World English Bible · The united kingdom
Proverbs 8
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Doesn't cry out? Doesn't raise her voice? On the top of by , where the meet, she stands. Beside the , at the entry of the city, at the entry doors, she cries aloud: "I call to you men! I send my voice to the sons of mankind. You simple, understand prudence! You fools, be of an ! Hear, for I will speak excellent things. The opening of my is for right things. For my speaks truth. Wickedness is an to my . All the words of my are in . There is nothing crooked or perverse in them. They are all plain to him who understands, right to those who find knowledge. Receive my rather than silver, knowledge rather than choice gold. For is better than rubies. All the things that may be can't be compared to it. "I, , have made prudence my dwelling. Find out knowledge and discretion. The is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse . and sound knowledge are mine. I have and . By me kings reign, and princes justice. 16By me princes rule, nobles, and all of the earth. I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently will find me. With me are riches, , enduring wealth, and prosperity. My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, my yield than choice silver. I walk in of , in the middle of the of justice, that I may give wealth to those who love me. I fill their treasuries. " me of his work, before his deeds of old. I was set up from , , before the earth existed. When there were no depths, I was born, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was born; while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning of of the world. When he established , I was there. When he set a circle on the surface of the deep, 28when he established the clouds above, when the springs of the deep became strong, when he gave to the sea its boundary, that the waters should not violate his , when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was the craftsman by his side. I was a delight day by day, always rejoicing before him, rejoicing in his whole world. My delight was with the sons of men. "Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, for are those who keep my ways. Hear , and be . Don't refuse it. is the man who hears me, watching daily at my , at my door posts. For whoever finds me finds life, and will obtain from . But he who against me wrongs his own . All those who hate me love ."
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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.