The Lord said, “Shall I keep secret from Abraham [My friend and servant] what I am going to do,

Then he set the branches which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated and conceived when they came to drink.

He put the maids and their children in front, Leah and her children after them, and Rachel and Joseph last of all.

But quite a while later, Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died; and when the time of mourning was ended, he went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah with his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite, to get his pledge [back] from the woman, he was unable to find her.

The Egyptians chased them with all the horses and war-chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them as they camped by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

Then you shall make the lamps [of the lampstand] seven in number [with one lamp at the top of the shaft]. The priests shall set up its seven lamps so that they will light the space in front of it.

You shall join five curtains by themselves and the other six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent [to make a closed door].

The width of the court [to the front], on the east side shall be fifty cubits.

It is to have two shoulder pieces joined to its two [back and front] ends, so that it may be joined together.

The other two ends of the two cords you shall fasten in the two filigree settings in front, putting them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod.

You are to make two gold rings and attach them to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod in front, close to the place where it is joined, above the skillfully woven sash of the ephod.

You shall fasten it on the front of the turban with a blue cord.

You shall put the altar of incense [in the Holy Place] in front and outside of the veil that screens the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.

And so the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his attendant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

For the east side [the front of the courtyard, there were curtains of] fifty cubits.

They put the [other] two ends of the two cords on the two filigree settings, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it.

Furthermore, they made two [other] gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at the front of it, close to the place where it is joined, above the woven sash of the ephod.

‘Now this is the law of the grain offering: the sons of Aaron shall present it before the Lord in front of the altar.

He also put the turban on Aaron’s head, and on it, in the front, Moses placed the golden plate, the holy crown, just as the Lord had commanded him.

And if he loses the hair on front of his head, he is bald on the forehead, but he is clean.

He shall take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

“Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you set up and light the lamps, the seven lamps will shine in front of the lampstand.’”

And Aaron did so; he set up the lamps at the front of the lampstand, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle),

Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of it toward the front of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) seven times.

From there they journeyed on and camped on the other side of [the river] Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the boundary of the Amorites; for [the river] Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as [precious to you as] your own life (soul), entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (gods whom neither you nor your fathers have known,

All Israel, the stranger as well as the native born [among them], with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on either side of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at first to bless the people of Israel.

It continued along to Azmon and proceeded to the Brook of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish), and the border ended at the [Mediterranean] sea. This was their southern border.

But Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.

So they turned and left, and they put the children, the livestock, and the valuables and supplies in front of them.

The one crag was on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.

He wrote in the letter, “Put Uriah in the front line of the heaviest fighting and leave him, so that he may be struck down and die.”

But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very shrewd (cunning) man.

So Hushai, David’s friend, returned to the city, and [at about the same time] Absalom came into Jerusalem.

Now it happened when Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”

Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?”

The lookout said, “I think the man in front runs like Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” The king said, “He is a good man and is coming with good news.”

So King Solomon sent [soldiers], and they brought Adonijah down from the altar [that was in front of the tabernacle]. And he came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

Azariah the son of Nathan was in charge of the deputies; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and was the king’s friend [and trusted advisor];

The porch in front of the main room of the house (temple) was twenty cubits long, corresponding to the width of the house, and its depth in front of the house was ten cubits.

The [rest of the] house, that is, the temple in front of the Holy of Holies, was forty cubits long.

Solomon overlaid the interior of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across the front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary), and he overlaid it with gold.

He also made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits (75 ft.) and its width thirty cubits (45 ft.). There was a porch in front, and pillars and a threshold in front of them.

All these were of expensive stones, of stone cut according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside; even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great courtyard.

the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary); with the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold;

He brought the bronze altar, which was before the Lord, from the front of the house (temple), from between the [new] altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the [new] altar.

Ahithophel was counselor to the king; and Hushai the Archite was the king’s companion and friend.

The porch in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it inside with pure gold.

The poles were so long that the ends of the poles of the ark were visible from the front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary), but were not visible from the outside. They are there to this day.

He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt.

And when Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the repulsive idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. Then he restored the altar [of burnt offering] of the Lord which was in front of the porch [of the temple] of the Lord.

O our God, did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Your friend Abraham?

So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the [open] square of the city, which was in front of the king’s gate.

“For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend;
So that he does not abandon (turn away from) the fear of the Almighty.

“You would cast lots (gamble) over the fatherless
And bargain away your friend.

“I am a joke to my friends;
I, one whom God answered when he called upon Him—
A just and blameless man is a joke [and laughed to scorn].

He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

I behaved as if grieving for my friend or my brother;
I bowed down in mourning, as one who sorrows for his mother.

Even my own close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me [betraying me].

But it is you, a man my equal and my counsel,
My companion and my familiar friend;

The singers go in front, the players of instruments last;
Between them the maidens playing on tambourines.

Lover and friend You have placed far from me;
My familiar friends are in darkness.

Say to [skillful and godly] wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And regard understanding and intelligent insight as your intimate friends;

A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.

The man of too many friends [chosen indiscriminately] will be broken in pieces and come to ruin,
But there is a [true, loving] friend who [is reliable and] sticks closer than a brother.

Many will seek the favor of a generous and noble man,
And everyone is a friend to him who gives gifts.

He who loves purity of heart
And whose speech is gracious will have the king as his friend.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend [who corrects out of love and concern],
But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful [because they serve his hidden agenda].

Oil and perfume make the heart glad;
So does the sweetness of a friend’s counsel that comes from the heart.

Do not abandon your own friend and your father’s friend,
And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster.
Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.

As iron sharpens iron,
So one man sharpens [and influences] another [through discussion].

“His mouth is full of sweetness;
Yes, he is altogether lovely and desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.” Cross references: Song of Solomon 5:1 : John 16:33 Song of Solomon 5:2 : Job 11:13-15 Song of Solomon 5:3 : Is 32:9; Heb 3:15 Song of Solomon 5:8 : Ps 63:1 Song of Solomon 5:9 : John 10:26 Song of Solomon 5:10 : Ps 45:2; John 1:14 Song of Solomon 5:16 : Ps 92:15; Col 1:15 end of crossrefs

“But you, Israel, My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
The offspring of Abraham My friend,

Therefore, thus says the Lord,

“Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people.
The fathers and the sons together
Will stumble against them;
The neighbor and his friend will perish.”

And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and each one will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and distress brought by their enemies and those who seek their lives.”’

Regarding the form and appearance of their faces: they [each] had the face of a man [in front], and each had the face of a lion on the right side, and the face of an ox on the left side; all four also had the face of an eagle [at the back of their heads].

Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women; but do not touch or go near anyone on whom is the mark. Begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple [who did not have the Lord’s mark on their foreheads].

When they moved, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which they faced, without turning as they went.

“And on that day I will give Gog a place for burial there in Israel, the valley of those who pass through east of the sea, and it will block the way of those who would pass through. So they will bury Gog there with all his hordes, and they will call it the Valley of Hamon-gog (the multitude of Gog).

Then he measured the width from the front of the lower gate to the front of the exterior of the inner court, a hundred cubits [both] on the east and on the north.

He measured the courtyard, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide, a perfect square; and the altar was in front of the temple.

Also the width of the front of the temple and the separate areas along the east side totaled a hundred cubits.

The doorposts of the nave were square; as for the front of the sanctuary, the appearance of one doorpost was like that of the other.

And there were carved on them, on the doors of the nave, cherubim and palm decorations like those carved on the walls; and there was a threshold of wood on the front of the porch outside.

Then He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house; I looked, and behold, the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I fell face downward.

“The prince shall have land on either side of the portion set aside as a holy section and the property of the city, adjacent to the holy section and the property of the city, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.

Then he [my guide] brought me back to the door of the house [the temple of the Lord]; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house (temple) toward the east, for the front of the temple was facing east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar.

“But I will remove the northern army far away from you,
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
With its forward guard into the eastern sea (Dead Sea)
And with its rear guard into the western sea (Mediterranean Sea).
And its stench will arise and its foul odor of decay will come up [this is the fate of the northern army in the final day of the Lord],
For He has done great things.”

Do not trust in a neighbor [because of the moral corruption in the land];
Do not have confidence in a friend.
Guard the doors of your mouth
From her who lies in your bosom.