Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible




They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute, and wine at their feasts;
But they do not regard nor even pay attention to the deeds of the Lord,
Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and to those on the mountain of Samaria who are careless and feel secure, the notable men of the chief [because chosen by God] of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes! Pass over to Calneh and see, and from there go to Hamath the great [city, north of Damascus]; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these [your] kingdoms? Or are their boundaries greater than your boundaries, O you who put far away the evil day [of punishment], yet cause the sitting of violence [upon you] to come near? read more.
Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall, Who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and invent for themselves instruments of music like David's, Who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved and sick at heart over the affliction and ruin of Joseph (Israel)!



They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute, and wine at their feasts;
But they do not regard nor even pay attention to the deeds of the Lord,
Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and to those on the mountain of Samaria who are careless and feel secure, the notable men of the chief [because chosen by God] of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes! Pass over to Calneh and see, and from there go to Hamath the great [city, north of Damascus]; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these [your] kingdoms? Or are their boundaries greater than your boundaries, O you who put far away the evil day [of punishment], yet cause the sitting of violence [upon you] to come near? read more.
Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall, Who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and invent for themselves instruments of music like David's, Who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved and sick at heart over the affliction and ruin of Joseph (Israel)!


You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourselves with the oil, because your olives will drop off.

So wash and anoint yourself [with olive oil], then put on your [best] clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but stay out of the man’s sight until he has finished eating and drinking.

Now when it was each young woman’s turn to go before King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women—for the days of their beautification were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with [sweet] spices and perfumes and the beauty preparations for women—


But my horn [my emblem of strength and power] You have exalted like that of a wild ox;
I am anointed with fresh oil [for Your service].



Let the righteous [thoughtfully] strike (correct) me—it is a kindness [done to encourage my spiritual maturity].
It is [the choicest anointing] oil on the head;
Let my head not refuse [to accept and acknowledge and learn from] it;
For still my prayer is against their wicked deeds.



Whoever attempts to restrain her [criticism] might as well try to stop the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.

Let your clothes always be white [with purity], and do not let the oil [of gladness] be lacking on your head.


“The aroma of your oils is fragrant and pleasing;
Your name is perfume poured out;
Therefore the maidens love you.


“How beautiful is your love, my sister, my [promised] bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
And the fragrance of your oils
Than all kinds of balsam and spices.


“You have gone to the king [of a pagan land] with oil
And increased your perfumes;
You have sent your messengers a great distance
And made them go down to Sheol (the realm of the dead).


Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls
And anoint themselves with the finest oils [reflecting their unrestrained celebration];
Yet they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph (Israel).


“You shall sow but you shall not reap;
You shall tread olives, but shall not anoint yourself with oil,
And [you will extract juice from] the grapes, but you shall not drink the wine.


So wash and anoint yourself [with olive oil], then put on your [best] clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but stay out of the man’s sight until he has finished eating and drinking.


But my horn [my emblem of strength and power] You have exalted like that of a wild ox;
I am anointed with fresh oil [for Your service].

Let your clothes always be white [with purity], and do not let the oil [of gladness] be lacking on your head.


“You have gone to the king [of a pagan land] with oil
And increased your perfumes;
You have sent your messengers a great distance
And made them go down to Sheol (the realm of the dead).


Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls
And anoint themselves with the finest oils [reflecting their unrestrained celebration];
Yet they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph (Israel).



Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls
And anoint themselves with the finest oils [reflecting their unrestrained celebration];
Yet they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph (Israel).

Hezekiah listened to and welcomed them and [foolishly] showed them all his treasure house—the silver and gold and spices and precious oil and his armory and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house (palace) nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.

Then Mary took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard, and she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and [the money] given to the poor?”




Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls
And anoint themselves with the finest oils [reflecting their unrestrained celebration];
Yet they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph (Israel).


But he said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, urged him, and he heeded their words. So he arose from the ground and sat upon the bed. The woman had a fat calf in the house; she hurried and killed it, and took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread. Then she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose up and went away that night.

Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall, Who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and invent for themselves instruments of music like David's, Who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved and sick at heart over the affliction and ruin of Joseph (Israel)!

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to dine with him, and He went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the town who was an especially wicked sinner, when she learned that He was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment (perfume). And standing behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with [her] tears; and she wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed His feet [affectionately] and anointed them with the ointment (perfume).



So this I say and solemnly testify in [the name of] the Lord [as in His presence], that you must no longer live as the heathen (the Gentiles) do in their perverseness [in the folly, vanity, and emptiness of their souls and the futility] of their minds. Their moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is beclouded. [They are] alienated (estranged, self-banished) from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the ignorance (the want of knowledge and perception, the willful blindness) that is deep-seated in them, due to their hardness of heart [to the insensitiveness of their moral nature]. In their spiritual apathy they have become callous and past feeling and reckless and have abandoned themselves [a prey] to unbridled sensuality, eager and greedy to indulge in every form of impurity [that their depraved desires may suggest and demand].


“Were they ashamed because they had committed disgusting and vile things?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
They did not even know how to blush [at their idolatry].
Therefore they will fall among those who fall;
At the time that I punish them
They will be overthrown,” says the Lord.




There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him,
But its end is the way of death.


This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth
And says, “I have done no wrong.”

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are at ease and carefree in Zion (Judah)
And to those on the mountain of Samaria who feel secure,
The distinguished men of the foremost of nations,
To whom the house of Israel comes.

O you who put far away the evil day [of punishment], yet cause the sitting of violence [upon you] to come near? Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall, Who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and invent for themselves instruments of music like David's, read more.
Who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved and sick at heart over the affliction and ruin of Joseph (Israel)!

They will put you out of (expel you from) the synagogues; but an hour is coming when whoever kills you will think and claim that he has offered service to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father or Me.

Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools [professing to be smart, they made simpletons of themselves]. And by them the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God were exchanged for and represented by images, resembling mortal man and birds and beasts and reptiles. read more.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their [own] hearts to sexual impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin], Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever! Amen (so be it).


Now when it was each young woman’s turn to go before King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women—for the days of their beautification were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with [sweet] spices and perfumes and the beauty preparations for women—


“The aroma of your oils is fragrant and pleasing;
Your name is perfume poured out;
Therefore the maidens love you.


“How beautiful is your love, my sister, my [promised] bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
And the fragrance of your oils
Than all kinds of balsam and spices.


Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls
And anoint themselves with the finest oils [reflecting their unrestrained celebration];
Yet they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph (Israel).

Hezekiah listened to and welcomed them and [foolishly] showed them all his treasure house—the silver and gold and spices and precious oil and his armory and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house (palace) nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.

Dead flies make the oil of the perfumer give off a foul odor; so a little foolishness [in one who is esteemed] outweighs wisdom and honor.


And while He was in Bethany, [a guest] in the house of Simon the leper, as He was reclining [at table], a woman came with an alabaster jar of ointment ( perfume) of pure nard, very costly and precious; and she broke the jar and poured [the perfume] over His head. But there were some who were moved with indignation and said to themselves, To what purpose was the ointment ( perfume) thus wasted? For it was possible to have sold this [perfume] for more than 300 denarii [a laboring man's wages for a year] and to have given [the money] to the poor. And they censured and reproved her.

Mary took a pound of ointment of pure liquid nard [a rare perfume] that was very expensive, and she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair. And the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, the one of His disciples who was about to betray Him, said, Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii [a year's wages for an ordinary workman] and that [money] given to the poor (the destitute)?



Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls
And anoint themselves with the finest oils [reflecting their unrestrained celebration];
Yet they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph (Israel).

A few days later, the younger son gathered together everything [that he had] and traveled to a distant country, and there he wasted his fortune in reckless and immoral living.

but when this [other] son of yours arrived, who has devoured your estate with immoral women, you slaughtered that fattened calf for him!’



There is precious treasure and oil in the house of the wise [who prepare for the future],
But a short-sighted and foolish man swallows it up and wastes it.



Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls
And anoint themselves with the finest oils [reflecting their unrestrained celebration];
Yet they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph (Israel).

A few days later, the younger son gathered together everything [that he had] and traveled to a distant country, and there he wasted his fortune in reckless and immoral living.

but when this [other] son of yours arrived, who has devoured your estate with immoral women, you slaughtered that fattened calf for him!’



There is precious treasure and oil in the house of the wise [who prepare for the future],
But a short-sighted and foolish man swallows it up and wastes it.



Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls
And anoint themselves with the finest oils [reflecting their unrestrained celebration];
Yet they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph (Israel).


“They have also cast lots for My people,
And have traded a boy for a prostitute
And have sold a girl for wine that they may drink.




Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls
And anoint themselves with the finest oils [reflecting their unrestrained celebration];
Yet they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph (Israel).

A few days later, the younger son gathered together everything [that he had] and traveled to a distant country, and there he wasted his fortune in reckless and immoral living.

but when this [other] son of yours arrived, who has devoured your estate with immoral women, you slaughtered that fattened calf for him!’



There is precious treasure and oil in the house of the wise [who prepare for the future],
But a short-sighted and foolish man swallows it up and wastes it.