Thematic Bible: Of men with men


Thematic Bible



Then there was a famine in the days of David for three consecutive years, and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is because of Saul and because of his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. And the king called the Gibeonites and said unto them: (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the sons of Israel had sworn unto them, and Saul had sought to slay them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). Therefore, David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make reconciliation that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD? read more.
And the Gibeonites replied unto him, We have no quarrel regarding silver nor gold with Saul, nor with his house; neither do we desire that anyone in Israel should die. And he said unto them, What ye shall say that will I do for you. And they answered the king, The man that consumed us and that devised against us, let us destroy him that nothing of him remains in any of the borders of Israel. Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will disjoint them, hanging them from a tree, unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them.

This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; that every man should let his manslave, and every man his maidslave, being a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that no one should use of his brethren, the Jews, as a slave. Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that each one should let his manslave and each one his maidslave go free, that no one should use them any more as servants, then they listened and let them go. read more.
But afterward they repented and caused the slaves and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return and brought them into subjection for slaves and for handmaids. Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, At the end of seven years each one shall let his Hebrew brother go, who has been sold unto thee; therefore he shall serve thee six years, and thou shalt send him forth free from thee: but your fathers did not hearken unto me, nor incline their ear. And ye were now converted and had done right in my sight in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: but ye turned and polluted my name and caused each man his slave and each man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for slaves and for handmaids. Therefore thus hath the LORD said: Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, each one to his brother and each man to his neighbour; behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, said the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts thereof, the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf; I will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those that seek their soul; and their dead bodies shall be for food unto the fowls of the heaven and to the beasts of the earth. And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those that seek their soul and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you. Behold, I command, said the LORD and will cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against her and take her and burn her with fire; and I will give the cities of Judah unto desolation until they are without an inhabitant.

and has taken of the seed of the kingdom and made a covenant with him and has brought him to an oath: he has also taken the mighty of the land: that the kingdom might be cast down, that it might not lift itself up, but that it might keep his covenant and stay in her. But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors unto Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he be prospered, shall he that does such things escape? And shall he who broke the covenant be able to flee? read more.
As I live, said the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwells that made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon, he shall die. And not with a mighty army, nor with a great company shall Pharaoh do anything for him in the battle when they cast up mounts, and build forts to cut off many lives: seeing he despised the oath to invalidate the covenant when, behold, he had given his hand and has done all these things, he shall not escape. Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: As I live, surely my oath that he has despised and my covenant that he has broken, even it will I turn upon his own head.


We have given the hand to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians to be satisfied with bread.

seeing he despised the oath to invalidate the covenant when, behold, he had given his hand and has done all these things, he shall not escape.

And they gave their hands that they would send away their women; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guiltiness.


All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the sons of Israel offer unto the LORD, I have given for thee and for thy sons and for thy daughters with thee, by a perpetual statute; it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD for thee and for thy seed with thee.

And every offering of thy present shalt thou season with salt, and thou shalt never allow the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy present; with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.

do ye not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, unto him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?


And he said unto him, Take me a heifer three years old and a she goat three years old and a ram three years old and a turtledove and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these and divided them in the midst and laid each piece one against another, but he did not divide the birds. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. read more.
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. Then he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, I will judge; and afterward shall they come out with great riches. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come here again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts thereof, the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;


Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it to David and his garments, even to his sword and to his bow and to his girdle.

And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? read more.
And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand that they may be a witness unto me that I have dug this well.


And because of all this, we make a sure covenant and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests seal unto it.

And I subscribed the evidence and sealed it and took witnesses and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open. And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel my uncle's son and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase before all the Jews that were in the court of the guard.


Then Jacob took a stone and set it up for a pillar. And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones and made a heap; and they ate there upon the heap.

and Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness between me and thee. And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have raised up between me and thee; read more.
let this heap be witness and this pillar be witness that I will not pass over this heap against thee and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar against me, for harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their fathers, judge between us. And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac.


Now for a long time in Israel there had been this custom concerning redemption or contracts, that for the confirmation of all matters: one plucked off his shoe and gave it to his neighbour, and this was a testimony in Israel. Therefore, the former owner of the right of redemption said unto Boaz, Buy it thyself. So he drew off his shoe. And Boaz said unto the elders and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi. read more.
Moreover, I also take Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, as my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance that the name of the dead not be cut off from among his brethren and from the gate of his place. Ye shall be witnesses of this today. And all the people that were in the gate and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thy house like Rachel and like Leah, who built the house of Israel; and be thou a man of valour in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem;