Proverbs 18 Cross References - BBE

¹ He who keeps himself separate for his private purpose goes against all good sense. ² A foolish man has no pleasure in good sense, but only to let what is in his heart come to light. ³ When the evil-doer comes, a low opinion comes with him, and with the loss of honour comes shame. ⁴ The words of a man's mouth are like deep waters: the fountain of wisdom is like a flowing stream. ⁵ To have respect for the person of the evil-doer is not good, or to give a wrong decision against the upright. ⁶ A foolish man's lips are a cause of fighting, and his mouth makes him open to blows. ⁷ The mouth of a foolish man is his destruction, and his lips are a net for his soul. ⁸ The words of one who says evil of his neighbour secretly are like sweet food, and go down into the inner parts of the stomach. ⁹ He who does not give his mind to his work is brother to him who makes destruction. ¹⁰ The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the upright man running into it is safe. ¹¹ The property of a man of wealth is his strong town, and it is as a high wall in the thoughts of his heart. ¹² Before destruction the heart of man is full of pride, and before honour goes a gentle spirit. ¹³ To give an answer before hearing is a foolish thing and a cause of shame. ¹⁴ The spirit of a man will be his support when he is ill; but how may a broken spirit be lifted up? ¹⁵ The heart of the man of good sense gets knowledge; the ear of the wise is searching for knowledge. ¹⁶ A man's offering makes room for him, letting him come before great men. ¹⁷ The man who first puts his cause before the judge seems to be in the right; but then his neighbour comes and puts his cause in its true light. ¹⁸ The decision of chance puts an end to argument, parting the strong. ¹⁹ A brother wounded is like a strong town, and violent acts are like a locked tower. ²⁰ With the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach will be full; the produce of his lips will be his in full measure. ²¹ Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and those to whom it is dear will have its fruit for their food. ²² Whoever gets a wife gets a good thing, and has the approval of the Lord. ²³ The poor man makes requests for grace, but the man of wealth gives a rough answer. ²⁴ There are friends who may be a man's destruction, but there is a lover who keeps nearer than a brother.

¹⁸ And the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be by himself: I will make one like himself as a help to him

⁵ But in Cain and his offering he had no pleasure. And Cain was angry and his face became sad. ⁶ And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? and why is your face sad? ⁷ If you do well, will you not have honour? and if you do wrong, sin is waiting at the door, desiring to have you, but do not let it be your master. ⁸ And Cain said to his brother, Let us go into the field: and when they were in the field, Cain made an attack on his brother Abel and put him to death.

¹ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord came to him, and said, I am God, Ruler of all; go in my ways and be upright in all things,

⁶⁷ And Isaac took Rebekah into his tent and she became his wife; and in his love for her, Isaac was comforted after his father's death.

⁴¹ So Esau was full of hate for Jacob because of his father's blessing; and he said in his heart, The days of weeping for my father are near; then I will put my brother Jacob to death. ⁴² Then Rebekah, hearing what Esau had said, sent for Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, It seems that your brother Esau is purposing to put you to death. ⁴³ So now, my son, do what I say: go quickly to Haran, to my brother Laban; ⁴⁴ And be there with him for a little time, till your brother's wrath is turned away; ⁴⁵ Till the memory of what you have done to him is past and he is no longer angry: then I will send word for you to come back; are the two of you to be taken from me in one day?

²⁰ And Jacob did seven years' work for Rachel; and because of his love for her it seemed to him only a very little time. ²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife so that I may have her, for the days are ended.

²⁸ And Jacob did so; and when the week was ended, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel for his wife.

⁶ When the servants came back they said, We have seen your brother Esau and he is coming out to you, and four hundred men with him. ⁷ Then Jacob was in great fear and trouble of mind: and he put all the people and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two groups; ⁸ And said, If Esau, meeting one group, makes an attack on them, the others will get away safely. ⁹ Then Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, the God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, Go back to your country and your family and I will be good to you: ¹⁰ I am less than nothing in comparison with all your mercies and your faith to me your servant; for with only my stick in my hand I went across Jordan, and now I have become two armies. ¹¹ Be my saviour from the hand of Esau, my brother: for my fear is that he will make an attack on me, putting to death mother and child.

¹¹ Be my saviour from the hand of Esau, my brother: for my fear is that he will make an attack on me, putting to death mother and child.

²⁰ And you are to say further, Jacob, your servant, is coming after us. For he said to himself, I will take away his wrath by the offering which I have sent on, and then I will come before him: it may be that I will have grace in his eyes.

²⁸ And he said, Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel: for in your fight with God and with men you have overcome. ²⁹ Then Jacob said, What is your name? And he said, What is my name to you? Then he gave him a blessing.

¹⁰ And Jacob said, Not so; but if I have grace in your eyes, take them as a sign of my love, for I have seen your face as one may see the face of God, and you have been pleased with me.

³ Now the love which Israel had for Joseph was greater than his love for all his other children, because he got him when he was an old man: and he had a long coat made for him. ⁴ And because his brothers saw that Joseph was dearer to his father than all the others, they were full of hate for him, and would not say a kind word to him. ⁵ Now Joseph had a dream, and he gave his brothers an account of it, which made their hate greater than ever.

¹¹ And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his words in mind.

¹⁸ But they saw him when he was a long way off, and before he came near them they made a secret design against him to put him to death; ¹⁹ Saying to one another, See, here comes this dreamer. ²⁰ Let us now put him to death and put his body into one of these holes, and we will say, An evil beast has put him to death: then we will see what becomes of his dreams. ²¹ But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life. ²² Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again. ²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off his long coat which he had on; ²⁴ And they took him and put him in the hole: now the hole had no water in it. ²⁵ Then seating themselves, they took their meal: and looking up, they saw a travelling band of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead on their way to Egypt, with spices and perfumes on their camels. ²⁶ And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood? ²⁷ Let us give him to these Ishmaelites for a price, and let us not put violent hands on him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers gave ear to him.

⁷ And when Joseph saw his brothers, it was clear to him who they were, but he made himself strange to them, and talking roughly to them, said, Where do you come from? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to get food.

³⁰ The man who is the ruler of the country was rough with us and put us in prison, saying that we had come with a secret evil purpose.

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, If it has to be so, then do this: take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels to give the man, perfumes and honey and spices and nuts:

¹³ And Moses said to God, When I come to the children of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you: and they say to me, What is his name? what am I to say to them? ¹⁴ And God said to him, I AM WHAT I AM: and he said, Say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. ¹⁵ And God went on to say to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has sent me to you: this is my name for ever, and this is my sign to all generations.

² And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, to whose voice I am to give ear and let Israel go? I have no knowledge of the Lord and I will not let Israel go.

³ I let myself be seen by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God, the Ruler of all; but they had no knowledge of my name Yahweh.

¹⁶ For is not the fact of your going with us the sign that I and this people have grace in your eyes, so that we, that is, I and your people, are separate from all other people on the face of the earth?

⁵ And the Lord came down in the cloud and took his place by the side of Moses, and Moses gave worship to the name of the Lord. ⁶ And the Lord went past before his eyes, saying, The Lord, the Lord, a God full of pity and grace, slow to wrath and great in mercy and faith; ⁷ Having mercy on thousands, overlooking evil and wrongdoing and sin; he will not let wrongdoers go free, but will send punishment on children for the sins of their fathers, and on their children's children to the third and fourth generation.

¹⁵ Do no wrong in your judging: do not give thought to the position of the poor, or honour to the position of the great; but be a judge to your neighbour in righteousness. ¹⁶ Do not go about saying untrue things among your people, or take away the life of your neighbour by false witness: I am the Lord.

¹⁵ Then he went on with his story and said, These are the words of Balaam, the son of Beor, the words of him whose eyes are open: ¹⁶ He says, whose ear is open to the words of God, who has knowledge of the Most High, who has seen the vision of the Ruler of all, falling down and having his eyes open:

¹⁶ And at that time I gave orders to your judges, saying, Let all questions between your brothers come before you for hearing, and give decisions uprightly between a man and his brother or one from another nation who is with him. ¹⁷ In judging, do not let a man's position have any weight with you; give hearing equally to small and great; have no fear of any man, for it is God who is judge: and any cause in which you are not able to give a decision, you are to put before me and I will give it a hearing.

¹⁴ Then let a full search be made, and let questions be put with care; and if it is true and certain that such a disgusting thing has been done among you;

¹⁹ You are not to be moved in your judging by a man's position, you are not to take rewards; for rewards make the eyes of the wise man blind, and the decisions of the upright false.

³¹ For their rock is not like our Rock, even our haters themselves being judges.

² Their heritage by the Lord's decision, as he gave orders by Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe.

³⁵ And when he saw her he was overcome with grief, and said, Ah! my daughter! I am crushed with sorrow, and it is you who are the chief cause of my trouble; for I have made an oath to the Lord and I may not take it back.

⁷ And she said to me, Let me come into the grain-field and take up the grain after the cutters. So she came, and has been here from morning till now, without resting even for a minute.

³⁶ Then it will be that the rest of your family, anyone who has not been cut off, will go down on his knees to him for a bit of silver or a bit of bread, and say, Be pleased to put me into one of the priest's places so that I may have a little food.

²¹ Then he made the tribe of Benjamin come near by families, and the family of the Matrites was taken: and from them, Saul, the son of Kish, was taken: but when they went in search of him he was nowhere to be seen. ²² So they put another question to the Lord, Is the man present here? And the answer of the Lord was, He is keeping himself from view among the goods. ²³ So they went quickly and made him come out; and when he took his place among the people, he was taller by a head than any of the people. ²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people, Do you see the man of the Lord's selection, how there is no other like him among all the people? And all the people with loud cries said, Long life to the king! ²⁵ Then Samuel gave the people the laws of the kingdom, writing them in a book which he put in a safe place before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. ²⁶ And Saul went to Gibeah, to his house; and with him went the men of war whose hearts had been touched by God. ²⁷ But certain good-for-nothing persons said, How is this man to be our saviour? And having no respect for him, they gave him no offering.

²⁴ And all the people were with Saul, about twenty thousand men, and the fight was general through all the hill-country of Ephraim; but Saul made a great error that day, by putting the people under an oath, saying, Let that man be cursed who takes food before evening comes and I have given punishment to those who are against me. So the people had not a taste of food. ²⁵ And there was honey on the face of the field, and all the people came to the honey, the bees having gone from it; ²⁶ But not a man put his hand to his mouth for fear of the curse. ²⁷ But Jonathan, having no knowledge of the oath his father had put on the people, stretching out the rod which was in his hand, put the end of it in the honey, and put it to his mouth; then his eyes were made bright. ²⁸ Then one of the people said to him, Your father put the people under an oath, saying, Let that man be cursed who takes any food this day. And the people were feeble, needing food. ²⁹ Then Jonathan said, My father has made trouble come on the land: now see how bright my eyes have become because I have taken a little of this honey. ³⁰ How much more if the people had freely taken their food from the goods of those who were fighting against them! would there not have been much greater destruction among the Philistines? ³¹ That day they overcame the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were feeble from need of food. ³² And rushing at the goods taken in the fight, the people took oxen and sheep and young oxen, and put them to death there on the earth, and had a meal, taking the flesh with the blood in it. ³³ Then it was said to Saul, See, the people are sinning against the Lord, taking the blood with the flesh. And he said to those who gave him the news, Now let a great stone be rolled to me here. ³⁴ And Saul said, Go about among the people and say to them, Let every man come here to me with his ox and his sheep, and put them to death here, and take his meal: do no sin against the Lord by taking the blood with the flesh. So all the people took their oxen with them that night and put them to death there. ³⁵ And Saul put up an altar to the Lord: this was the first altar which he put up to the Lord. ³⁶ And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, attacking them till the morning, till there is not a man of them living. And they said, Do whatever seems right to you. Then the priest said, Let us come near to God. ³⁷ And Saul, desiring directions from God, said, Am I to go down after the Philistines? will you give them up into the hands of Israel? But he gave him no answer that day. ³⁸ And Saul said, Come near, all you chiefs of the people, and let us get word from God and see in whom is this sin today. ³⁹ For, by the living Lord, the saviour of Israel, even if the sinner is Jonathan, my son, death will certainly be his fate. But not a man among all the people gave him any answer. ⁴⁰ Then he said to all Israel, You be on one side, and I with Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, Do whatever seems good to you. ⁴¹ Then Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel, Why have you not given me an answer today? If the sin is in me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord God of Israel, give Urim, and if it is in your people Israel, give Thummim. And by the decision of the Lord, Saul and Jonathan were marked out, and the people went free. ⁴² And Saul said, Give your decision between my son Jonathan and me. And Jonathan was taken.

⁴² And Saul said, Give your decision between my son Jonathan and me. And Jonathan was taken. ⁴³ Then Saul said to Jonathan, Give me an account of what you have done. And Jonathan gave him the story and said, Certainly I took a little honey on the end of my rod; and now death is to be my fate. ⁴⁴ And Saul said, May God's punishment be on me if death is not your fate, Jonathan. ⁴⁵ And the people said to Saul, Is death to come to Jonathan, the worker of this great salvation for Israel? Let it not be so: by the living Lord, not one hair of his head is to be touched, for he has been working with God today. So the people kept Jonathan from death. ⁴⁶ Then Saul, turning back, went after the Philistines no longer: and the Philistines went back to their place.

⁴ And Jonathan gave his father Saul a good account of David, and said to him, Let not the king do wrong against his servant, against David; because he has done you no wrong, and all his acts have had a good outcome for you: ⁵ For he put his life in danger and overcame the Philistine, and the Lord gave all Israel salvation: you saw it and were glad: why then are you sinning against him who has done no wrong, desiring the death of David without cause?

³⁰ Then Saul was moved to wrath against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of an evil and uncontrolled woman, have I not seen how you have given your love to the son of Jesse, to your shame and the shame of your mother?

¹⁰ And Nabal gave them his answer and said, Who is David? who is the son of Jesse? there are a number of servants in these days running away from their masters.

¹⁷ So now, give thought to what you are going to do; for evil is in store for our master and all his house: for he is such a good-for-nothing person that it is not possible to say anything to him.

²⁷ And let this offering, which your servant gives to my lord, be given to the young men who are with my lord.

⁶ And David was greatly troubled; for the people were talking of stoning him, because their hearts were bitter, every man sorrowing for his sons and his daughters: but David made himself strong in the Lord his God.

²⁶ And when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the goods to the responsible men of Judah, and to his friends, saying, Here is an offering for you from the goods of those who were fighting against the Lord; ²⁷ He sent to those who were in Beth-el, and in Ramah of the South, and in Jattir; ²⁸ And to those in Arara and Eshtemoa ²⁹ and Carmel and in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, and in the towns of the Kenites; ³⁰ And to those who were in Hormah and in Bor-ashan and in Athach; ³¹ And in Hebron, and to all the places where David and his men had been living.

²⁶ I am full of grief for you, my brother Jonathan: very dear have you been to me: your love for me was a wonder, greater than the love of women.

¹ And David said, Is there still anyone of Saul's family living, so that I may be a friend to him, because of Jonathan? ² Now there was of Saul's people a servant named Ziba, and they sent him to David; and the king said to him, Are you Ziba? And he said, I am. ³ And the king said, Is there anyone of Saul's family still living, to whom I may be a friend in God's name? And Ziba said, There is a son of Jonathan, whose feet are damaged. ⁴ And the king said to him, Where is he? And Ziba said to the king, He is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar. ⁵ Then King David sent, and had him taken from Lo-debar, from the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel. ⁶ And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, came to David, and falling down on his face, gave him honour. And David said, Mephibosheth. And answering he said, Your servant is here. ⁷ And David said to him, Have no fear: for truly I will be good to you, because of your father Jonathan, and I will give back to you all the land which was Saul's; and you will have a place at my table at all times. ⁸ And he went down on his face before the king, and said, What is your servant, for you to take note of a dead dog such as I am? ⁹ Then the king sent for Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, All the property of Saul and of his family I have given to your master's son. ¹⁰ And you and your sons and your servants are to take care of the land for him, and get in the fruit of it, so that your master's son may have food: but Mephibosheth, your master's son, will have a place at my table at all times. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, Every order which you have given to your servant will be done. As for Mephibosheth, he had a place at David's table, like one of the king's sons. ¹² And Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. And all the people living in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. ¹³ So Mephibosheth went on living in Jerusalem; for he took all his meals at the king's table; and he had not the use of his feet.

²² But Absalom said nothing to his brother Amnon, good or bad: for he was full of hate for him, because he had taken his sister Tamar by force.

²⁸ Now Absalom had given orders to his servants, saying, Now take note when Amnon's heart is glad with wine; and when I say to you, Make an attack on Amnon, then put him to death without fear: have I not given you orders? be strong and without fear.

¹ And when David had gone a little way past the top of the slope, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, came to him, with two asses on which were two hundred cakes of bread and a hundred stems of dry grapes and a hundred summer fruits and a skin of wine. ² And David said to Ziba, What is your reason for this? And Ziba said, The asses are for the use of the king's people, and the bread and the fruit are food for the young men; and the wine is for drink for those who are overcome by weariness in the waste land. ³ And the king said, And where is your master's son? And Ziba said, He is still at Jerusalem: for he said, Today Israel will give back to me the kingdom of my father. ⁴ Then the king said to Ziba, Truly everything which was Mephibosheth's is yours. And Ziba said, I give honour to my lord, may I have grace in your eyes, my lord, O king!

¹⁷ And Absalom said, Is this your love for your friend? why did you not go with your friend?

²⁷ Now when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi, the son of Nahash of Rabbah, the Ammonite, and Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, ²⁸ Came with beds and basins and pots, and grain and meal, and all sorts of dry foods, ²⁹ And honey and butter and sheep and milk-cheeses, for David and his people: for they said, This people is in the waste land, needing food and drink and rest.

²⁴ And Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son, came down for the purpose of meeting the king; his feet had not been cared for or his hair cut or his clothing washed from the day when the king went away till the day when he came back in peace.

²⁴ And Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son, came down for the purpose of meeting the king; his feet had not been cared for or his hair cut or his clothing washed from the day when the king went away till the day when he came back in peace. ²⁵ Now when he had come from Jerusalem to see the king, the king said to him, Why did you not come with me, Mephibosheth?

²⁵ Now when he had come from Jerusalem to see the king, the king said to him, Why did you not come with me, Mephibosheth? ²⁶ And he said in answer, Because of the deceit of my servant, my lord king: for I, your servant, said to him, You are to make ready an ass and on it I will go with the king, for your servant has not the use of his feet.

²⁶ And he said in answer, Because of the deceit of my servant, my lord king: for I, your servant, said to him, You are to make ready an ass and on it I will go with the king, for your servant has not the use of his feet. ²⁷ He has given you a false account of me: but my lord the king is like the angel of God: do then whatever seems good to you.

²⁷ He has given you a false account of me: but my lord the king is like the angel of God: do then whatever seems good to you. ²⁸ For all my father's family were only dead men before my lord the king: and still you put your servant among those whose place is at the king's table. What right then have I to say anything more to the king? ²⁹ And the king said, Say nothing more about these things. I say, Let there be a division of the land between Ziba and you. ³⁰ And Mephibosheth said, Let him take it all, now that my lord the king has come back to his house in peace!

³⁰ And Mephibosheth said, Let him take it all, now that my lord the king has come back to his house in peace! ³¹ And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim; and he went on as far as Jordan with the king to take him across Jordan. ³² Now Barzillai was a very old man, as much as eighty years old: and he had given the king everything he had need of, while he was at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man. ³³ And the king said to Barzillai, Come over with me, and I will take care of you in Jerusalem. ³⁴ And Barzillai said to the king, How much of my life is still before me, for me to go up to Jerusalem with the king? ³⁵ I am now eighty years old: good and bad are the same to me; have meat and drink any taste for me now? am I able to take pleasure in the voices of men or women in song? why then am I to be a trouble to my lord the king? ³⁶ Your servant's desire was only to take the king over Jordan; why is the king to give me such a reward? ³⁷ Let your servant now go back again, so that when death comes to me, it may be in my town and by the resting-place of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham: let him go with my lord the king, and do for him what seems good to you. ³⁸ And the king said in answer, Let Chimham go over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you: and whatever your desire is, I will do it for you. ³⁹ Then all the people went over Jordan, and the king went over: and the king gave Barzillai a kiss, with his blessing; and he went back to his place.

⁷ But the king did not give up Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of the Lord's oath made between David and Jonathan, the son of Saul.

³ My God, my Rock, in him will I put my faith; my breastplate, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my safe place; my saviour, who keeps me safe from the violent man.

⁴⁵ Men of other countries will, with false hearts, put themselves under my authority: from the time when my name comes to their ears, they will be ruled by me. ⁴⁶ They will be wasted away, they will come out of their secret places shaking with fear. ⁴⁷ The Lord is living; praise be to my Rock, and let the God of my salvation be honoured:

⁵¹ Great salvation does he give to his king; he has mercy on the king of his selection, David, and on his seed for ever.

²³ Then King Solomon took an oath by the Lord, saying, May God's punishment be on me if Adonijah does not give payment for these words with his life. ²⁴ Now by the living Lord, who has given me my place on the seat of David my father, and made me one of a line of kings, as he gave me his word, truly Adonijah will be put to death this day. ²⁵ And King Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he made an attack on him and put him to death.

⁹ Give your servant, then, a wise heart for judging your people, able to see what is good and what evil; for who is able to be the judge of this great people?

¹⁶ And when all Israel saw that the king would give no attention to them, the people in answer said to the king, What part have we in David? what is our heritage in the son of Jesse? to your tents, O Israel; now see to your people, David. So Israel went away to their tents.

⁹ And in the letter she said, Let a time of public sorrow be fixed, and put Naboth at the head of the people; ¹⁰ And get two good-for-nothing persons to come before him and give witness that he has been cursing God and the king. Then take him out and have him stoned to death. ¹¹ So the responsible men and the chiefs who were in authority in his town, did as Jezebel had said in the letter she sent them. ¹² They gave orders for a day of public sorrow, and put Naboth at the head of the people. ¹³ And the two good-for-nothing persons came in and took their seats before him and gave witness against Naboth, in front of the people, saying, Naboth has been cursing God and the king. Then they took him outside the town and had him stoned to death. ¹⁴ And they sent word to Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned and is dead.

¹ Now a certain woman, the wife of one of the sons of the prophets, came crying to Elisha and said, Your servant my husband is dead; and to your knowledge he was a worshipper of the Lord; but now, the creditor has come to take my two children as servants in payment of his debt. ² Then Elisha said to her, What am I to do for you? say now, what have you in the house? And she said, Your servant has nothing in the house but a pot of oil.

⁶³ And to the sons of Merari, by their families, twelve towns were given by the Lord's decision, out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun.

³⁸ All these men of war, expert in ordering the fight, came to Hebron with the full purpose of making David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were united in their desire to make David king. ³⁹ For three days they were there with David, feasting at his table, for their brothers had made ready food for them. ⁴⁰ And those who were near, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came with food on asses and camels and mules and oxen, with meal for food and cakes of figs and masses of grapes, and wine and oil and oxen and sheep in great numbers, for there was joy in Israel.

³¹ Selection was made of these in the same way as of their brothers the sons of Aaron, David the king being present, with Zadok, and Ahimelech, and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites; the families of the chief in the same way as those of his younger brother.

¹⁷ And Abijah and his people put them to death with great destruction: five hundred thousand of the best of Israel were put to the sword.

⁴ Give ear, O our God, for we are looked down on: let their words of shame be turned back on themselves, and let them be given up to wasting in a land where they are prisoners:

¹ And the rulers of the people were living in Jerusalem: the rest of the people made selection, by the decision of chance, of one out of every ten to be living in Jerusalem, the holy town; the other nine to go to the other towns.

¹⁰ And the king took his ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the hater of the Jews. ¹¹ And the king said to Haman, The money is yours, and the people, to do with them whatever seems right to you. ¹² Then on the thirteenth day of the first month, the king's scribes were sent for, and they put in writing Haman's orders to all the king's captains and the rulers of every division of his kingdom and the chiefs of every people: for every division of the kingdom in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in the language which was theirs; it was signed in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with the king's ring. ¹³ And letters were sent by the runners into every division of the kingdom ordering the death and destruction of all Jews, young and old, little children and women, on the same day, even the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar, and the taking of all their goods by force. ¹⁴ A copy of the writing, to be made public in every part of the kingdom, was sent out to all the peoples, so that they might be ready when that day came. ¹⁵ The runners went out quickly by the king's order, and a public statement was made in Shushan: and the king and Haman took wine together: but the town of Shushan was troubled.

⁵ And she said, If it is the king's pleasure and if I have his approval and this thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing to him, then let letters be sent giving orders against those which Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, sent out for the destruction of the Jews in all divisions of the kingdom: ⁶ For how is it possible for me to see the evil which is to overtake my nation? how may I see the destruction of my people? ⁷ Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, See now, I have given Esther the family of Haman, and he has come to his death by hanging, because he made an attack on the Jews. ⁸ So now send a letter about the Jews, writing whatever seems good to you, in the king's name, and stamping it with the king's ring: for a writing signed in the king's name and stamped with the king's ring may not be changed. ⁹ Then at that time, on the twenty-third day of the third month, which is the month Sivan, the king's scribes were sent for; and everything ordered by Mordecai was put in writing and sent to the Jews and the captains and the rulers and the chiefs of all the divisions of the kingdom from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven divisions, to every division in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing and their language. ¹⁰ The letters were sent in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with his ring, and they were taken by men on horseback, going on the quick-running horses used for the king's business, the offspring of his best horses: ¹¹ In these letters the king gave authority to the Jews in every town to come together and make a fight for their lives, and to send death and destruction on the power of any people in any part of the kingdom attacking them or their children or their women, and to take their goods from them by force, ¹² On one day in every division of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, that is, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar. ¹³ A copy of the writing, to be made public as an order in every division of the kingdom, was given out to all the peoples, so that the Jews might be ready when that day came to give punishment to their haters. ¹⁴ So the men went out on the quick-running horses used on the king's business, wasting no time and forced on by the king's order; and the order was given out in Shushan, the king's town. ¹⁵ And Mordecai went out from before the king, dressed in king-like robes of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold and clothing of purple and the best linen: and all the town of Shushan gave loud cries of joy. ¹⁶ And the Jews had light and joy and honour. ¹⁷ And in every part of the kingdom and in every town, wherever the king's letter and his order came, the Jews were glad with great joy, and had a feast and a good day. And a great number of the people of the land became Jews: for the fear of the Jews had come on them.

²⁰ Then Job got up, and after parting his clothing and cutting off his hair, he went down on his face to the earth, and gave worship, and said, ²¹ With nothing I came out of my mother's body, and with nothing I will go back there; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; let the Lord's name be praised.

⁷ And the Satan went out from before the Lord, and sent on Job an evil disease covering his skin from his feet to the top of his head. ⁸ And he took a broken bit of a pot, and, seated in the dust, was rubbing himself with the sharp edge of it. ⁹ And his wife said to him, Are you still keeping your righteousness? Say a curse against God, and put an end to yourself. ¹⁰ And he said to her, You are talking like one of the foolish women. If we take the good God sends us, are we not to take the evil when it comes? In all this Job kept his lips from sin.

⁴ For the arrows of the Ruler of all are present with me, and their poison goes deep into my spirit: his army of fears is put in order against me.

¹⁴ Then you send dreams to me, and visions of fear; ¹⁵ So that a hard death seems better to my soul than my pains.

¹⁵ That, if I was an evil-doer, the curse would come on me; and if I was upright, my head would not be lifted up, being full of shame and overcome with trouble. ¹⁶ And that if there was cause for pride, you would go after me like a lion; and again put out your wonders against me: ¹⁷ That you would send new witnesses against me, increasing your wrath against me, and letting loose new armies on me.

⁷ Will you say in God's name what is not right, and put false words into his mouth? ⁸ Will you have respect for God's person in this cause, and put yourselves forward as his supporters?

¹⁶ I was a father to the poor, searching out the cause of him who was strange to me.

²⁹ I have become a brother to the jackals, and go about in the company of ostriches.

²⁴ If I made gold my hope, or if I ever said to the best gold, I have put my faith in you; ²⁵ If I was glad because my wealth was great, and because my hand had got together a great store;

¹⁹ Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.

⁶ For this cause I give witness that what I said is false, and in sorrow I take my seat in the dust. ⁷ And it came about, after he had said these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, I am very angry with you and your two friends, because you have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job has. ⁸ And now, take seven oxen and seven sheep, and go to my servant Job, and give a burned offering for yourselves, and my servant Job will make prayer for you, that I may not send punishment on you; because you have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job has. ⁹ And Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did as the Lord had said. And the Lord gave ear to Job. ¹⁰ And the Lord made up to Job for all his losses, after he had made prayer for his friends: and all Job had before was increased by the Lord twice as much. ¹¹ And all his brothers and sisters, and his friends of earlier days, came and took food with him in his house; and made clear their grief for him, and gave him comfort for all the evil which the Lord had sent on him; and they all gave him a bit of money and a gold ring. ¹² And the Lord's blessing was greater on the end of Job's life than on its start: and so he came to have fourteen thousand sheep and goats, and six thousand camels, and two thousand oxen, and a thousand she-asses. ¹³ And he had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ And he gave the first the name of Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch; ¹⁵ And there were no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job in all the earth: and their father gave them a heritage among their brothers. ¹⁶ And after this Job had a hundred and forty years of life, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations. ¹⁷ And Job came to his end, old and full of days.

¹ Happy is the man who does not go in the company of sinners, or take his place in the way of evil-doers, or in the seat of those who do not give honour to the Lord. ² But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and whose mind is on his law day and night.

² The Lord is my Rock, my walled town, and my saviour; my God, my Rock, in him will I put my faith; my breastplate, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

¹ Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; who is then a cause of fear to me? the Lord is the strength of my life; who is a danger to me?

⁹ What profit is there in my blood if I go down into the underworld? will the dust give you praise, or be a witness to your help? ¹⁰ Give ear to me, O Lord, and have mercy on me: Lord, be my helper.

³ When I kept my mouth shut, my bones were wasted, because of my crying all through the day. ⁴ For the weight of your hand was on me day and night; my body became dry like the earth in summer. Selah.

² For your arrows have gone into my flesh, and I am crushed under the weight of your hand. ³ My flesh is wasted because of your wrath; and there is no peace in my bones because of my sin. ⁴ For my crimes have gone over my head; they are like a great weight which is more than my strength.

¹⁰ The cruel words of my haters are like a crushing of my bones; when they say to me every day, Where is your God? ¹¹ Why are you crushed down, O my soul? and why are you troubled in me? put your hope in God; for I will again give him praise who is my help and my God.

⁶ Even of those whose faith is in their wealth, and whose hearts are lifted up because of their stores. ⁷ Truly, no man may get back his soul for a price, or give to God the payment for himself; ⁸ Because it takes a great price to keep his soul from death, and man is not able to give it. ⁹ So that he might have eternal life, and never see the underworld.

² Purposing destruction, using deceit; your tongue is like a sharp blade.

⁵ But God will put an end to you for ever; driving you out from your tent, uprooting you from the land of the living. Selah. ⁶ The upright will see it with fear, and will say, laughing at you: ⁷ See, this is the man who did not make God his strength, but had faith in his goods and his property, and made himself strong in his wealth.

³ I am troubled because of the voice of the cruel ones, because of the loud cry of the evil-doers; for they put a weight of evil on me, and they are cruel in their hate for me.

⁵ Fear and shaking have come over me, with deep fear I am covered.

³ In the time of my fear, I will have faith in you. ⁴ In God will I give praise to his word; in God have I put my hope; I will have no fear of what flesh may do to me.

³ For you have been my secret place, and my high tower from those who made war on me. ⁴ I will make your tent my resting-place for ever: I will keep myself under the cover of your wings. Selah.

¹⁰ Have no faith in the rewards of evil-doing, or in profits wrongly made: if your wealth is increased, do not put your hopes on it. ¹¹ Once has God said, twice has it come to my ears, that power is God's:

³ Who make their tongues sharp like a sword, and whose arrows are pointed, even bitter words; ⁴ So that in secret they may let loose their arrows at the upright, suddenly and unseen.

⁸ The evil of their tongues is the cause of their fall; all those who see them are shaking their heads at them.

⁹ I am on fire with passion for your house; and the hard things which are said about you have come on me.

²⁰ My heart is broken by bitter words, I am full of grief; I made a search for some to have pity on me, but there was no one; I had no comforter.

² In the day of my trouble, my heart was turned to the Lord: my hand was stretched out in the night without resting; my soul would not be comforted. ³ I will keep God in memory, with sounds of grief; my thoughts are troubled, and my spirit is overcome. Selah.

² Opening my mouth I will give out a story, even the dark sayings of old times;

² How long will you go on judging falsely, having respect for the persons of evil-doers? Selah.

¹⁴ Lord, why have you sent away my soul? why is your face covered from me? ¹⁵ I have been troubled and in fear of death from the time when I was young; your wrath is hard on me, and I have no strength. ¹⁶ The heat of your wrath has gone over me; I am broken by your cruel punishments.

² Who says of the Lord, He is my safe place and my tower of strength: he is my God, in whom is my hope.

¹⁴ Because he has given me his love, I will take him out of danger: I will put him in a place of honour, because he has kept my name in his heart.

²² For I am poor and in need, and my heart is wounded in me.

⁹⁷ MEM O what love I have for your law! I give thought to it all the day. ⁹⁸ Your teaching has made me wiser than my haters: for it is mine for ever. ⁹⁹ I have more knowledge than all my teachers, because I give thought to your unchanging word. ¹⁰⁰ I have more wisdom than the old, because I have kept your orders. ¹⁰¹ I have kept back my feet from all evil ways, so that I might be true to your word. ¹⁰² My heart has not been turned away from your decisions; for you have been my teacher. ¹⁰³ How sweet are your sayings to my taste! truly, they are sweeter than honey in my mouth! ¹⁰⁴ Through your orders I get wisdom; for this reason I am a hater of every false way.

³ Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us: for all men are looking down on us. ⁴ For long enough have men of pride made sport of our soul.

⁹ As for those who come round me, let their heads be covered by the evil of their lips.

² He is my strength, and my Rock; my high tower, and my saviour; my keeper and my hope: he gives me authority over my people.

³ He makes the broken-hearted well, and puts oil on their wounds.

⁵ The wise man, hearing, will get greater learning, and the acts of the man of good sense will be wisely guided:

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the start of knowledge: but the foolish have no use for wisdom and teaching.

²² How long, you simple ones, will foolish things be dear to you? and pride a delight to the haters of authority? how long will the foolish go on hating knowledge?

¹ My son, if you will take my words to your heart, storing up my laws in your mind; ² So that your ear gives attention to wisdom, and your heart is turned to knowledge; ³ Truly, if you are crying out for good sense, and your request is for knowledge; ⁴ If you are looking for her as for silver, and searching for her as for stored-up wealth; ⁵ Then the fear of the Lord will be clear to you, and knowledge of God will be yours. ⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and reason:

⁴ So you will have grace and a good name in the eyes of God and men.

⁵ Get wisdom, get true knowledge; keep it in memory, do not be turned away from the words of my mouth.

⁷ The first sign of wisdom is to get wisdom; go, give all you have to get true knowledge.

¹⁵ Let water from your store and not that of others be your drink, and running water from your fountain. ¹⁶ Let not your springs be flowing in the streets, or your streams of water in the open places. ¹⁷ Let them be for yourself only, not for other men with you. ¹⁸ Let blessing be on your fountain; have joy in the wife of your early years. ¹⁹ As a loving hind and a gentle doe, let her breasts ever give you rapture; let your passion at all times be moved by her love. ²⁰ Why let yourself, my son, go out of the way with a strange woman, and take another woman in your arms? ²¹ For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he puts all his goings in the scales. ²² The evil-doer will be taken in the net of his crimes, and prisoned in the cords of his sin. ²³ He will come to his end for need of teaching; he is so foolish that he will go wandering from the right way.

² You are taken as in a net by the words of your mouth, the sayings of your lips have overcome you.

¹⁹ A false witness, breathing out untrue words, and one who lets loose violent acts among brothers.

³⁵ For whoever gets me gets life, and grace from the Lord will come to him.

⁹ Give teaching to a wise man, and he will become wiser; give training to an upright man, and his learning will be increased.

⁴ He who is slow in his work becomes poor, but the hand of the ready worker gets in wealth.

⁸ The wise-hearted man will let himself be ruled, but the man whose talk is foolish will have a fall.

¹¹ The mouth of the upright man is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the evil-doer is a bitter cup.

¹⁴ Knowledge is stored up by the wise, but the mouth of the foolish man is a destruction which is near. ¹⁵ The property of the man of wealth is his strong town: the poor man's need is his destruction.

¹⁹ Where there is much talk there will be no end to sin, but he who keeps his mouth shut does wisely. ²⁰ The tongue of the upright man is like tested silver: the heart of the evil-doer is of little value. ²¹ The lips of the upright man give food to men, but the foolish come to death for need of sense.

³¹ The mouth of the upright man is budding with wisdom, but the twisted tongue will be cut off.

² When pride comes, there comes shame, but wisdom is with the quiet in spirit.

⁴ Wealth is of no profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness keeps a man safe from death.

³⁰ The fruit of righteousness is a tree of life, but violent behaviour takes away souls.

⁴ A woman of virtue is a crown to her husband; but she whose behaviour is a cause of shame is like a wasting disease in his bones.

¹³ In the sin of the lips is a net which takes the sinner, but the upright man will come out of trouble.

¹³ In the sin of the lips is a net which takes the sinner, but the upright man will come out of trouble. ¹⁴ From the fruit of his mouth will a man have good food in full measure, and the work of a man's hands will be rewarded.

¹⁶ A foolish man lets his trouble be openly seen, but a sharp man keeps shame secret.

¹⁸ There are some whose uncontrolled talk is like the wounds of a sword, but the tongue of the wise makes one well again.

²³ A sharp man keeps back his knowledge; but the heart of foolish men makes clear their foolish thoughts.

² A man will get good from the fruit of his lips, but the desire of the false is for violent acts.

² A man will get good from the fruit of his lips, but the desire of the false is for violent acts. ³ He who keeps a watch on his mouth keeps his life; but he whose lips are open wide will have destruction.

³ He who keeps a watch on his mouth keeps his life; but he whose lips are open wide will have destruction.

¹⁰ The only effect of pride is fighting; but wisdom is with the quiet in spirit.

¹⁴ The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning men away from the nets of death.

¹⁶ A sharp man does everything with knowledge, but a foolish man makes clear his foolish thoughts.

³ In the mouth of the foolish man is a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will keep them safe.

¹⁰ No one has knowledge of a man's grief but himself; and a strange person has no part in his joy.

¹⁶ The wise man, fearing, keeps himself from evil; but the foolish man goes on in his pride, with no thought of danger.

¹³ A glad heart makes a shining face, but by the sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. ¹⁴ The heart of the man of good sense goes in search of knowledge, but foolish things are the food of the unwise.

³³ The fear of the Lord is the teaching of wisdom; and a low opinion of oneself goes before honour.

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction, and a stiff spirit before a fall.

²² Wisdom is a fountain of life to him who has it; but the punishment of the foolish is their foolish behaviour.

²⁷ A good-for-nothing man is a designer of evil, and in his lips there is a burning fire. ²⁸ A man of twisted purposes is a cause of fighting everywhere: and he who says evil secretly makes trouble between friends.

²⁸ A man of twisted purposes is a cause of fighting everywhere: and he who says evil secretly makes trouble between friends.

³² He who is slow to be angry is better than a man of war, and he who has control over his spirit than he who takes a town. ³³ A thing may be put to the decision of chance, but it comes about through the Lord.

⁸ An offering of money is like a stone of great price in the eyes of him who has it: wherever he goes, he does well.

¹⁴ The start of fighting is like the letting out of water: so give up before it comes to blows. ¹⁵ He who gives a decision for the evil-doer and he who gives a decision against the upright, are equally disgusting to the Lord. ¹⁶ How will money in the hand of the foolish get him wisdom, seeing that he has no sense? ¹⁷ A friend is loving at all times, and becomes a brother in times of trouble.

²² A glad heart makes a healthy body, but a crushed spirit makes the bones dry.

⁴ The words of a man's mouth are like deep waters: the fountain of wisdom is like a flowing stream. ⁵ To have respect for the person of the evil-doer is not good, or to give a wrong decision against the upright. ⁶ A foolish man's lips are a cause of fighting, and his mouth makes him open to blows. ⁷ The mouth of a foolish man is his destruction, and his lips are a net for his soul.

¹³ To give an answer before hearing is a foolish thing and a cause of shame.

⁶ Great numbers will make attempts to get the approval of a ruler: and every man is the special friend of him who has something to give.

¹⁴ House and wealth are a heritage from fathers, but a wife with good sense is from the Lord.

¹⁹ A man of great wrath will have to take his punishment: for if you get him out of trouble you will have to do it again.

²⁹ Rods are being made ready for the man of pride, and blows for the back of the foolish.

³ It is an honour for a man to keep from fighting, but the foolish are ever at war.

⁵ The purpose in the heart of a man is like deep water, but a man of good sense will get it out.

¹⁹ He who goes about talking of the business of others gives away secrets: so have nothing to do with him whose lips are open wide.

²⁵ It is a danger to a man to say without thought, It is holy, and, after taking his oaths, to be questioning if it is necessary to keep them.

¹⁴ By a secret offering wrath is turned away, and the heat of angry feelings by money in the folds of the robe.

¹⁰ Send away the man of pride, and argument will go out; truly fighting and shame will come to an end.

¹⁸ For it is a delight to keep them in your heart, to have them ready on your lips.

²¹ To make you see how certain are true words, so that you may give a true answer to those who put questions to you?

²⁴ Do not be friends with a man who is given to wrath; do not go in the company of an angry man: ²⁵ For fear of learning his ways and making a net ready for your soul.

²⁰ Do not be among those who give themselves to wine-drinking, or among those who make themselves full with meat: ²¹ For those who take delight in drink and feasting will come to be in need; and through love of sleep a man will be poorly clothed.

²³ Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.

²¹ My son, go in fear of the Lord and the king: have nothing to do with those who are in high positions:

²³ These are more sayings of the wise: To have respect for a person's position when judging is not good.

³⁰ I went by the field of the hater of work, and by the vine-garden of the man without sense; ³¹ And it was all full of thorns, and covered with waste plants, and its stone wall was broken down. ³² Then looking at it, I gave thought: I saw, and I got teaching from it. ³³ A little sleep, a little rest, a little folding of the hands in sleep: ³⁴ So loss will come on you like an outlaw, and your need like an armed man.

¹¹ A word at the right time is like apples of gold in a network of silver. ¹² Like a nose-ring of gold and an ornament of the best gold, is a wise man who says sharp words to an ear ready to give attention.

²⁴ It is better to be living in an angle of the house-top, than with a bitter-tongued woman in a wide house.

¹⁷ He who gets mixed up in a fight which is not his business, is like one who takes a dog by the ears while it is going by.

²⁰ Without wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no secret talk, argument is ended. ²¹ Like breath on coals and wood on fire, so a man given to argument gets a fight started. ²² The words of one who says evil of his neighbour secretly are like sweet food, they go down into the inner parts of the stomach.

³ A stone has great weight, and sand is crushing; but the wrath of the foolish is of greater weight than these.

⁹ Oil and perfume make glad the heart, and the wise suggestion of a friend is sweet to the soul.

²¹ It is not good to have respect for a man's position: for a man will do wrong for a bit of bread.

²⁴ He who takes from his father or his mother what is theirs by right, and says, It is no sin; is the same as a taker of life.

⁹ If a wise man goes to law with a foolish man, he may be angry or laughing, but there will be no rest.

¹⁶ When evil men are in power, wrongdoing is increased; but the upright will have pleasure when they see their downfall.

²³ A man's pride will be the cause of his fall, but he who has a gentle spirit will get honour.

¹⁰ Who may make discovery of a woman of virtue? For her price is much higher than jewels. ¹¹ The heart of her husband has faith in her, and he will have profit in full measure. ¹² She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. ¹³ She gets wool and linen, working at the business of her hands. ¹⁴ She is like the trading-ships, getting food from far away. ¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night, and gives meat to her family, and their food to her servant-girls. ¹⁶ After looking at a field with care, she gets it for a price, planting a vine-garden with the profit of her work. ¹⁷ She puts a band of strength round her, and makes her arms strong. ¹⁸ She sees that her marketing is of profit to her: her light does not go out by night. ¹⁹ She puts her hands to the cloth-working rod, and her fingers take the wheel. ²⁰ Her hands are stretched out to the poor; yes, she is open-handed to those who are in need. ²¹ She has no fear of the snow for her family, for all those in her house are clothed in red. ²² She makes for herself cushions of needlework; her clothing is fair linen and purple. ²³ Her husband is a man of note in the public place, when he takes his seat among the responsible men of the land. ²⁴ She makes linen robes and gets a price for them, and traders take her cloth bands for a price. ²⁵ Strength and self-respect are her clothing; she is facing the future with a smile. ²⁶ Her mouth is open to give out wisdom, and the law of mercy is on her tongue. ²⁷ She gives attention to the ways of her family, she does not take her food without working for it. ²⁸ Her children get up and give her honour, and her husband gives her praise, saying, ²⁹ Unnumbered women have done well, but you are better than all of them. ³⁰ Fair looks are a deceit, and a beautiful form is of no value; but a woman who has the fear of the Lord is to be praised. ³¹ Give her credit for what her hands have made: let her be praised by her works in the public place.

¹² Wisdom keeps a man from danger even as money does; but the value of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to its owner.

⁹ Have joy with the woman of your love all the days of your foolish life which he gives you under the sun. Because that is your part in life and in your work which you do under the sun.

³ And when the foolish man is walking in the way, he has no sense and lets everyone see that he is foolish.

¹¹ If a snake gives a bite before the word of power is said, then there is no longer any use in the word of power. ¹² The words of a wise man's mouth are sweet to all, but the lips of a foolish man are his destruction. ¹³ The first words of his mouth are foolish, and the end of his talk is evil crime. ¹⁴ The foolish are full of words; man has no knowledge of what will be; and who is able to say what will be after him?

²³ Who for a reward give support to the cause of the sinner, and who take away the righteousness of the upright from him.

⁵ Then I said, The curse is on me, and my fate is destruction; for I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies. ⁶ Then a winged one came to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from off the altar with the fire-spoon. ⁷ And after touching my mouth with it, he said, See, your lips have been touched with this; and your evil is taken away, and you are made clean from sin. ⁸ And the voice of the Lord came to my ears, saying, Whom am I to send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I, send me. ⁹ And he said, Go, and say to this people, You will go on hearing, but learning nothing; you will go on seeing, but without getting wiser. ¹⁰ Make the hearts of this people fat, and let their ears be stopped, and their eyes shut; for fear that they may see with their eyes, and be hearing with their ears, and their heart may become wise, and they may be turned to me and made well. ¹¹ Then I said, Lord, how long? And he said in answer, Till the towns are waste and unpeopled, and the houses have no men, and the land becomes completely waste, ¹² And the Lord has taken men far away, and there are wide waste places in the land. ¹³ And even if there is still a tenth part in it, it will again be burned, like a tree of the woods whose broken end is still in the earth after the tree has been cut down the holy seed is the broken end.

⁶ For to us a child has come, to us a son is given; and the government has been placed in his hands; and he has been named Wise Guide, Strong God, Father for ever, Prince of Peace.

⁴ Let your hope be in the Lord for ever: for the Lord Jah is an unchanging Rock.

⁸ We have been waiting for you, O Lord; the desire of our soul is for the memory of your name. ⁹ In the night the desire of my soul has been for you; early will my spirit be searching for you; for when your punishments come on the earth, the people of the world will get the knowledge of righteousness.

¹⁵ For this is the word of him who is high and lifted up, whose resting-place is eternal, whose name is Holy: my resting-place is in the high and holy place, and with him who is crushed and poor in spirit, to give life to the spirit of the poor, and to make strong the heart of the crushed.

¹⁹ I will give the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is near and to him who is far off, says the Lord; and I will make him well.

¹⁴ And the right is turned back, and righteousness is far away: for good faith is not to be seen in the public places, and upright behaviour may not come into the town.

² For all these things my hand has made, and they are mine, says the Lord; but to this man only will I give attention, to him who is poor and broken in spirit, fearing my word.

¹⁷ I did not take my seat among the band of those who are glad, and I had no joy; I kept by myself because of your hand; for you have made me full of wrath.

⁶ In his days Judah will have salvation and Israel will be living without fear: and this is the name by which he will be named, The Lord is our righteousness.

⁴⁹ Truly, this was the sin of your sister Sodom: pride, a full measure of food, and the comforts of wealth in peace, were seen in her and her daughters, and she gave no help to the poor or to those in need. ⁵⁰ They were full of pride and did what was disgusting to me: and so I took them away as you have seen.

² Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, This is what the Lord has said: Because your heart has been lifted up, and you have said, I am a god, I am seated on the seat of God in the heart of the seas; but you are man and not God, though you have made your heart as the heart of God:

⁹ Will you say, in the face of those who are taking your life, I am God? but you are man and not God in the hands of those who are wounding you.

²³ But you have been lifting yourself up against the Lord of heaven, and they have put the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your women, have taken wine in them; and you have given praise to gods of silver and gold, of brass and iron and wood and stone, who are without the power of seeing or hearing, and without knowledge: and to the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not given glory; ²⁴ Then the part of the hand was sent out from before him, and this writing was recorded.

⁹ For this reason King Darius put his name on the writing and the order.

¹⁴ When this thing came to the king's ears, it was very evil to him, and his heart was fixed on keeping Daniel safe, and till the going down of the sun he was doing everything in his power to get him free.

²⁰ And while I was still saying these words in prayer, and putting my sins and the sins of my people Israel before the Lord, and requesting grace from the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God;

²³ At the first word of your prayer a word went out, and I have come to give you knowledge; for you are a man dearly loved: so give thought to the word and let the vision be clear to you.

¹² And Jacob went in flight into the field of Aram, and Israel became a servant for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.

³ Their hands are made ready to do evil; the ruler makes requests for money, and the judge is looking for a reward; and the great man gives decisions at his pleasure, and the right is twisted.

¹⁹ The Lord God is my strength, and he makes my feet like roes' feet, guiding me on my high places. For the chief music-maker on corded instruments.

³ And to say to the priests of the house of the Lord of armies and to the prophets, Am I to go on weeping in the fifth month, separating myself as I have done in past years?

²³ See, the virgin will be with child, and will give birth to a son, and they will give him the name Immanuel, that is, God with us.

³ Happy are the poor in spirit: for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

³⁴ And all the town came out to Jesus; and seeing him they made request that he would go away from their part of the country.

³⁴ You offspring of snakes, how are you, being evil, able to say good things? because out of the heart's store come the words of the mouth. ³⁵ The good man out of his good store gives good things; and the evil man out of his evil store gives evil things. ³⁶ And I say to you that in the day when they are judged, men will have to give an account of every foolish word they have said. ³⁷ For by your words will your righteousness be seen, and by your words you will be judged.

¹¹ And he said to them in answer, To you is given the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

⁴⁴ The kingdom of heaven is like a secret store of wealth in a field, which a man came across and put back again; and in his joy he goes and gives all he has, to get that field.

¹⁶ And they sent to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master, we see that you are true, and that you are teaching the true way of God, and have no fear of anyone, because you have no respect for a man's position.

²⁶ But his lord in answer said to him, You are a bad and unready servant; if you had knowledge that I get in grain where I did not put seed, and make profits for which I have done no work,

⁴⁹ And straight away he came to Jesus and said, Master! and gave him a kiss. ⁵⁰ And Jesus said to him, Friend, do that for which you have come. Then they came and put hands on Jesus, and took him.

³⁹ And those who went by said bitter words to him, shaking their heads and saying, ⁴⁰ You who would give the Temple to destruction and put it up again in three days, get yourself free: if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. ⁴¹ In the same way, the chief priests, making sport of him, with the scribes and those in authority, said, ⁴² A saviour of others, he has no salvation for himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will have faith in him. ⁴³ He put his faith in God; let God be his saviour now, if he will have him; for he said, I am the Son of God. ⁴⁴ And the thieves who were on the crosses said evil words to him.

³⁵ And in the morning, a long time before daylight, he got up and went out to a quiet place, and there he gave himself up to prayer.

¹¹ And he said to them, To you is given the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things are given in the form of stories;

²³ And he took an oath, saying to her, Whatever is your desire I will give it to you, even half of my kingdom. ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, What is my request to be? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. ²⁵ And she came in quickly to the king, and said, My desire is that you give me straight away on a plate the head of John the Baptist. ²⁶ And the king was very sad; but because of his oaths, and those who were with him at table, he would not say 'No' to her. ²⁷ And straight away the king sent out one of his armed men, and gave him an order to come back with the head: and he went and took off John's head in prison, ²⁸ And came back with the head on a plate, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.

³³ And he took with him Peter and James and John, and grief and great trouble came on him. ³⁴ And he said to them, My soul is very sad, even to death: be here a little time, and keep watch.

⁸ And some falling on good earth, came up and gave fruit a hundred times as much. And with these words he said in a loud voice, He who has ears, let him give ear. ⁹ And his disciples put questions to him about the point of the story. ¹⁰ And he said, To you is given knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to the others, they are given in stories, so that seeing, they may not see, and though they give hearing, the sense will not be clear to them.

³⁹ And she had a sister, by name Mary, who took her seat at the Lord's feet and gave attention to his words.

¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have a great amount of goods in store, enough for a number of years; be at rest, take food and wine and be happy. ²⁰ But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together? ²¹ So that is what comes to the man who gets wealth for himself, and has not wealth in the eyes of God.

¹¹ For every man who gives himself a high place will be put down, but he who takes a low place will be lifted up.

¹³ And not long after, the younger son got together everything which was his and took a journey into a far-away country, and there all his money went in foolish living. ¹⁴ And when everything was gone, there was no food to be had in that country, and he was in need.

¹ And another time he said to the disciples, There was a certain man of great wealth who had a servant; and it was said to him that this servant was wasting his goods. ² And he sent for him and said, What is this which is said about you? give me an account of all you have done, for you will no longer be the manager of my property.

¹⁴ But whoever takes the water I give him will never be in need of drink again; for the water I give him will become in him a fountain of eternal life.

³⁸ He who has faith in me, out of his body, as the Writings have said, will come rivers of living water. ³⁹ This he said of the Spirit which would be given to those who had faith in him: the Spirit had not been given then, because the glory of Jesus was still to come.

⁵¹ Is a man judged by our law before it has given him a hearing and has knowledge of what he has done?

¹³ Greater love has no man than this, that a man gives up his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends, if you do what I give you orders to do. ¹⁵ No longer do I give you the name of servants; because a servant is without knowledge of what his master is doing: I give you the name of friends, because I have given you knowledge of all the things which my Father has said to me.

²¹ And on the day which had been fixed, Herod, dressed in his robes and seated in his place, made a public statement to them. ²² And the people, with loud cries, said, It is the voice of a god, not of a man. ²³ And straight away the angel of the Lord sent a disease on him, because he did not give the glory to God: and his flesh was wasted away by worms, and so he came to his end.

³⁹ And there was a sharp argument between them, so that they were parted from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and went by ship to Cyprus;

¹⁴ And they came to the chief priests and the rulers and said, We have taken a great oath to take no food till we have put Paul to death ¹⁵ So now, will you and the Sanhedrin make a request to the military authorities to have him sent down to you, as if you were desiring to go into the business in greater detail; and we, before ever he gets to you, will be waiting to put him to death. ¹⁶ But Paul's sister's son had word of their design, and he came into the army building and gave news of it to Paul. ¹⁷ And Paul sent for a captain and said, Take this young man to your chief, for he has news for him. ¹⁸ So he took him to the chief captain and said, Paul, the prisoner, made a request to me to take this young man to you, for he has something to say to you. ¹⁹ And the chief took him by the hand and, going on one side, said to him privately, What is it you have to say to me? ²⁰ And he said, The Jews are in agreement together to make a request to you for Paul to be taken, on the day after this, into the Sanhedrin, to be questioned in greater detail. ²¹ But do not give way to them, for more than forty of them are waiting for him, having taken an oath not to take food or drink till they have put him to death: and now they are ready, waiting for your order. ²² So the chief captain let the young man go, saying to him, Do not say to anyone that you have given me word of these things.

⁵ For this man, in our opinion, is a cause of trouble, a maker of attacks on the government among Jews through all the empire, and a chief mover in the society of the Nazarenes: ⁶ Who, in addition, was attempting to make the Temple unclean: whom we took,

¹² And they have not seen me in argument with any man in the Temple, or working up the feelings of the people, in the Synagogues or in the town: ¹³ And they are not able to give facts in support of the things which they say against me now.

¹ Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, an Apostle by the selection of God, given authority as a preacher of the good news,

³ And not only so, but let us have joy in our troubles: in the knowledge that trouble gives us the power of waiting; ⁴ And waiting gives experience; and experience, hope: ⁵ And hope does not put to shame; because our hearts are full of the love of God through the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

³⁵ Who will come between us and the love of Christ? Will trouble, or pain, or cruel acts, or the need of food or of clothing, or danger, or the sword? ³⁶ As it is said in the holy Writings, Because of you we are put to death every day; we are like sheep ready for destruction. ³⁷ But we are able to overcome all these things and more through his love.

¹⁴ But how will they give worship to him in whom they have no faith? and how will they have faith in him of whom they have not had news? and how will they have news without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how will there be preachers if they are not sent? As it is said, How beautiful are the feet of those who give the glad news of good things.

¹¹ Be not slow in your work, but be quick in spirit, as the Lord's servants;

² But because of the desires of the flesh, let every man have his wife, and every woman her husband.

¹ Now about things offered to images: we all seem to ourselves to have knowledge. Knowledge gives pride, but love gives true strength.

¹² So if you are desiring the things which the Spirit gives, let your minds be turned first to the things which are for the good of the church.

¹² For our glory is in this, in the knowledge which we have that our way of life in the world, and most of all in relation to you, has been holy and true in the eyes of God; not in the wisdom of the flesh, but in the grace of God.

⁷ So that now, on the other hand, it is right for him to have forgiveness and comfort from you, for fear that his sorrow may be over-great.

¹⁶ To the one it is a perfume of death to death; to the other a perfume of life to life. And who is enough for such things?

¹⁷ For which cause, Come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, and let no unclean thing come near you; and I will take you for myself,

¹⁵ So it is no great thing if his servants make themselves seem to be servants of righteousness; whose end will be the reward of their works.

⁹ And he said to me, My grace is enough for you, for my power is made complete in what is feeble. Most gladly, then, will I take pride in my feeble body, so that the power of Christ may be on me. ¹⁰ So I take pleasure in being feeble, in unkind words, in needs, in cruel attacks, in troubles, on account of Christ: for when I am feeble, then am I strong.

²⁹ Let no evil talk come out of your mouth, but only what is good for giving necessary teaching, and for grace to those who give ear.

¹⁵ Take care then how you are living, not as unwise, but as wise; ¹⁶ Making good use of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ For this reason, then, do not be foolish, but be conscious of the Lord's pleasure.

¹⁵ Though some are preaching Christ out of envy and competition, others do it out of a good heart:

¹⁶ Let the word of Christ be in you in all wealth of wisdom; teaching and helping one another with songs of praise and holy words, making melody to God with grace in your hearts.

⁶ Let your talk be with grace, mixed with salt, so that you may be able to give an answer to everyone.

¹⁵ And that from the time when you were a child, you have had knowledge of the holy Writings, which are able to make you wise to salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ Every holy Writing which comes from God is of profit for teaching, for training, for guiding, for education in righteousness: ¹⁷ So that the man of God may be complete, trained and made ready for every good work.

¹⁰ For there are men who are not ruled by law; foolish talkers, false teachers, specially those of the circumcision, ¹¹ By whom some families have been completely overturned; who take money for teaching things which are not right; these will have to be stopped.

¹² So that you may not be slow in heart, but may take as your example those to whom God has given their heritage, because of their faith and their long waiting.

² Let it be all joy to you, my brothers, when you undergo tests of every sort;

⁵ But if any man among you is without wisdom, let him make his request to God, who gives freely to all without an unkind word, and it will be given to him.

⁹ But let the brother of low position be glad that he is lifted up; ¹⁰ But the man of wealth, that he is made low; because like the flower of the grass he will come to his end. ¹¹ For when the sun comes up with its burning heat, the grass gets dry and the grace of its form is gone with the falling flower; so the man of wealth comes to nothing in his ways.

³ And you do honour to the man in fair clothing and say, Come here and take this good place; and you say to the poor man, Take up your position there, or be seated at my feet;

⁶ But you have put the poor man to shame. Are not the men of wealth rulers over you? do they not take you by force before their judges?

⁶ And the tongue is a fire; it is the power of evil placed in our bodies, making all the body unclean, putting the wheel of life on fire, and getting its fire from hell. ⁷ For every sort of beast and bird and every living thing on earth and in the sea has been controlled by man and is under his authority; ⁸ But the tongue may not be controlled by man; it is an unresting evil, it is full of the poison of death. ⁹ With it we give praise to our Lord and Father; and with it we put a curse on men who are made in God's image.

⁶ You have cause for great joy in this, though it may have been necessary for you to be troubled for a little time, being tested in all sorts of ways,

⁴ And they are wondering that you no longer go with them in this violent wasting of life, and are saying evil things of you:

¹⁴ If men say evil things of you because of the name of Christ, happy are you; for the Spirit of glory and of God is resting on you.

⁵ And in the same way, let the younger men be ruled by the older ones. Let all of you put away pride and make yourselves ready to be servants: for God is a hater of pride, but he gives grace to those who make themselves low.

¹⁵ Turning out of the true way, they have gone wandering in error, after the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who was pleased to take payment for wrongdoing; ¹⁶ But his wrongdoing was pointed out to him: an ass, talking with a man's voice, put a stop to the error of the prophet. ¹⁷ These are fountains without water, and mists before a driving storm; for whom the eternal night is kept in store. ¹⁸ For with high-sounding false words, making use of the attraction of unclean desires of the flesh, they get into their power those newly made free from those who are living in error;

¹⁸ For with high-sounding false words, making use of the attraction of unclean desires of the flesh, they get into their power those newly made free from those who are living in error; ¹⁹ Saying that they will be free, while they themselves are the servants of destruction; because whatever gets the better of a man makes a servant of him.

¹⁹ These are the men who make divisions, natural men, not having the Spirit.

⁸ I am the First and the Last, says the Lord God who is and was and is to come, the Ruler of all.