Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible




Ashkelon will see it and fear;
Gaza will writhe in pain,
And Ekron, for her hope and expectation, has been ruined.
The king will perish from Gaza,
And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.


“So are the paths of all who forget God;
And the hope of the godless will perish,

remember that at that time you were separated from Christ [excluded from any relationship with Him], alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise [with no share in the sacred Messianic promise and without knowledge of God’s agreements], having no hope [in His promise] and [living] in the world without God.


The hope of the righteous [those of honorable character and integrity] is joy,
But the expectation of the wicked [those who oppose God and ignore His wisdom] comes to nothing.



“But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
And they will not escape [the justice of God];
And their hope is to breathe their last [and die].”


“For what is the hope of the godless, even though he has gained [in this world],
When God takes his life?


This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.


For he rebuilt the high places [for the worship of pagan gods] which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and he set up altars for Baal and made an [image of] Asherah, just as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he worshiped all the [starry] host of heaven and served them.

For he rebuilt the [idolatrous] high places which his father Hezekiah had torn down; and he set up altars for the Baals and made the Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven [the sun, the moon, stars and planets] and served them.

They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast images of two calves; and they made an Asherah [idol] and worshiped all the [starry] host of heaven and served Baal.

They will [carelessly scatter and] spread them out before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which the dead have loved and which they have served, and which they have walked after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or be buried; they will be like dung on the face of the earth.

But God turned away [from them] and handed them over to serve the host of heaven. As it is written and forever remains written in the book of the prophets, ‘It was not [really] to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel?

And beware that you do not raise your eyes toward heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and let yourselves be led astray and worship them and serve them, [mere created bodies] which the Lord your God has allotted to [serve and benefit] all the peoples under the whole heaven.

And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord.

He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.

If I beheld [as an object of worship] the sunlight when it shone or the moon walking in its brightness, And my heart has been secretly enticed by them or my mouth has kissed my hand [in homage to them], This also would have been [a heinous and principal] iniquity to demand the judges' action and punishment, for I would have denied and been false to the God Who is above.

Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger! Am I the One Whom they provoke to anger? says the Lord. Is it not themselves [whom they provoke], to their own confusion and vexation and to their own shame? read more.
Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, My anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.

Then said [the Spirit] to me, Have you seen this, O son of man? Yet again you shall see greater abominations that they are committing. And He brought me to the inner court of the Lord's house; and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the bronze altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were bowing themselves toward the east and worshiping the sun.

I will also stretch out My hand over Judah and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place and the name of the idol priests with the [false] priests, And those who worship the starry host of the heavens upon their housetops and those who [pretend to] worship the Lord and swear by and to Him and yet swear by and to [the heathen god Molech or] Malcam [their idol king],



This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.


If I beheld the sun [as an object of worship] when it shone
Or the moon going in its splendor,



This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.


If I gloated and rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because my [powerful] hand [alone] had obtained so much,




This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.



The disciples were amazed and bewildered by His words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is [for those who place their hope and confidence in riches] to enter the kingdom of God!




This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.

If I have made gold my trust and hope or have said to fine gold, You are my confidence, If I rejoiced because my wealth was great and because my [powerful] hand [alone] had gotten much,


The rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
And like a high wall [of protection] in his own imagination and conceit.

And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many good things laid up, [enough] for many years. Take your ease; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself merrily. But God said to him, You fool! This very night they [the messengers of God] will demand your soul of you; and all the things that you have prepared, whose will they be?


So He brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch (vestibule, portico) and the [bronze] altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing down toward the east and worshiping the sun.

They will [carelessly scatter and] spread them out before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which the dead have loved and which they have served, and which they have walked after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or be buried; they will be like dung on the face of the earth.

If I beheld [as an object of worship] the sunlight when it shone or the moon walking in its brightness, And my heart has been secretly enticed by them or my mouth has kissed my hand [in homage to them], This also would have been [a heinous and principal] iniquity to demand the judges' action and punishment, for I would have denied and been false to the God Who is above.

and your altars will become deserted and your pillars for sun-worship will be smashed in pieces; and I will throw down your slain in front of your idols [that cannot bring them back to life].

Everywhere you live, the cities will become waste and the high places will become deserted, so that your altars may bear their guilt and become deserted, your idols may be broken and destroyed, your incense altars [for sun-worship] may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out.



The disciples were amazed and bewildered by His words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is [for those who place their hope and confidence in riches] to enter the kingdom of God!




This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.

If I have made gold my trust and hope or have said to fine gold, You are my confidence, If I rejoiced because my wealth was great and because my [powerful] hand [alone] had gotten much,


The rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
And like a high wall [of protection] in his own imagination and conceit.

And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many good things laid up, [enough] for many years. Take your ease; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself merrily. But God said to him, You fool! This very night they [the messengers of God] will demand your soul of you; and all the things that you have prepared, whose will they be?



The disciples were amazed and bewildered by His words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is [for those who place their hope and confidence in riches] to enter the kingdom of God!




This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.

If I have made gold my trust and hope or have said to fine gold, You are my confidence, If I rejoiced because my wealth was great and because my [powerful] hand [alone] had gotten much,


The rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
And like a high wall [of protection] in his own imagination and conceit.

And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many good things laid up, [enough] for many years. Take your ease; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself merrily. But God said to him, You fool! This very night they [the messengers of God] will demand your soul of you; and all the things that you have prepared, whose will they be?