Abimelech said, “What is this that you have done to us? One of the men [among our people] might easily have been intimate with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us [before God].”

These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, when he was seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers [Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher]; the boy was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s [secondary] wives; and Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

And the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows.

“Judah, a lion’s cub;
With the prey, my son, you have gone high up [the mountain].
He stooped down, he crouched like a lion,
And like a lion—who dares rouse him?

Then the priest shall have her take an oath and say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness [while married], then be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse;

but if you have gone astray [while married] and you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has been intimate with you”

and what the land is, whether it is fat (productive) or lean, whether there is timber on it or not. Make an effort to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

“Behold, a people rises up like a lioness
And lifts itself up like a lion;
He will not lie down until he devours the prey
And drinks the blood of the slain.”

“He bowed down [to rest], he lies down as a lion;
And as a lioness, who dares to rouse him?
Blessed [of God] is he who blesses you,
And cursed [of God] is he who curses you.”

‘And this shall be your north border: from the Great [Mediterranean] Sea mark out your boundary line to Mount Hor;

Of Dan he said,

“Dan is a lion’s cub,
That leaps forth from Bashan.”

Now before the two men lay down [to sleep], Rahab came up to them on the roof,

Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother [to arrange the marriage], and they came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and suddenly, a young lion came roaring toward him.

The Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he tore the lion apart as one tears apart a young goat, and he had nothing at all in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion.

So he scraped the honey out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave them some, and they ate it; but he did not tell them he had taken the honey from the body of the lion.

So the men of the city said to Samson on the seventh day before sundown,

“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”

And he said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
You would not have solved my riddle.”

Then Samson said to the boy who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the [roof of the] house rests, so that I may lean against them.”

But the people, the [fighting] men of Israel, took courage and strengthened themselves and again set their battle line in the same place where they formed it the first day.

Now a man [from the tribe] of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh that same day with his clothes torn and dust on his head [as signs of mourning over the disaster].

But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,

Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted and defied the armies of the living God.”

David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”

When the Philistine rose and came forward to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.

He defeated Moab, and measured them with a length of rope, making them lie down on the ground; he measured two lengths to [choose those to] put to death, and one full length to [choose those to] be kept alive. And the [surviving] Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.

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.”

He said to Amnon, “Why are you, the king’s son, so depressed morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” And Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, my [half-] brother Absalom’s sister.”

And even the one who is brave, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will completely lose heart and melt away; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are brave men.

Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many notable acts, killed two [famous] warriors of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.

Then he built the extensions [of rooms] against the entire house, each [story] five cubits high; and they were attached to the house with timbers of cedar.

He cast the two pillars of bronze; the one pillar was eighteen cubits high, and a [measuring] line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of both.

Now when he had gone, a lion met him by the road and killed him, and his body was thrown in the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion was also standing beside the body.

And there were men passing by, and they saw the body thrown in the road, and the lion standing beside the body. So they came and told about it in the city [of Bethel] where the old prophet lived.

When the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard about it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.”

And he went and found the body thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion [miraculously] had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey.

But he himself traveled a day’s journey into the wilderness, and he came and sat down under a juniper tree and asked [God] that he might die. He said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

Then the prophet said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you leave me, a lion will kill you.” And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him.

I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem clean just as one wipes a [dirty] bowl clean, wiping it and turning it upside down.

Adam [his genealogical line], Seth, Enosh,

But [the line of] Aaron and his sons made offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense, ministering for all the work of the Holy of Holies (Most Holy Place), and [they did so] to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses, God’s servant, had commanded.

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a courageous man of Kabzeel who had done great things, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. Also he went down and killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day.

He also made the Sea [that is, the large basin used for ceremonial washing] of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and five cubits in height, and its circumference was thirty cubits.

“For now I would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept then, I would have been at rest [in death],

“The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion,
And the teeth of the young lions are broken.

“The lion perishes for lack of prey,
And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

“He trusts in his house, but it does not stand;
He holds tightly to it, but it does not endure.

‘Should I lift my head up, You would hunt me like a lion;
And again You would show Your marvelous power against me.

“The proud beasts [and their young] have not walked on it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.

“Who determined the measurements [of the earth], if you know?
Or who stretched the [measuring] line on it?

“Can you [Job] hunt the prey for the lion,
Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions

Offer righteous sacrifices;
Trust [confidently] in the Lord.

So that my enemy will not tear me like a lion,
Dragging me away while there is no one to rescue [me].

And those who know Your name [who have experienced Your precious mercy] will put their confident trust in You,
For You, O Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You.

He lurks in a hiding place like a lion in his lair;
He lies in wait to catch the afflicted;
He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.

He is like a lion eager to tear [his prey],
And like a young lion lurking in hiding places.

They open wide their mouths against me,
Like a ravening and a roaring lion.

Save me from the lion’s mouth;
From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.

O my God, in You I [have unwavering] trust [and I rely on You with steadfast confidence],
Do not let me be ashamed or my hope in You be disappointed;
Do not let my enemies triumph over me.

I hate those who pay regard to vain (empty, worthless) idols;
But I trust in the Lord [and rely on Him with unwavering confidence].

Trust [rely on and have confidence] in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and feed [securely] on His faithfulness.

Commit your way to the Lord;
Trust in Him also and He will do it.

Be still before the Lord; wait patiently for Him and entrust yourself to Him;
Do not fret (whine, agonize) because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.

Even those who trust in and rely on their wealth
And boast of the abundance of their riches?

But You, O God, will bring down the wicked to the pit of destruction;
Men of blood and treachery will not live out half their days.
But I will [boldly and unwaveringly] trust in You.

In God, whose word I praise;
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not fear.
What can mere man do to me?

Trust [confidently] in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us. Selah.

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust [with great confidence, and on whom I rely]!”

You will tread upon the lion and cobra;
The young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

Those who make them will become like them,
Everyone who trusts in them.

O Israel, trust and take refuge in the Lord! [Be confident in Him, cling to Him, rely on His word!]
He is their help and their shield.

O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.

You who [reverently] fear the Lord, trust in Lord;
He is their help and their shield.

So I will have an answer for the one who taunts me,
For I trust [completely] in Your word [and its reliability].

Those who trust in and rely on the Lord [with confident expectation]
Are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but remains forever.

Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For I trust in You.
Teach me the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.

Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

The king’s wrath terrifies like the roaring of a lion,
But his favor is as [refreshing and nourishing as] dew on the grass.

The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion;
Whoever provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

The lazy one [manufactures excuses and] says, “There is a lion outside!
I will be killed in the streets [if I go out to work]!”

The lazy person [who is self-indulgent and relies on lame excuses] says, “There is a lion in the road!
A lion is in the open square [and if I go outside to work I will be killed]!”

The wicked flee when no one pursues them,
But the righteous are as bold as a lion.

Like a roaring lion and a charging bear
Is a wicked ruler over a poor people.

The lion, which is mighty among beasts
And does not turn back before any;

[There is no exemption,] but whoever is joined with all the living, has hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion.

Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatted steer together;
And a little child will lead them.

And the cow and the bear will graze [together],
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

For the waters of Dimon are full of blood;
Yet I will bring even more woes on Dimon—
A lion upon those of Moab who escape and upon the remnant of the land.

“Now in that day the [former] glory of Jacob [Israel—his might, his population, his prosperity] will fade,
And the fatness of his flesh will become lean.

And the lookout called like a lion,

“O Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower by day,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.

“Trust [confidently] in the Lord forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner],
For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].

“I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the mason’s level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And waters will flood over the secret [hiding] place.

A [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the beasts of the Negev (the South):

Through a land of trouble and anguish,
From where come lioness and lion, viper and [fiery] flying serpent,
They carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys
And their treasures on the humps of camels,
To a people (Egyptians) who cannot benefit them.

For so the Lord says to me,

“As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey,
And though a large group of shepherds is called out against him
He will not be terrified at their voice nor cringe at their noise,
So the Lord of hosts will come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”

But the pelican and the porcupine will take possession of it;
The owl and the raven will dwell in it.
And He will stretch over it (Edom) the measuring line of desolation
And the plumb line of emptiness.

The Lord has cast the lot for them,
And His hand has divided and apportioned Edom to the wild beasts by measuring-line.
They will possess it forever;
From generation to generation they will dwell in it.

No lion will be there,
Nor will any predatory animal come up on it;
They will not be found there.
But the redeemed will walk there.

“I lay down until morning.
Like a lion, so He breaks all my bones;
From day until night You bring me to an end.

The carpenter stretches out a measuring line, he marks out the shape [of the idol] with red chalk; he works it with planes and outlines it with the compass; and he makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, that it may sit in a house.