Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Epicureans » Worldly pleasure sought by the epicureans as the chief aim of life
I said {to myself}, "Come! I will test pleasure {to see whether it is worthwhile}." But look, "This also [is] vanity!"
[Alas for] those who lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches, and those eating young rams from [the] sheep and goats, and bull-calves from the middle of [the] animal stall.
If according to a human perspective I fought wild beasts at Ephesus, what benefit [is it] to me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
And even some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him, and some were saying, "What does this babbler want to say?" But [others said], "He appears to be a proclaimer of foreign deities," because he was proclaiming the good news [about] Jesus and the resurrection.
There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and {find delight} in his toil. For I also realized that this [is] from the hand of God!
Look! I have discovered what is good and fitting: to eat and to drink and {to enjoy} all [the fruit of] the toil with which one toils under the sun during the number of the days of his life that God gives to him--for this [is] his lot.
So I recommend enjoyment. For there [is] nothing better for man under the sun than to eat and to drink and to rejoice. This will accompany him in his toil the days of his life that God gives to him under the sun.
Go--eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart! For God already has approved your deeds.
But look! Joy and gladness, the killing of oxen and the slaughtering of sheep, the eating of meat and the drinking of wine! "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"
Goodness » Good people
From his ways, the perverse of heart will be satisfied, and {from his own}, [so shall] a good man.
The good person from his good treasury brings out good [things], and the evil person from his evil treasury brings out evil [things].
"For there is no good tree that produces bad fruit, nor on the other hand a bad tree that produces good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn plants, nor are grapes harvested from thorn bushes. The good person out of the good treasury of his heart brings forth good, and the evil person out of [his] evil [treasury] brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
The good obtains favor from Yahweh, but anyone who schemes, he condemns.
For just as the Father has life in himself, thus also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself. And he has granted him authority to carry out judgment, because he is the Son of Man. "Do not be astonished [at] this, because an hour is coming in which all those in the tombs will hear his voice read more.
and they will come out--those who have done good [things] to a resurrection of life, but those who have practiced evil [things] to a resurrection of judgment.
and they will come out--those who have done good [things] to a resurrection of life, but those who have practiced evil [things] to a resurrection of judgment.
[The] steps of a man are established by Yahweh, and he takes pleasure in his way.
Dear friend, do not imitate [what is] evil, but [what is] good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and to the Greek.
[It goes] well [for] a man [who] is gracious and lends, [who] conducts his {business properly}. For he will not be shaken forever; [the] righteous {will be remembered forever}. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart [is] steadfast, secure in Yahweh. read more.
His heart [is] sustained; he will not be afraid, until he looks [in triumph] on his enemies. {He gives lavishly} to the needy; his righteousness endures forever. His horn rises high in honor.
His heart [is] sustained; he will not be afraid, until he looks [in triumph] on his enemies. {He gives lavishly} to the needy; his righteousness endures forever. His horn rises high in honor.
He who is good will leave an inheritance to {his grandchildren}, and stored up for the righteous [is] the wealth of a sinner.
There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and {find delight} in his toil. For I also realized that this [is] from the hand of God! For who can eat [and drink], and who can enjoy [life] apart from him? For to the person who [is] good in his eyes, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and heaping up only to give [it] to [him who is] pleasing to him. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!
Happiness/joy » Who God gives joy to
There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and {find delight} in his toil. For I also realized that this [is] from the hand of God! For who can eat [and drink], and who can enjoy [life] apart from him? For to the person who [is] good in his eyes, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and heaping up only to give [it] to [him who is] pleasing to him. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!
Knowledge » Who God gives knowledge to
There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and {find delight} in his toil. For I also realized that this [is] from the hand of God! For who can eat [and drink], and who can enjoy [life] apart from him? For to the person who [is] good in his eyes, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and heaping up only to give [it] to [him who is] pleasing to him. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!
Daniel {said}: "Let his name, [the name] of God, be blessed {throughout the ages}, for the wisdom and the power {are his}. And he changes the times and the seasons, and he deposes kings and he sets up kings; he gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to [men who] know understanding.
Now {Daniel resolved} that he would not defile himself with the fine food of the king, and with {the wine that he drank}, and [so] he requested from the commander of the court officials [permission so] that he would not defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion {before} the commander of the court officials, and the commander of the court officials said to Daniel, "I [am] afraid [of] my lord, the king, who has determined your food and your drink, for {why should} he see your face having a worse appearance than the young men who {are your age}? Then you will endanger my head with the king." read more.
Then Daniel asked the guard whom the commander of the court officials [had] appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, "Please test your servants [for] ten days, and let them give us {some of the vegetables}, and let us eat and let us drink water. Then let our appearances and the appearance of the young men who are eating the fine food of the king be compared {before you}, and [then] deal with your servants {according to what you see}." So he agreed to this proposal with them, and he tested them [for] ten days. And at the end of ten days their appearances appeared better and [they were] healthier of body than all the young men who were eating the fine food of the king. {So} the guard {continued to withhold} their fine food and the wine of their drink, and he gave them vegetables. {And as for these four young men}, God gave to them knowledge and insight into all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had insight into all visions and dreams.
Then Daniel asked the guard whom the commander of the court officials [had] appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, "Please test your servants [for] ten days, and let them give us {some of the vegetables}, and let us eat and let us drink water. Then let our appearances and the appearance of the young men who are eating the fine food of the king be compared {before you}, and [then] deal with your servants {according to what you see}." So he agreed to this proposal with them, and he tested them [for] ten days. And at the end of ten days their appearances appeared better and [they were] healthier of body than all the young men who were eating the fine food of the king. {So} the guard {continued to withhold} their fine food and the wine of their drink, and he gave them vegetables. {And as for these four young men}, God gave to them knowledge and insight into all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had insight into all visions and dreams.
Pleasure, worldly » Results of a pleasure-seeking life » Sought by the epicureans as the chief aim of life
I said {to myself}, "Come! I will test pleasure {to see whether it is worthwhile}." But look, "This also [is] vanity!"
[Alas for] those who lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches, and those eating young rams from [the] sheep and goats, and bull-calves from the middle of [the] animal stall.
If according to a human perspective I fought wild beasts at Ephesus, what benefit [is it] to me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
And even some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him, and some were saying, "What does this babbler want to say?" But [others said], "He appears to be a proclaimer of foreign deities," because he was proclaiming the good news [about] Jesus and the resurrection.
There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and {find delight} in his toil. For I also realized that this [is] from the hand of God!
Look! I have discovered what is good and fitting: to eat and to drink and {to enjoy} all [the fruit of] the toil with which one toils under the sun during the number of the days of his life that God gives to him--for this [is] his lot.
So I recommend enjoyment. For there [is] nothing better for man under the sun than to eat and to drink and to rejoice. This will accompany him in his toil the days of his life that God gives to him under the sun.
Go--eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart! For God already has approved your deeds.
But look! Joy and gladness, the killing of oxen and the slaughtering of sheep, the eating of meat and the drinking of wine! "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"
Wisdom » The lord giving wisdom
Only may Yahweh give to you understanding and insight that he might give you charge over Israel and the keeping of the law of Yahweh your God.
{And as for these four young men}, God gave to them knowledge and insight into all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had insight into all visions and dreams.
There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and {find delight} in his toil. For I also realized that this [is] from the hand of God! For who can eat [and drink], and who can enjoy [life] apart from him? For to the person who [is] good in his eyes, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and heaping up only to give [it] to [him who is] pleasing to him. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!
Daniel {said}: "Let his name, [the name] of God, be blessed {throughout the ages}, for the wisdom and the power {are his}. And he changes the times and the seasons, and he deposes kings and he sets up kings; he gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to [men who] know understanding.
My child, if you will receive my sayings, and hide my commands with you, [in order] to incline your ear toward wisdom, [then] you shall apply your heart to understanding. For if you cry out for understanding, [if] you lift your voice for insight, read more.
if you seek her like silver and search her out {like treasure}, then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, and the knowledge of God you will find. For Yahweh will give wisdom; from his mouth [come] knowledge and understanding. For the upright, he stores sound judgment, a shield for those who walk uprightly, [in order] to guard paths of justice and keep the way of his faithful [ones]. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and uprightness--every good course-- for wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul. Discretion will watch over you; understanding will protect you, [in order] to deliver you from the way of evil, from a man who speaks devious things-- those who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in ways of darkness, those who are happy to do evil, [for] they delight in [the] deviousness of evil, {who are crooked in their ways}, and devious in their paths; [in order] to deliver you from a strange woman, from a foreign woman [who] flatters [with] her sayings, she who forsakes the partner of her youth and has forgotten the covenant of her God, for her house sinks to death, and to the dead are her paths. [Of] all who go to her, none shall return, nor do they reach paths of life. So that you will walk on the road of those who are good, and the paths of those who are righteous you shall keep. For those who are upright will dwell [in the] land, and those who are blameless will remain in it. And those who are wicked will be cut off from the land, and those who are treacherous will be uprooted from it.
if you seek her like silver and search her out {like treasure}, then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, and the knowledge of God you will find. For Yahweh will give wisdom; from his mouth [come] knowledge and understanding. For the upright, he stores sound judgment, a shield for those who walk uprightly, [in order] to guard paths of justice and keep the way of his faithful [ones]. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and uprightness--every good course-- for wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul. Discretion will watch over you; understanding will protect you, [in order] to deliver you from the way of evil, from a man who speaks devious things-- those who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in ways of darkness, those who are happy to do evil, [for] they delight in [the] deviousness of evil, {who are crooked in their ways}, and devious in their paths; [in order] to deliver you from a strange woman, from a foreign woman [who] flatters [with] her sayings, she who forsakes the partner of her youth and has forgotten the covenant of her God, for her house sinks to death, and to the dead are her paths. [Of] all who go to her, none shall return, nor do they reach paths of life. So that you will walk on the road of those who are good, and the paths of those who are righteous you shall keep. For those who are upright will dwell [in the] land, and those who are blameless will remain in it. And those who are wicked will be cut off from the land, and those who are treacherous will be uprooted from it.
Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, but wisdom not of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing, but we speak the hidden wisdom of God in a mystery, which God predestined before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew. For if they had known [it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. read more.
But just as it is written, "[Things] which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and have not entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him." For to us God has revealed [them] through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all [things], even the depths of God. For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man that [is] in him? Thus also no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who [is] from God, in order that we may know the things freely given to us by God, [things] which we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in [words] taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual [things] to spiritual [people]. But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand [them], because they are spiritually discerned. Now the spiritual [person] discerns all [things], but he himself is judged by no one. "For who has known the mind of the Lord; who has advised him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
But just as it is written, "[Things] which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and have not entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him." For to us God has revealed [them] through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all [things], even the depths of God. For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man that [is] in him? Thus also no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who [is] from God, in order that we may know the things freely given to us by God, [things] which we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in [words] taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual [things] to spiritual [people]. But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand [them], because they are spiritually discerned. Now the spiritual [person] discerns all [things], but he himself is judged by no one. "For who has known the mind of the Lord; who has advised him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
Wisdom » Who God gives wisdom to
There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and {find delight} in his toil. For I also realized that this [is] from the hand of God! For who can eat [and drink], and who can enjoy [life] apart from him? For to the person who [is] good in his eyes, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and heaping up only to give [it] to [him who is] pleasing to him. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!
Daniel {said}: "Let his name, [the name] of God, be blessed {throughout the ages}, for the wisdom and the power {are his}. And he changes the times and the seasons, and he deposes kings and he sets up kings; he gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to [men who] know understanding.
Now {Daniel resolved} that he would not defile himself with the fine food of the king, and with {the wine that he drank}, and [so] he requested from the commander of the court officials [permission so] that he would not defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion {before} the commander of the court officials, and the commander of the court officials said to Daniel, "I [am] afraid [of] my lord, the king, who has determined your food and your drink, for {why should} he see your face having a worse appearance than the young men who {are your age}? Then you will endanger my head with the king." read more.
Then Daniel asked the guard whom the commander of the court officials [had] appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, "Please test your servants [for] ten days, and let them give us {some of the vegetables}, and let us eat and let us drink water. Then let our appearances and the appearance of the young men who are eating the fine food of the king be compared {before you}, and [then] deal with your servants {according to what you see}." So he agreed to this proposal with them, and he tested them [for] ten days. And at the end of ten days their appearances appeared better and [they were] healthier of body than all the young men who were eating the fine food of the king. {So} the guard {continued to withhold} their fine food and the wine of their drink, and he gave them vegetables. {And as for these four young men}, God gave to them knowledge and insight into all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had insight into all visions and dreams.
Then Daniel asked the guard whom the commander of the court officials [had] appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, "Please test your servants [for] ten days, and let them give us {some of the vegetables}, and let us eat and let us drink water. Then let our appearances and the appearance of the young men who are eating the fine food of the king be compared {before you}, and [then] deal with your servants {according to what you see}." So he agreed to this proposal with them, and he tested them [for] ten days. And at the end of ten days their appearances appeared better and [they were] healthier of body than all the young men who were eating the fine food of the king. {So} the guard {continued to withhold} their fine food and the wine of their drink, and he gave them vegetables. {And as for these four young men}, God gave to them knowledge and insight into all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had insight into all visions and dreams.
Worldly » Pleasure results of a pleasure-seeking life » Sought by the epicureans as the chief aim of life
I said {to myself}, "Come! I will test pleasure {to see whether it is worthwhile}." But look, "This also [is] vanity!"
[Alas for] those who lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches, and those eating young rams from [the] sheep and goats, and bull-calves from the middle of [the] animal stall.
If according to a human perspective I fought wild beasts at Ephesus, what benefit [is it] to me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
And even some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him, and some were saying, "What does this babbler want to say?" But [others said], "He appears to be a proclaimer of foreign deities," because he was proclaiming the good news [about] Jesus and the resurrection.
There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and {find delight} in his toil. For I also realized that this [is] from the hand of God!
Look! I have discovered what is good and fitting: to eat and to drink and {to enjoy} all [the fruit of] the toil with which one toils under the sun during the number of the days of his life that God gives to him--for this [is] his lot.
So I recommend enjoyment. For there [is] nothing better for man under the sun than to eat and to drink and to rejoice. This will accompany him in his toil the days of his life that God gives to him under the sun.
Go--eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart! For God already has approved your deeds.
But look! Joy and gladness, the killing of oxen and the slaughtering of sheep, the eating of meat and the drinking of wine! "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"