World English Bible · The united kingdom
1 Samuel 2
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, and said, " exults in ! My is exalted in . My is enlarged over , because I rejoice in your . There is no one as as , for there is no one besides you, nor is there any like our . "Don't keep talking so exceedingly proudly. Don't let arrogance come out of your , for is a of knowledge. By him actions are weighed. "The bows of the are broken. Those who stumbled are armed with strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. Those who were hungry are satisfied. Yes, the has borne seven. She who has many children languishes. " kills and makes alive. He brings down to and brings up. makes and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up. He raises up out of . He lifts up from the dunghill to make them sit with princes and of . For the pillars of the earth are . He has set the world on them. He will keep the feet of his , but will be put to silence ; for no man will prevail by strength. Those who strive with shall be broken to pieces. He will thunder against them in . " will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king, and exalt of his ." went to to his house. The child before the priest. Now the sons of were men. They didn't know . The custom of the priests with the people was that when anyone offered a , the priest's servant came while the meat was boiling, with a fork of three teeth in his hand; and he stabbed it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot. The priest took all that the fork brought up for himself. They did this to all the who came there to . Yes, before they burned , the priest's servant came, and said to the man who , "Give meat to roast for the priest; for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but raw." If the man said to him, "Let be burned first, and then take as much as your ;" then he would say, "No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force." The of the young men was very great before ; for the men despised . But ministered before , being a child, clothed with a linen . Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly . and his wife, and said, "May give you from this woman for the petition which was asked of ." Then they went to their own home. visited , and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. The child grew before . Now was very old; and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how that they slept with the women who at the door of the . He said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. No, my sons; for it is not a good report that I hear! You make people disobey. If one man against another, will judge him; but if a man against , who will intercede for him?" Notwithstanding, they didn't listen to the voice of their , because intended to kill them. The child grew on, and increased in both with and also with men. A came to and said to him, " says, 'Did I myself to the house of your when they were in in bondage to house? Didn't I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my , to , to wear an before me? Didn't I give to the house of your all the of the made by ? Why do you kick at my and at my , which I have commanded in my habitation, and your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the of Israel my people?' "Therefore , the of Israel, says, 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your should walk before me .' But now says, 'Far be it from me; for those who me I will , and those who despise me will be . Behold, the days come that I will your arm and the arm of your house, that there will not be an old man in your house. You will see the affliction of my habitation, in all the wealth which I will give Israel. There shall not be an old man in your house . The man of yours whom I don't my will consume your eyes and grieve . All the increase of your house will in the flower of their age. This will be the sign to you that will come on your two sons, on Hophni and : in one day they will both . I will raise up a priest for myself who will do according to that which is in and in my . I will build him a sure house. He will walk before my . It will happen that everyone who is left in your house will come and to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and will say, "Please put me into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread."'"
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The united kingdom, 1050 BC to 931 BC ›
Saul, David, and Solomon. A rare window when both Egypt and Mesopotamia are weak, which is how a small kingdom in the corridor between them could briefly become a regional power.
- The power vacuum
- This is the whole political explanation for the united kingdom. Egypt is fragmented, Assyria is recovering but still local, the Hittites are gone, and nobody is in a position to object to a strong state in the corridor. It lasts about a century, and Israel's golden age fits exactly inside it.
- Phoenicia
- Tyre under Hiram is the commercial power of the coast, and supplies the cedar, the craftsmen, and the shipping for Solomon's building programme. The alliance is trade, not charity: Israel had grain and a land route, Tyre had timber and ships.
- Egypt
- Weak enough that a pharaoh gives a daughter in marriage to an Israelite king, which is the opposite of Egyptian practice in stronger centuries. Late in the era it recovers under a new house, and Shishak will invade within five years of Solomon's death.
- Further afield
- Greece is still in its dark age but beginning to recover, and will adopt the Phoenician alphabet within a century or two. Carthage is founded by settlers from Tyre by tradition in 814 BC. In the Americas the Olmec centre shifts to La Venta.