Ecclesiastes 4 Cross References - BSB

¹ Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter. ² So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive. ³ But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. ⁴ I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. ⁵ The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh. ⁶ Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind. ⁷ Again, I saw futility under the sun. ⁸ There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task. ⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. ¹⁰ For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up! ¹¹ Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? ¹² And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. ¹³ Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning. ¹⁴ For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom. ¹⁵ I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king. ¹⁶ There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹³ They worked the Israelites ruthlessly ¹⁴ and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.

¹⁶ “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”

²² Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”

²³ After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God. ²⁴ So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

¹⁶ No straw has been given to your servants, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.” ¹⁷ “You are slackers!” Pharaoh replied. “Slackers! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ ¹⁸ Now get to work. You will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the full quota of bricks.” ¹⁹ The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce your daily quota of bricks.”

³³ A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.

⁴⁸ you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

³ Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.

⁷ So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites, ⁸ who that very year harassed and oppressed the Israelites, and did so for eighteen years to all the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites.

¹ About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. ² Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.” ³ Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.” ⁴ Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. ⁵ We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

²⁹ Reconsider; do not be unjust. Reconsider, for my righteousness is at stake.

⁴ I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you.

²¹ Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me. ²² Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?

⁷ Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold. ⁸ Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter. ⁹ The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt. ¹⁰ Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry. ¹¹ They crush olives within their walls; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty. ¹² From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.

⁹ Men cry out under great oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the mighty.

⁹ He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; he lurks to seize the oppressed; he catches the lowly in his net. ¹⁰ They are crushed and beaten down; the hapless fall prey to his strength.

⁵ “For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”

³ My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?”

⁹ I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?”

²⁰ Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found no one.

⁵ You fed them with the bread of tears and made them drink the full measure of their tears.

⁸ All day long my enemies taunt me; they ridicule me and curse me. ⁹ For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears

⁴ Look to my right and see; no one attends to me. There is no refuge for me; no one cares for my soul.

⁷ All the brothers of a poor man hate him—how much more do his friends avoid him! He may pursue them with pleading, but they are nowhere to be found.

³ A destitute leader who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no food.

¹⁵ Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people. ¹⁶ A leader who lacks judgment is also a great oppressor, but he who hates dishonest profit will prolong his days.

¹⁶ Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

⁸ If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.

⁷ Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

⁷ For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.

²³ I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to be traversed.”

⁷ Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.

¹³ rebelling and denying the LORD, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart. ¹⁴ So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter. ¹⁵ Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil becomes prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

² She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

⁹ Her uncleanness stains her skirts; she did not consider her end. Her downfall was astounding; there was no one to comfort her. Look, O LORD, on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!

¹³ And this is another thing you do: You cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and groaning, because He no longer regards your offerings or receives them gladly from your hands.

⁵ “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.

¹⁸ So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

⁵⁶ But this has all happened so that the writings of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted Him and fled.

¹⁶ At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be charged against them. ¹⁷ But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the lion.

⁴ Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

¹¹ Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb? ¹² Why were there knees to receive me, and breasts that I should be nursed? ¹³ For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest ¹⁴ with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves cities now in ruins, ¹⁵ or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. ¹⁶ Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight? ¹⁷ There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest. ¹⁸ The captives enjoy their ease; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor. ¹⁹ Both small and great are there, and the slave is freed from his master. ²⁰ Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul, ²¹ who long for death that does not come, and search for it like hidden treasure, ²² who rejoice and greatly exult when they can find the grave? ²³ Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? ²⁴ I sigh when food is put before me, and my groans pour out like water. ²⁵ For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has befallen me. ²⁶ I am not at ease or quiet; I have no rest, for trouble has come.”

¹⁷ So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

⁴ There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live dog is better than a dead lion. ⁵ For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten. ⁶ Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun.

¹⁰ For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes. ¹¹ Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb? ¹² Why were there knees to receive me, and breasts that I should be nursed? ¹³ For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest ¹⁴ with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves cities now in ruins, ¹⁵ or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. ¹⁶ Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?

²² who rejoice and greatly exult when they can find the grave?

¹⁸ Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me! ¹⁹ If only I had never come to be, but had been carried from the womb to the grave.

⁶ I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest. ⁷ How far away I would flee! In the wilderness I would remain. Selah ⁸ I would hurry to my shelter, far from this raging tempest.” ⁹ O Lord, confuse and confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city. ¹⁰ Day and night they encircle the walls, while malice and trouble lie within. ¹¹ Destruction is within; oppression and deceit never leave the streets.

¹⁴ I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

³ A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. ⁴ For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity. ⁵ The child, though neither seeing the sun nor knowing anything, has more rest than that man,

² If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people. ³ “They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.

¹⁷ because he did not kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb forever enlarged. ¹⁸ Why did I come out of the womb to see only trouble and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?

¹⁹ How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!

²⁹ Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’

⁴ while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. ⁶ “Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.” ⁸ Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

² This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors. ⁴ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. ⁵ Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ⁷ We were binding sheaves of grain in the field, and suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to mine.” ⁸ “Do you intend to reign over us?” his brothers asked. “Will you actually rule us?” So they hated him even more because of his dream and his statements. ⁹ Then Joseph had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰ He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream that you have had? Will your mother and brothers and I actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” ¹¹ And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.

⁸ And Saul was furious and resented this song. “They have ascribed tens of thousands to David,” he said, “but only thousands to me. What more can he have but the kingdom?” ⁹ And from that day forward Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

¹⁴ and he continued to prosper in all his ways, because the LORD was with him. ¹⁵ When Saul saw that David was very successful, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he was leading them out to battle and back.

²⁹ he grew even more afraid of David. So from then on Saul was David’s enemy. ³⁰ Every time the Philistine commanders came out for battle, David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers, so that his name was highly esteemed.

⁴ Wrath is cruel and anger is like a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?

²¹ When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.

²⁶ To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁶ There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

⁹ Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹¹ For the more words, the more futility—and how does that profit anyone?

¹⁸ For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.

⁹ Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him

⁵ Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?

¹² Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.

¹⁴ Why do I put myself at risk and take my life in my own hands?

¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, ¹¹ and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.

¹⁷ A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself.

²⁷ A lazy man does not roast his game, but a diligent man prizes his possession.

⁴ The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.

⁴ The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.

³³ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, ³⁴ and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.

²⁰ They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.

¹⁶ Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many who are wicked.

¹⁶ Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil. ¹⁷ Better a dish of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.

⁸ Better a little with righteousness than great gain with injustice.

¹ Better a dry morsel in quietness than a house full of feasting with strife.

³³ So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.

¹ Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.

⁶ But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Hosts purposed to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.’”

¹⁸ The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”

² But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

⁶ Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.

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

⁸ All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.

¹³ And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!

²³ Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. ¹⁰ For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up! ¹¹ Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? ¹² And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

¹⁰ He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.

⁸ Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land.

¹⁹ And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” ²⁰ He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

² Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.

³ Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.” ⁴ For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My covenant— ⁵ I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.

⁵ and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own. ⁶ Will not all of these take up a taunt against him, speaking with mockery and derision: ‘Woe to him who amasses what is not his and makes himself rich with many loans! How long will this go on?’ ⁷ Will not your creditors suddenly arise and those who disturb you awaken? Then you will become their prey. ⁸ Because you have plundered many nations, the remnant of the people will plunder you—because of your bloodshed against man and your violence against the land, the city, and all their dwellers. ⁹ Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!

²⁸ Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

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

¹⁴ Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, and he is now on his way to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do. ¹⁶ He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him.

¹⁴ I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too burdensome for me.

¹² May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”

¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

¹⁴ So the LORD stirred the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, as well as the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and began the work on the house of the LORD of Hosts, their God,

⁷ Then Jesus called the Twelve to Him and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits.

³⁶ Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together.

² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

³⁹ Their disagreement was so sharp that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, ⁴⁰ but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.

¹⁸ But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body. ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.” Nor can the head say to the feet, “I do not need you.”

⁸ Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded.

⁸ Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

² So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold earrings that are on your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.” ³ Then all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

²¹ “What did this people do to you,” Moses asked Aaron, “that you have led them into so great a sin?”

¹⁹ For I was afraid of the anger and wrath that the LORD had directed against you, enough to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me this time as well. ²⁰ The LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I also prayed for Aaron.

¹⁶ And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and strengthened his hand in God,

²⁷ And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ ¹¹ This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight. ¹² You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.”

⁶ And your maidservant had two sons who were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.

³ Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands. ⁴ Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.

³ Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees! ⁴ Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”

³¹ Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. ³² But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

¹¹ When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, because he stood to be condemned. ¹² For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in the circumcision group. ¹³ The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. ¹⁴ When I saw that they were not walking in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

¹ Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

¹¹ Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.

¹ Now King David was old and well along in years, and though they covered him with blankets, he could not keep warm. ² So his servants said to him, “Let us search for a young virgin for our lord the king, to attend to him and care for him and lie by his side to keep him warm.” ³ Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. ⁴ The girl was unsurpassed in beauty; she cared for the king and served him, but he had no relations with her.

⁹ Next in command was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he went with David to taunt the Philistines who had gathered for battle at Pas-dammim. The men of Israel retreated,

¹⁶ So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the LORD,

¹⁸ Now Abishai, the brother of Joab and son of Zeruiah, was chief of the Three, and he lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three. ¹⁹ Was he not more honored than the Three? And he became their commander, even though he was not included among the Three.

²³ He was most honored among the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. And David appointed him over his guard.

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.

³ and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

² This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

⁸ The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man who can ask the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.

⁹ For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this matter. From now on, therefore, you will be at war.” ¹⁰ Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.’” ²¹ But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of the LORD. ²² Thus King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him. Instead, Joash killed Jehoiada’s son. As he lay dying, Zechariah said, “May the LORD see this and call you to account.”

¹⁶ While he was still speaking, the king asked, “Have we made you the counselor to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but he said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.”

¹ Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a fool whose lips are perverse.

⁶ Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a rich man whose ways are perverse.

¹⁵ Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. ¹⁶ And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”

¹⁴ So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of the dungeon. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he went in before Pharaoh.

³³ Now, therefore, Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh take action and appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Under the authority of Pharaoh, let them collect all the excess food from these good years, that they may come and lay up the grain to be preserved as food in the cities. ³⁶ This food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine to come upon the land of Egypt. Then the country will not perish in the famine.” ³⁷ This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his officials. ³⁸ So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of God abides?” ³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. ⁴⁰ You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people are to obey your commands. Only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ Pharaoh also told Joseph, “I hereby place you over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph’s finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, with men calling out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ And Pharaoh declared to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission, no one in all the land of Egypt shall lift his hand or foot.”

²⁶ He seized the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields that Solomon had made. ²⁷ Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.

³¹ Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. ³² And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his fathers had done. ³³ And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned Jehoahaz at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he could not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. ³⁴ Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, where he died.

¹ During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded. So Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, until he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. ² And the LORD sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servants the prophets.

⁶ And Jehoiakim rested with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.

¹² Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.

⁷ And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.

²⁷ On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. ²⁸ And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁹ So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life. ³⁰ And the king provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life.

¹¹ He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.

⁷ He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump ⁸ to seat them with nobles, with the princes of His people.

²⁰ The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”

³¹ While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you.

⁶ Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

¹⁹ if you have acted faithfully and honestly toward Jerubbaal and his house this day, then may you rejoice in Abimelech, and he in you. ²⁰ But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.”

¹² While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing. ¹³ Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”

⁷ There the people of Israel were defeated by David’s servants, and the slaughter was great that day—twenty thousand men. ⁸ The battle spread over the whole countryside, and that day the forest devoured more people than the sword.

⁹ And all the people throughout the tribes of Israel were arguing, “The king rescued us from the hand of our enemies and delivered us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled the land because of Absalom.

⁵ At that time Adonijah, David’s son by Haggith, began to exalt himself, saying, “I will be king!” And he acquired chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run ahead of him. ⁶ (His father had never once reprimanded him by saying, “Why do you act this way?” Adonijah was also very handsome, born next after Absalom.) ⁷ So Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, who supported him.

⁴⁰ All the people followed him, playing flutes and rejoicing with such a great joy that the earth was split by the sound.

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him replied, “This is how you should answer these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you should make it lighter.’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’” ¹² After three days, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, since the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.” ¹³ And the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the elders ¹⁴ and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word He had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. ¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,

¹¹ Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.