World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 147
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, for it is good to sing to our ; for it is pleasant and fitting to him. builds up . He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the broken in , and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars. He calls them all by their names. Great is our , and mighty in . His understanding is infinite. upholds the humble. He brings down to the ground. with . Sing on the harp to our , who covers with clouds, who prepares for the earth, who makes grass grow on the mountains. He provides food for the livestock, and for the young ravens when they call. He doesn't delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who in his . , ! your , ! For he has strengthened the bars of your . He has your children within you. He makes peace in your borders. He fills you with the finest of the wheat. He sends out his to the earth. His word runs very swiftly. He gives snow like wool, and scatters frost like . He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can stand before his cold? He sends out his word, and melts them. He causes his wind to blow, and the waters flow. He shows his word to , his and his to Israel. He has not done this for any nation. They don't know his . !
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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