherefore should I take my flesh in my teeth,
And put my life in my hand?

¹⁰ [Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep: ¹¹ So shall thy poverty come as a robber,
And thy want as an armed man.

¹⁷ The merciful man doeth good to his own soul;
But he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.

²⁷ The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting;
But the precious substance of men [is to] the diligent.

⁴ The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing;
But the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

⁴ The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter;
Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

³³ [Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep; ³⁴ So shall thy poverty come as a robber,
And thy want as an armed man.

²⁰ And one shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:

¹⁶ Better is a little that the righteous hath
Than the abundance of many wicked.

¹⁶ Better is little, with the fear of Jehovah,
Than great treasure and trouble therewith. ¹⁷ Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is,
Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.

⁸ Better is a little, with righteousness,
Than great revenues with injustice.

¹ Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith,
Than a house full of feasting with strife.

³³ Therefore their days did he consume in vanity,
And their years in terror.

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

⁶ But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? and they turned and said, Like as Jehovah of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.

¹⁸ And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.

² And Abram said, O Lord Jehovah, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? ³ And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house in mine heir.

⁶ Surely every man walketh in a vain show;
Surely they are disquieted in vain:
He heapeth up [riches], and knoweth not who shall gather them.

²⁰ Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied;
And the eyes of man are never satisfied.

⁸ All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter [it]: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

¹³ And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven: it is a sore travail that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.

²³ For all his days are [but] sorrows, and his travail is grief; yea, even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.

⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. ¹⁰ For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and hath not another to lift him up. ¹¹ Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm [alone]? ¹² And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

¹⁰ He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.

⁸ Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!

¹⁹ And none calleth to mind, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? ²⁰ He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside; and he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

² Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

³ Neither let the foreigner, that hath joined himself to Jehovah, speak, saying, Jehovah will surely separate me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. ⁴ For thus saith Jehovah of the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant: ⁵ Unto them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

⁵ Yea, moreover, wine is treacherous, a haughty man, that keepeth not at home; who enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and he is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples. ⁶ Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and that ladeth himself with pledges! ⁷ Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booty unto them? ⁸ Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder thee, because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all that dwell therein.
⁹ Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!

²⁸ Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

²⁰ But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?

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

¹⁴ And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is there not Aaron thy brother the Levite? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. ¹⁶ And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and it shall come to pass, that he shall be to thee a mouth, and thou shalt be to him as God.

¹⁴ I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.

¹² Jehovah recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of Jehovah, the God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to take refuge.

¹⁷ Iron sharpeneth iron;
So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

¹⁴ And Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work on the house of Jehovah of hosts, their God,

⁷ And he calleth unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits;

³⁶ He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

² And as they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

³⁹ And there arose a sharp contention, so that they parted asunder one from the other, and Barnabas took Mark with him, and sailed away unto Cyprus; ⁴⁰ but Paul choose Silas, and went forth, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.

¹⁸ But now hath God set the members each one of them in the body, even as it pleased him. ¹⁹ And if they were all one member, where were the body? ²⁰ But now they are many members, but one body. ²¹ And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee: or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

⁸ Look to yourselves, that ye lose not the things which we have wrought, but that ye receive a full reward.

⁸ And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

² And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. ³ And all the people brake off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. ⁴ And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf: and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

²¹ And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them?

¹⁹ For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith Jehovah was wroth against you to destroy you. But Jehovah hearkened unto me that time also. ²⁰ And Jehovah was very angry with Aaron to destroy him: and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.

¹⁶ And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

²⁷ And when the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased Jehovah.

⁷ And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; ⁸ and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added unto thee such and such things. ⁹ Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do that which is evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 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. ¹¹ Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house; and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. ¹² For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. ¹³ And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said unto David, Jehovah also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. ¹⁴ Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

⁶ And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and killed him.

³ Behold, thou hast instructed many,
And thou hast strengthened the weak hands. ⁴ Thy words have upholden him that was falling,
And thou hast made firm the feeble knees.

³ Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. ⁴ Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come [with] vengeance, [with] the recompense of God; he will come and save you.

³¹ Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: ³² but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not; and do thou, when once thou hast turned again, establish thy brethren.}

¹¹ But when Cephas came to Antioch, I resisted him to the face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For before that certain came from James, he ate with the Gentiles; but when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing them that were of the circumcision. ¹³ And the rest of the Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that even Barnabas was carried away with their dissimulation. ¹⁴ But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Cephas before [them] all, If thou, being a Jew, livest as do the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, how compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

¹ Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

¹⁸ Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

¹¹ Wherefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as also ye do.

¹ Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. ² Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and cherish him; and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. ³ So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the borders of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. ⁴ And the damsel was very fair; and she cherished the king, and ministered to him; but the king knew her not.

⁹ And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodai the son of an Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away.

¹⁶ And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto Jehovah.

¹⁸ And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred and slew them, and had a name among the three. ¹⁹ Was he not most honorable of the three? therefore he was made their captain: howbeit he attained not unto the [first] three.

²³ He was more honorable than the thirty, but he attained not to the [first] three. And David set him over his guard.

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter. ¹⁷ If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king.

³ giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

² These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought the evil report of them unto their father.

⁸ And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Jehovah, Micaiah the son of Imlah: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

⁹ For the eyes of Jehovah run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly; for from henceforth thou shalt have wars. ¹⁰ Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in the prison-house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.

²⁰ And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of Jehovah, so that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken Jehovah, he hath also forsaken you. ²¹ And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of Jehovah. ²² Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, Jehovah look upon it, and require it.

¹⁶ And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that [the king] said unto him, Have we made thee of the king's counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.

¹ Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity
Than he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool.

⁶ Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity,
Than he that is perverse in [his] ways, though he be rich.

¹⁵ Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. ¹⁶ Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.

³³ Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do [this], and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. ³⁵ And let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. ³⁶ And the food shall be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
³⁷ And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸ And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the spirit of God is? ³⁹ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all of this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou: ⁴⁰ thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. ⁴¹ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. ⁴² And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; ⁴³ and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.

²⁶ and he took away the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. ²⁷ And king Rehoboam made in their stead shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.

³¹ Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³² And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his fathers had done. ³³ And Pharaoh-necoh put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. ³⁴ And Pharaoh-necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim: but he took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt, and died there.

¹ In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. ² And Jehovah sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spake by his servants the prophets.

⁶ So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers; and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

¹² and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.

⁷ And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

²⁷ And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; ²⁸ and he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, ²⁹ and changed his prison garments. And [Jehoiachin] did eat bread before him continually all the days of his life: ³⁰ and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him of the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.

¹¹ So that he setteth up on high those that are low,
And those that mourn are exalted to safety.

⁷ He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,
And lifteth up the needy from the dunghill; ⁸ That he may set him with princes,
Even with the princes of his people.

²⁰ The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits;
Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.

³¹ While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, [saying], O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken: The kingdom is departed from thee:

⁶ And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

¹⁹ if ye then have dealt truly and uprightly with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you: ²⁰ but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

¹² And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
¹³ And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.

⁷ And the people of Israel were smitten there before the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty thousand men. ⁸ For the battle was there spread over the face of all the country; and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

⁹ And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land from Absalom.

⁵ Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. ⁶ And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he was also a very goodly man; and he was born after Absalom. ⁷ And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.

⁴⁰ And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.

¹⁰ And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou say unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou speak unto them, My little finger is thicker than my father's loins. ¹¹ And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come to me again the third day. ¹³ And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, ¹⁴ and spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. ¹⁵ So the king hearkened not unto the people; for it was a thing brought about of Jehovah, that he might establish his word, which Jehovah spake by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
¹⁶ And when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.

¹¹ Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.