Thematic Bible: Ambition


Thematic Bible








Brothers, I do not consider myself to have laid hold of [it]. But [I do] one [thing], forgetting the things behind and straining toward the things ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.



Now Adonijah the son of Haggith was exalting himself, saying, "I will be king," so he prepared for himself a chariot and horsemen and fifty men running before him.

You have indeed defeated Edom and your heart is lifted up; enjoy the honor and stay home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall and Judah with you?"

Within them [they think] their houses [are] forever, their dwelling places from generation to generation. They {name} [their] lands by their [own] names.

And you yourself said in your heart, 'I will ascend [to] heaven; I will raise up my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on [the] mountain of assembly on the summit of Zaphon;

'What {business do you have} here, and who {do you have} here, that you have cut a grave cutting here for yourself, carving his grave [on] the height, a dwelling place for him in the rock?

{How much less} the defiant; [the] arrogant, treacherous man? He who broadens his throat like Sheol, and who, like death, is not satisfied, and who gathers to himself all the nations, and harvested for himself all the peoples, will not succeed.


At that time the disciples came up to Jesus, saying, "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"


But Jesus called them to himself [and] said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions exercise authority over them.

And the greatest among you will be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.


How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of dawn! You are cut down to the ground, conqueror of nations! And you yourself said in your heart, 'I will ascend [to] heaven; I will raise up my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on [the] mountain of assembly on the summit of Zaphon; I will ascend to [the] high places of [the] clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.' read more.
But you are brought down to Sheol, to [the] depths of [the] pit.

He who loves transgression loves strife; he who builds his high thresholds seeks destruction.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{Because} it was tall in height and it set its treetop between thick clouds, and {he took pride in his tallness}, then I gave it into [the] hand of [the] leader of nations; he {dealt thoroughly} with it according to its wickedness. I drove it [out].


that [the] rejoicing of [the] wicked [is] {short}, and the joy of [the] godless {lasts only a moment}? Even though his stature mounts up to the heaven, and his head reaches to the clouds, he will perish forever like his dung; [those who] have seen him will say, 'Where [is] he?' read more.
He will fly away like a dream, and they will not find him, and he will be chased away like a vision of [the] night. [The] eye [that] saw him {will not see him again}, and his place will no longer behold him.

They are exalted a little while, then {they are gone}. And they are brought low; they are cut off like all [others], and like [the] heads of grain they wither away.

Within them [they think] their houses [are] forever, their dwelling places from generation to generation. They {name} [their] lands by their [own] names. But man cannot continue in [his] pomp. He is like the beasts [that] perish. This [is] the journey [of those who] have foolish [confidence], and those after them [who] accept their sayings. Selah read more.
Like sheep they are destined to Sheol; death will shepherd them. But the upright will rule over them in the morning, and their forms [will be for] Sheol to consume, [far from] his lofty abode. Surely God will ransom my life from the {power} of Sheol, because he will receive me. Selah Do not fear when a man becomes rich, when the wealth of his house increases, because when he dies he will not take [away] any [of it]. His wealth will not follow down after him. Though he congratulated his soul while he was living --and [people] will praise you when you do well for yourself-- it will go to the generation of his fathers. Never will they see light. Humankind in [its] pomp, but does not understand, is like the beasts [that] perish.


How are you able to believe, [if you] accept glory from one another, and do not seek the glory [which is] from the only God?



It happened afterward that Absalom made himself a chariot with horses and fifty men running before him. Absalom used to rise early in the morning, and he stood {beside} the road [at] the gate; {anyone} who had a legal dispute to bring to the king for judgment Absalom would call to him and say, "{Where are you from?}" And he would say, "Your servant [is] from one of the tribes of Israel."

Then Absalom would say, "{Oh, that someone would} appoint me as judge in the land, that {anyone} might come to me who had a legal dispute or a case, and I would give him justice."


And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Say that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your kingdom."

Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the best seat in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces!


Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand {each other's language}."

Ah! Those who {join} house with house, they join field together with field until {there is no place} and you are caused to dwell alone in the midst of the land.




(Now Absalom had taken and set up for himself in his lifetime a stone pillar that [is] in the valley of the king, because he said, "I have no son in order to remember my name," and he called the stone pillar by his name. It [is] called the monument of Absalom until this day).

It happened afterward that Absalom made himself a chariot with horses and fifty men running before him. Absalom used to rise early in the morning, and he stood {beside} the road [at] the gate; {anyone} who had a legal dispute to bring to the king for judgment Absalom would call to him and say, "{Where are you from?}" And he would say, "Your servant [is] from one of the tribes of Israel." Then Absalom would say to him, "Look, your case [is] good and right, but for you there is no hearing with the king." read more.
Then Absalom would say, "{Oh, that someone would} appoint me as judge in the land, that {anyone} might come to me who had a legal dispute or a case, and I would give him justice." It happened whenever anyone drew near to do obeisance to him, that he would stretch his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. Absalom did like this to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment; so Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel. It happened at the end of four years [that] Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my vow which I have made to Yahweh in Hebron, for your servant made a vow while I [was] staying in Geshur in Aram, saying, '{If Yahweh will indeed let me return} to Jerusalem, then I will worship Yahweh.'" Then the king said to him, "Go in peace." So he got up and went to Hebron. Then Absalom sent scouts throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "When you hear the sound of the trumpet, you shall shout 'Absalom has become king in Hebron!'" Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom as invited guests, going in their innocence as they did not know anything. Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, the advisor of David, from his city Giloh, while he offered the sacrifices. The conspiracy {grew in strength}, and the people [were] going and {increasing} with Absalom. Then the messenger came to David, saying, "The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom."


And Haman went out on that day rejoicing and {feeling good}. But when Haman saw Mordecai at the gate of the king, and he did not rise or tremble before him, Haman was filled {with rage toward} Mordecai. But Haman controlled himself and went to his house, and he sent [for] and brought his friends and Zeresh his wife. And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his wealth and the number of his sons and all [the ways] that the king had honored him and promoted him above the officials and king's servants. read more.
{And Haman added}, "Esther the Queen did not let [just anyone] come to the banquet that she prepared with the king except me, and I am also invited tomorrow to her [banquet] with the king. But all this {fails to satisfy me} {when} I see Mordecai the Jew setting at the gate of the king."

And Haman came, and the king said to him, "What [is] to be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?" And Haman thought to himself, "Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?" So Haman said to the king, "For a man whom the king wishes to honor, let them bring {royal clothing} with which the king has clothed himself, and a horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal head-dress has been given. read more.
And let the clothing and the horse be given {to the man} by the officials of the king's nobles; let them cloth the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him ride on his horse through the public square of the city, and let them proclaim before him, 'Thus, it will be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.'"


Because you plundered many nations, all the remaining nations will plunder you on account of the blood of humanity and violence [against the] land, [and against] cities and all who live in them. Woe to [him who] obtains profit [from] evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be saved from the hand of misfortune!




And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Say that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your kingdom."


For God knows that on the day you [both] eat from it, then your eyes will be opened and you [both] shall be like gods, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food and that it [was] a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make [one] wise, then she took from its fruit and she ate. And she gave [it] also to her husband with her, and he ate.


By the hand of your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, 'With my many chariots I have gone up [to] the height of the mountains. [To] the remote areas of Lebanon, I have felled the tallest of its cedars, the choicest of its cypresses. I have entered the place of overnight lodging. Even [to] the edge of forest of its fertile land.


My heart is not haughty nor my eyes {arrogant}. And I do not {concern myself} with things too great and difficult for me. Rather I have soothed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother, like the weaned child [is] my soul with me.




{How much less} the defiant; [the] arrogant, treacherous man? He who broadens his throat like Sheol, and who, like death, is not satisfied, and who gathers to himself all the nations, and harvested for himself all the peoples, will not succeed.


'What {business do you have} here, and who {do you have} here, that you have cut a grave cutting here for yourself, carving his grave [on] the height, a dwelling place for him in the rock?




and they said, "Has Yahweh spoken only through Moses? Has not Yahweh also spoken through us?" And Yahweh heard it.


They were assembled in front of Moses and Aaron, and they said to them, "{You take too much upon yourselves}! All of the community is holy, every one of them, and Yahweh [is] in their midst, so why do you raise yourselves over the assembly of Yahweh?"


How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of dawn! You are cut down to the ground, conqueror of nations! And you yourself said in your heart, 'I will ascend [to] heaven; I will raise up my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on [the] mountain of assembly on the summit of Zaphon; I will ascend to [the] high places of [the] clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.' read more.
But you are brought down to Sheol, to [the] depths of [the] pit.


From where [are] conflicts and from where [are] quarrels among you? [Is it] not from this, from your pleasures that wage war among your members? You desire and do not have; you murder and are filled with envy, and are not able to obtain; you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.


And a dispute also occurred among them as to which of them was recognized as being greatest.


They were assembled in front of Moses and Aaron, and they said to them, "{You take too much upon yourselves}! All of the community is holy, every one of them, and Yahweh [is] in their midst, so why do you raise yourselves over the assembly of Yahweh?" When Moses heard [this], he fell on his face. And he said to Korah and to his entire company, saying, "[Tomorrow] morning Yahweh will make known who [is] his and [who] is holy, and he will bring him near to him, whomever he chooses he will bring near to him. read more.
Do this: take for yourselves censers, Korah and all of your company; tomorrow put fire in them and place incense on them {before} Yahweh; the man whom Yahweh chooses [will be] the holy [one]. You take too much upon yourselves, sons of Levi!" And Moses said to Korah, "Please listen, sons of Levi! [Is it] too little for you that the God of Israel set you apart from the community of Israel {to allow you to approach him} to do the work of the tabernacle of Yahweh, to stand {before} the community to serve them? {He has allowed you to approach him}, you with all your brothers, the descendants of Levi, but yet you also seek the priesthood. Therefore you and your company that has banded together against Yahweh. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?" Moses sent to call [for] Dathan and Abiram son of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come! Is it too little that you have brought us from a land that flows with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, and that you also appoint yourself as a ruler over us? Surely, you have not brought us to a land that flows with milk and honey, and you have not given us the inheritance of fields and a vineyard. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come!" Then Moses became angry, and he said to Yahweh, "Do not notice their grain offering. I have not offered one donkey from them, and I have not mistreated one of them." And Moses said to Korah, "You and your entire company will be {before} Yahweh tomorrow, you and they and Aaron. Each one take his censer, and put incense on it and you will present it {before} Yahweh, and each of you bring his censer, two hundred and fifty censers, you and Aaron, each his censer." So each of them took his censer, and they put fire on them, and they placed incense on them; they stood [at the] doorway of the tent of the assembly of Moses and Aaron. And Korah summoned them, the entire community, by the doorway of the tent of assembly, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the community. And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, "Separate yourselves from the midst of this community, that I can destroy them in a moment." And they fell on their faces, and they said, "God, God of the spirits of all flesh, will one man sin and you become angry toward the entire community?" Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the community, saying, 'Move away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'" So Moses stood up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed after him. He said to the community, saying, "Please turn away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything {that belongs to them}, or you will be destroyed with all their sins." And so they moved away from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out standing [at] the doorway of their tents, with their wives, sons, and little children. And Moses said, "In this you will know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; [it is] not from my heart. {If they die a natural death} or {if a natural fate is visited upon them}, Yahweh has not sent me. But if Yahweh creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up and {all that belongs to them}, and they go down alive [to] Sheol, and you will know that these men have despised Yahweh." And it happened, as soon as he finished {speaking} all these words, the ground that [was] under them split open. The land opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their houses and every person {that belonged to Korah} and all the property. They went down alive [to] Sheol, they and all that belonged to them, and the land covered over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. All Israel who [were] around them fled at their cry, because they said, "Lest the land swallow us up!" And fire went out from Yahweh, and it consumed the two hundred and fifty men presenting the incense.


and they said, "Has Yahweh spoken only through Moses? Has not Yahweh also spoken through us?" And Yahweh heard it. Now the man, Moses, [was] more humble than any other person on the face of the earth, and Yahweh said suddenly to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "Go out, you three, to the tent of assembly." So the three of them when out. read more.
And Yahweh went down in a column of cloud and stood [at] the doorway of the tent, and he called Aaron and Miriam, and the two of them went, and he said, "Please hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak to him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses; in all my house he [is] faithful. I will speak to him mouth to mouth, [in] clearness, not in riddles; and he will look at the form of Yahweh. Why were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?" {And Yahweh became very angry} with them, and he went [away]. And the cloud departed from on the tent, and behold, Miriam [was] infected with {a skin disease} white like snow; when Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, [she was] afflicted with a skin disease.


I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who wants to be first [among] them, does not acknowledge us.


I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who wants to be first [among] them, does not acknowledge us. Therefore, if I come, I will call attention to {the deeds he is doing}, disparaging us with evil words. And not being content with these, he does not receive the brothers himself, and he hinders those wanting [to do so] and throws [them] out of the church.


By the hand of your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, 'With my many chariots I have gone up [to] the height of the mountains. [To] the remote areas of Lebanon, I have felled the tallest of its cedars, the choicest of its cypresses. I have entered the place of overnight lodging. Even [to] the edge of forest of its fertile land.


When Ahithophel saw that his advice [was] not followed, he saddled the donkey, and he set out and went up to his house in his city. {After he set his house in order}, he hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his ancestors.


And Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem, to the relatives of his mother, and he said to them and to the house of his mother's father, "{Speak to} the lords of Shechem, 'What [is] better for you, that seventy men all from the sons of Jerub-Baal rule over you, or that one man rules over you?' Remember that I [am] your bone and your flesh." And his mother's relatives spoke all these words concerning him {to} all the lords of Shechem; and {they supported Abimelech}, for they said, "He is our relative." read more.
And they gave to him seventy [pieces of] silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech hired with them worthless and reckless men, and {they followed him}. And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and he killed his brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerub-Baal survived, because he hid himself. All the lords of Shechem and Beth-Millo gathered, and they went and made Abimelech as king, near [the] oak of [the] pillar that [is] at Shechem.


For God knows that on the day you [both] eat from it, then your eyes will be opened and you [both] shall be like gods, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food and that it [was] a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make [one] wise, then she took from its fruit and she ate. And she gave [it] also to her husband with her, and he ate.


So Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah, saying, "The thornbush which is in Lebanon sent to the cedar which is in Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son as wife,' but an animal of the field which [is] in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thornbush.


Is it too little that you have brought us from a land that flows with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, and that you also appoint yourself as a ruler over us?




Now Adonijah the son of Haggith was exalting himself, saying, "I will be king," so he prepared for himself a chariot and horsemen and fifty men running before him.







Brothers, I do not consider myself to have laid hold of [it]. But [I do] one [thing], forgetting the things behind and straining toward the things ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.




And you yourself said in your heart, 'I will ascend [to] heaven; I will raise up my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on [the] mountain of assembly on the summit of Zaphon; I will ascend to [the] high places of [the] clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.'


For the mystery of lawlessness is at work already; only the one who now restrains [will do so] until he is out of the way,


Now Adonijah the son of Haggith was exalting himself, saying, "I will be king," so he prepared for himself a chariot and horsemen and fifty men running before him.

You have indeed defeated Edom and your heart is lifted up; enjoy the honor and stay home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall and Judah with you?"

Within them [they think] their houses [are] forever, their dwelling places from generation to generation. They {name} [their] lands by their [own] names.

And you yourself said in your heart, 'I will ascend [to] heaven; I will raise up my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on [the] mountain of assembly on the summit of Zaphon;

'What {business do you have} here, and who {do you have} here, that you have cut a grave cutting here for yourself, carving his grave [on] the height, a dwelling place for him in the rock?

{How much less} the defiant; [the] arrogant, treacherous man? He who broadens his throat like Sheol, and who, like death, is not satisfied, and who gathers to himself all the nations, and harvested for himself all the peoples, will not succeed.


And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will gather in there all my grain and possessions.

Who says 'I will build for myself a spacious house with large upper rooms,' and he cuts windows for it, and [it is] paneled with cedar, and he paints [it] with vermilion.

And the king answered and said, "Is this not the great Babylon which I have built as a royal palace by the strength of my own power, and for the glory of my own majesty?"

"He builds his house like the moth, and like a booth [that] a watchman has made.

But the one who hears [my words] and does not do [them] is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, which the river burst against, and immediately it collapsed--and the collapse of that house was great!"


How are you able to believe, [if you] accept glory from one another, and do not seek the glory [which is] from the only God?



It happened afterward that Absalom made himself a chariot with horses and fifty men running before him. Absalom used to rise early in the morning, and he stood {beside} the road [at] the gate; {anyone} who had a legal dispute to bring to the king for judgment Absalom would call to him and say, "{Where are you from?}" And he would say, "Your servant [is] from one of the tribes of Israel."

Then Absalom would say, "{Oh, that someone would} appoint me as judge in the land, that {anyone} might come to me who had a legal dispute or a case, and I would give him justice."


And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Say that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your kingdom."

Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the best seat in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces!




And a dispute also occurred among them as to which of them was recognized as being greatest.