All these sons of Jediael listed by heads of families were warriors; there were 17,200 who could serve in the army.

They were archers who could use either the right or left hand, both to sling stones and shoot arrows from a bow. They were Saul’s relatives from Benjamin:

From Zebulun: 50,000 who could serve in the army, trained for battle with all kinds of weapons of war, with one purpose to help David.

From Asher: 40,000 who could serve in the army, trained for battle.

but David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was terrified of the sword of the Lord’s angel.

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A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 15 pounds of silver and a horse for about four pounds. In the same way, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram through their agents.

The reservoir was three inches thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold 11,000 gallons.

King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel who had gathered around him were in front of the ark sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered because there were so many.

Since the bronze altar that Solomon had made could not accommodate the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings, Solomon first consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the Lord’s temple and then offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings there.

Then Jehoshaphat and his people went to gather the plunder. They found among them an abundance of goods on the bodies and valuable items. So they stripped them until nobody could carry any more. They were gathering the plunder for three days because there was so much.

He stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the Lord’s temple so that nothing unclean could enter for any reason.

Then Amaziah gathered Judah and assembled them according to ancestral house, according to commanders of thousands, and according to commanders of hundreds. He numbered those 20 years old or more for all Judah and Benjamin. He found there to be 300,000 choice men who could serve in the army, bearing spear and shield.

So the Lord’s anger was against Amaziah, and He sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why have you sought a people’s gods that could not deliver their own people from your hand?”

He told the people who lived in Jerusalem to give a contribution for the priests and Levites so that they could devote their energy to the law of the Lord.

These searched for their entries in the genealogical records, but they could not be found, so they were disqualified from the priesthood.

The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.

Based on what they could give, they gave 61,000 gold coins, 6,250 pounds of silver, and 100 priestly garments to the treasury for the project.

They gave money to the stonecutters and artisans, and gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so they could bring cedar wood from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, according to the authorization given them by King Cyrus of Persia.

The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of the weeping, because the people were shouting so loudly. And the sound was heard far away.

But God was watching over the Jewish elders. These men wouldn’t stop them until a report was sent to Darius, so that they could receive written instructions about this matter.

We also asked them for their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.

and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish countrymen who were sold to foreigners, but now you sell your own countrymen, and we have to buy them back.” They remained silent and could not say a word.

He was hired, so that I would be intimidated, do as he suggested, sin, and get a bad reputation, in order that they could discredit me.

These searched for their entries in the genealogical records, but they could not be found, so they were disqualified from the priesthood.

The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.

On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding.

While he was facing the square in front of the Water Gate, he read out of it from daybreak until noon before the men, the women, and those who could understand. All the people listened attentively to the book of the law.

They read out of the book of the law of God, translating and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was read.

Here we are today,
slaves in the land You gave our ancestors
so that they could enjoy its fruit and its goodness.
Here we are—slaves in it!

so I could return to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of God’s house.

When shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem just before the Sabbath, I gave orders that the gates be closed and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my men at the gates, so that no goods could enter during the Sabbath day.

Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples but could not speak Hebrew.

Esther’s female servants and her eunuchs came and reported the news to her, and the queen was overcome with fear. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear so he could take off his sackcloth, but he did not accept them.

For how could I bear to see the disaster that would come on my people? How could I bear to see the destruction of my relatives?”

A copy of the text, issued as law throughout every province, was distributed to all the peoples so the Jews could be ready to avenge themselves against their enemies on that day.

In each of King Ahasuerus’s provinces the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who intended to harm them. Not a single person could withstand them; terror of them fell on every nationality.

When they looked from a distance, they could barely recognize him. They wept aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust into the air and on his head.

A figure stood there,
but I could not recognize its appearance;
a form loomed before my eyes.
I heard a quiet voice:

If only my grief could be weighed
and my devastation placed with it in the scales.

If one wanted to take Him to court,
he could not answer God once in a thousand times.

Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.
I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

Would it go well if He examined you?
Could you deceive Him as you would deceive a man?

If you were in my place I could also talk like you.
I could string words together against you
and shake my head at you.

If only I knew how to find Him,
so that I could go to His throne.

Then an upright man could reason with Him,
and I would escape from my Judge forever.

If only I could be as in months gone by,
in the days when God watched over me,

If I smiled at them, they couldn’t believe it;
they were thrilled at the light of my countenance.

I have made a covenant with my eyes.
How then could I look at a young woman?

what could I do when God stands up to judge?
How should I answer Him when He calls me to account?

For disaster from God terrifies me,
and because of His majesty I could not do these things.

But when he saw that the three men could not answer Job, he became angry.

Could one who hates justice govern the world?
Will you condemn the mighty Righteous One,

No women as beautiful as Job’s daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance with their brothers.

Then I passed by and noticed he was gone;
I searched for him, but he could not be found.

Now it is not an enemy who insults me—
otherwise I could bear it;
it is not a foe who rises up against me—
otherwise I could hide from him.

He turned their rivers into blood,
and they could not drink from their streams.

His priests fell by the sword,
but the widows could not lament.

Some wandered in the desolate wilderness,
finding no way to a city where they could live.

He led them by the right path
to go to a city where they could live.

It was good for me to be afflicted
so that I could learn Your statutes.

Yahweh, if You considered sins,
Lord, who could stand?

I explored with my mind how to let my body enjoy life with wine and how to grasp folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,
the hair of your head like purple cloth—
a king could be held captive in your tresses.

If only I could treat you like my brother,
one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,
I would find you in public and kiss you,
and no one would scorn me.

What more could I have done for My vineyard
than I did?
Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes,
did it yield worthless grapes?

This took place during the reign of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah: Rezin king of Aram, along with Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, waged war against Jerusalem, but he could not succeed.

Does an ax exalt itself
above the one who chops with it?
Does a saw magnify itself
above the one who saws with it?
It would be like a staff waving the one who lifts it!
It would be like a rod lifting a man who isn’t wood!

The remaining trees of its forest
will be so few in number
that a child could count them.

You counted the houses of Jerusalem so that you could tear them down to fortify the wall.

therefore I declared to you long ago.
I announced it to you before it occurred,
so you could not claim, ‘My idol caused them;
my carved image and cast idol control them.’

They have been created now, and not long ago;
you have not heard of them before today,
so you could not claim, ‘I already knew them!’

This is what the Lord says:

Heaven is My throne,
and earth is My footstool.
What house could you possibly build for Me?
And what place could be My home?

I planted you, a choice vine
from the very best seed.
How then could you turn into
a degenerate, foreign vine?

For I am already bringing disaster on the city that bears My name, so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

We tried to heal Babylon,
but she could not be healed.
Abandon her!
Let each of us go to his own land,
for her judgment extends to the sky
and reaches as far as the clouds.

ל LamedThe kings of the earth
and all the world’s inhabitants did not believe
that an enemy or adversary
could enter Jerusalem’s gates.

צ TsadeOur steps were closely followed
so that we could not walk in our streets.
Our end drew near; our time ran out.
Our end had come!

The sound of the cherubim’s wings could be heard as far as the outer court; it was like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.

even if these three men were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not deliver their sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.

even if these three men were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not deliver their sons or daughters, but they alone would be delivered.

even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not deliver their son or daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.

Even when it was whole it could not be made into a useful object. How much less can it ever be made into anything useful when the fire has devoured it and it is charred!

You also took your beautiful jewelry made from the gold and silver I had given you, and you made male images so that you could engage in prostitution with them.

They put a wooden yoke on him with hooks
and led him away to the king of Babylon.
They brought him into the fortresses
so his roar could no longer be heard
on the mountains of Israel.

The cedars in God’s garden could not rival it;
the pine trees couldn’t compare with its branches,
nor could the plane trees match its boughs.
No tree in the garden of God
could compare with it in beauty.

Again he measured off a third of a mile, and it was a river that I could not cross on foot. For the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed on foot.

So Daniel went and asked the king to give him some time, so that he could give the king the interpretation.

Then the iron, the fired clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were shattered and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

When the diviner-priests, mediums, Chaldeans, and astrologers came in, I told them the dream, but they could not make its interpretation known to me.

Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines could drink from them.

So all the king’s wise men came in, but none could read the inscription or make its interpretation known to him.

Now the wise men and mediums were brought before me to read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not give its interpretation.

The administrators and satraps, therefore, kept trying to find a charge against Daniel regarding the kingdom. But they could find no charge or corruption, for he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.

A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing in regard to Daniel could be changed.

Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No diversions were brought to him, and he could not sleep.

I saw the ram charging to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no rescue from his power. He did whatever he wanted and became great.

I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was greatly disturbed by the vision and could not understand it.

Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they couldn’t because the sea was raging against them more and more.

I asked, “What are they coming to do?”

He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so no one could raise his head. These craftsmen have come to terrify them, to cut off the horns of the nations that raised their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear.