World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 2
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere. The ✦ marks a verse the New Testament takes up.
Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a thing? The kings of the earth take a stand, and the take together, against , and against his , saying, "Let's break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us." He who sits in will laugh. will have them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his , and terrify them in his : "Yet I have set my King on my hill of ." I will tell of the : said to me, "You are my son. Today I have become your . Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your , the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a . You shall dash them in pieces like a ." Now therefore be , you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you on , for his will soon be kindled. are all those who take refuge in him.
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.
All of Psalms
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150