World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 104
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, . , my , you are very great. You are clothed with and majesty. He covers himself with as with a garment. He stretches out like a . He lays the beams of his rooms in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the of the wind. He makes his winds, and his servants flames of . He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved . You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down, to the place which you had assigned to them. You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they don't turn again to cover the earth. He sends springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains. They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds of nest by them. They sing among the . He waters the mountains from his rooms. The earth is filled with the fruit of your works. He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may produce food out of the earth: that makes of man glad, oil to make to shine, and bread that strengthens man's . trees are well watered, the cedars of , which he has planted, where the birds make their nests. The stork makes its home in the cypress trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for badgers. He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows when to set. You make , and it is night, in which all the animals of the forest prowl. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from . The sun rises, and they steal away, and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work, to his labor . , how many are your works! In , you have made them all. The earth is full of your riches. There is the sea, great and wide, in which are innumerable living things, both small and large animals. There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there. These all wait for you, that you may give them their food in due season. You give to them; they gather. You open your hand; they are satisfied with good. You hide your ; they are troubled. You take away their breath; they and return to . You send out your and they are created. You renew the of the ground. Let . Let rejoice in his works. He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will as long as I live. I will sing to my while I have any being. Let my be sweet to him. I will rejoice in . Let be consumed out of the earth. Let be no more. , . !
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.
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