'Old' in the Bible

Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents],Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Listen to your father, who sired you,And do not despise your mother when she is old.

A poor yet wise youth is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive instruction and counsel (friendly reproof, warning)—

Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

Furthermore, they are afraid of a high place and of dangers on the road; the almond tree (hair) blossoms [white], and the grasshopper (a little thing) is a burden, and the caperberry (desire, appetite) fails. For man goes to his eternal home and the mourners go about the streets and market places.

“The mandrakes give forth fragrance,And over our doors are all [kinds of] choice fruits,Both new and old,Which I have saved up for you, my beloved.

The brave man and the warrior [He is also removing],The judge and the prophet,The diviner and the elder,

And the people will be oppressed,Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor;The boy will be arrogant and insolent toward the elderAnd the vulgar (common) toward the honorable [person of rank].

My heart cries out for Moab;His fugitives are [fleeing] as far as Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah.For they go up the ascent of Luhith weeping;For on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress over their destruction.

in the same way the king of Assyria will lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, young and old, stripped and barefoot, even with buttocks uncovered—to the shame of Egypt.

You also made a reservoir between the two wallsFor the waters of the Old Pool,But you did not look to its Maker,Nor did you recognize Him who planned it long ago.

O Lord, You are my God;I will exalt You, I will praise and give thanks to Your name;For You have done miraculous things,Plans formed long, long ago, [fulfilled] with perfect faithfulness.

Wild oxen will also fall with themAnd the young bulls with the strong bulls;And their land will be soaked with blood,And their dust made greasy with fat.

“Do not remember the former things,Or ponder the things of the past.

‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim it and declare it;Yes, let him confront Me,Since I established the people of antiquity.And let them [those supposed gods] tell those people [who foolishly follow them] the things to comeAnd the events that are going to take place.

‘Do not tremble nor be afraid [of the violent upheavals to come];Have I not long ago proclaimed it to you and declared it?And you are My witnesses.Is there a God besides Me?There is no other Rock;I know of none.’”

“Declare and present your defense of idols;Indeed, let them consult together.Who announced this [rise of Cyrus and his conquests] long before it happened?Who declared it long ago?Was it not I, the Lord?And there is no other God besides Me,A [consistently and uncompromisingly] just and righteous God and a Savior;There is none except Me.

Even to your old age I am He,And even to your advanced old age I will carry you!I have made you, and I will carry you;Be assured I will carry you and I will save you.

“Remember [carefully] the former things [which I did] from ages past;For I am God, and there is no one else;I am God, and there is no one like Me,

“I was angry with My people,I profaned [Judah] My inheritanceAnd gave them into your hand [Babylon].You showed them no mercy;You made your yoke very heavy on the aged.

I have declared them to you long ago;Before they came to pass I announced them to you,So that you could not say, ‘My idol has done them,And my carved image and my cast image have commanded them.’

“You have not heard, you have not known;Even from long ago your ear has not been open.For I [the Lord] knew that you [Israel] would act very treacherously;You have been called a transgressor and a rebel from birth.

In fact, the Lord God helps Me;Who is he who condemns Me [as guilty]?Indeed, they will all wear out like a garment;The moth will eat them.

“Lift up your eyes to the heavens,Then look to the earth beneath;For the heavens will be torn to pieces and vanish like smoke,And the earth will wear out like a garmentAnd its inhabitants will die in like manner.But My salvation will be forever,And My righteousness (justice) [and faithfully fulfilled promise] will not be broken.

In all their distress He was distressed,And the angel of His presence saved them,In His love and in His compassion He redeemed them;And He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses [and they said],Where is He who brought our fathers up out of the [Red] Sea, with the shepherds of His flock [Moses and Aaron]?Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in their midst,

For from days of old no one has heard, nor has ear perceived,Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,Who works and acts in behalf of the one who [gladly] waits for Him.

“No longer shall there be in it an infant who lives only a few days,Or an old man who does not finish his days;For the youth who dies at the age of a hundred,And the one who does not reach the age of a hundredWill be thought of as accursed.

But I am full of the wrath (judgment) of the Lord;I am tired of restraining it.“[I will] pour it out on the children in the streetAnd on the young men gathered together;For both the husband and wife shall be taken,The aged and the very old [though full of days they are not exempt from judgment].

Thus says the Lord,“Stand by the roads and look; ask for the ancient paths,Where the good way is; then walk in it,And you will find rest for your souls.But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’

then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers [to live in] forever and ever.

Thus says the Lord, “Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jar, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests

saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way and the evil of your actions [that you may not forfeit the right to] live in the land that the Lord has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever;

The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of disaster and of virulent disease.

“Thus says the Lord,‘Behold (hear this), I will restore the fortunes of the tents of JacobAnd have mercy on his dwelling places;The city will be rebuilt on its [old, mound-like] ruin,And the palace will stand on its rightful place.

The Lord appeared to me (Israel) from ages past, saying,“I have loved you with an everlasting love;Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.

“Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,And the young men and old, together,For I will turn their mourning into joyAnd will comfort them and make them rejoice after their sorrow.

So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the palace of the king to a place under the storeroom and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah.

Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your armpits, then place the ropes under the padding”; and Jeremiah did so.

I will put them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his servants. Afterward Egypt will be inhabited as in the days of old,” says the Lord.

With you I shatter man and woman,With you I shatter old man and youth,With you I shatter young man and virgin,

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

In the days of her affliction and homelessnessJerusalem remembers all her precious thingsThat she had from the days of old,When her people fell into the hand of the adversary,And no one helped her,The enemy saw her,They mocked at her downfall.

The Lord has done what He planned;He has accomplished His wordWhich He commanded from days of old.He has demolished without sparing,And He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you;He has exalted the power of your enemies.

The young and the oldLie on the ground in the streets;My virgins and my young menHave fallen by the sword.You have killed them in the day of Your anger,You have slaughtered, not sparing.

He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away;He has shattered my bones.

Return us to You, O Lord, so that we may be restored;Renew our days as of old,

Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women; but do not touch or go near anyone on whom is the mark. Begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple [who did not have the Lord’s mark on their foreheads].

“Then I said concerning the one (Oholah) worn out by adulteries, ‘Will they now commit adultery with her when she is like this?’

then I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit (the place of the dead), to the people of old, and I will make you [Tyre] live in the depths of the earth, like the ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set glory and splendor in the land of the living.

“The elders of Gebal and its skilled and wise men were with you, repairing your leaks;All the ships of the sea with their mariners were with you to deal in your merchandise.

“And you [priests] shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord each day; morning by morning you shall provide it.

So Darius the Mede received the kingdom; he was about the age of sixty-two.

“It shall come about after thisThat I shall pour out My Spirit on all mankind;And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,Your old men will dream dreams,Your young men will see visions.

“In that day I shall raise up and restore the fallen tabernacle (booth) of David,And wall up its breaches [in the city walls];I will also raise up and restore its ruinsAnd rebuild it as it was in the days of old,

Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 [innocent] persons, who do not know the difference between their right and left hand [and are not yet accountable for sin], as well as many [blameless] animals?”

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,Too little to be among the clans of Judah;From you One shall come forth for Me [who is] to be Ruler in Israel,His goings forth (appearances) are from long ago,From ancient days.”

With what shall I come before the Lord [to honor Him]And bow myself before God on high?Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,With yearling calves?

Shepherd and rule Your people with Your scepter [of blessing],The flock of Your inheritance and Your possessionWhich dwells alone [separate and secure from attack] in the forest,In the midst of a garden land.Let them feed in Bashan and GileadAs in the days of old [the days of Moses and Elijah].

You shall give truth to JacobAnd lovingkindness and mercy to Abraham,As You have sworn to our forefathersFrom the days of old.

He stood and measured the earth;He looked and startled the nations,Yes, the eternal mountains were shattered,The ancient hills bowed low and collapsed.His ways are eternal.

“It will come about at that timeThat I will search Jerusalem with lampsAnd I will punish the menWho [like old wine] are stagnant in spirit,Who say in their hearts,‘The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.’

Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Old men and old women will again sit in the streets (public places) of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of his advanced age.

Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in ancient years.

Then Herod, when he realized that he had been tricked by the magi, was extremely angry, and he sent [soldiers] and put to death all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that area who were two years old and under, according to the date which he had learned from the magi.

“You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever murders shall be guilty before the court.’

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not make false vows, but you shall fulfill your vows to the Lord [as a religious duty].’

But no one puts a piece of unshrunk (new) cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.

Nor is new wine put into old wineskins [that have lost their elasticity]; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the [fermenting] wine spills and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, so both are preserved.”

He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things that are new and fresh and things that are old and familiar.”

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk (new) cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse.

No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the wineskins. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

The little girl immediately got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they [who witnessed the child’s resurrection] were overcome with great wonder and utter amazement.

But others were saying, “He is Elijah!” And others were saying, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets [of old].”

And Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I be certain of this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in age.”

And listen, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.

There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, and had lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage,

And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem, according to the custom of the Feast;

He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old one; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.

And no one, after drinking old wine, wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is fine.’”

and by others that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the [other] prophets of old had been resurrected.

“Sell your possessions (show compassion) and give [donations] to the poor. Provide money belts for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing and inexhaustible treasure in the heavens, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?”

As a result of this many of His disciples abandoned Him, and no longer walked with Him.

Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not even fifty years old, and You [claim to] have seen Abraham?”

I assure you and most solemnly say to you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and walked wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and arms, and someone else will dress you, and carry you where you do not wish to go.”

‘And it shall be in the last days,’ says God,‘That I will pour out My Spirit upon all mankind;And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,And your young men shall see [divinely prompted] visions,And your old men shall dream [divinely prompted] dreams;

for the man to whom this sign (attesting miracle) of healing had happened was more than forty years old.

Without becoming weak in faith he considered his own body, now as good as dead [for producing children] since he was about a hundred years old, and [he considered] the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

We know that our old self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit] was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.

But now we have been released from the Law and its penalty, having died [through Christ] to that by which we were held captive, so that we serve [God] in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter [of the Law].

Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new batch, just as you are, still unleavened. For Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed.

Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of vice and malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and [untainted] truth.

But [in fact] their minds were hardened [for they had lost the ability to understand]; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed [only] in Christ.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].

that, regarding your previous way of life, you put off your old self [completely discard your former nature], which is being corrupted through deceitful desires,

circumcised when I was eight days old, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews [an exemplary Hebrew]; as to the [observance of the] Law, a Pharisee;

Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old self with its evil practices,

yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner [for the sake] of Christ Jesus—