World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 50
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A Psalm by . The Mighty One, , , speaks, and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset. Out of , the perfection of beauty, shines out. Our comes, and does not keep silent. A devours before him. It is very stormy around him. He calls to above, to the earth, that he may judge his people: "Gather my together to me, those who have made a with me by ." shall declare his , for himself is judge. . "Hear, my people, and I will speak. Israel, I will testify against you. I am , your . I don't rebuke you for your . Your burnt offerings are continually before me. I have no need for a bull from your stall, nor male goats from your pens. For every animal of the forest is mine, and the livestock on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains. The wild animals of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. 13Will I eat the meat of bulls, or drink of goats? Offer to the of . Pay your to . Call on me in the day of trouble. I will you, and you will me." But to says, "What right do you have to declare , that you have taken my on your , since you hate , and throw my words behind you? When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have participated with . "You give your to evil. Your frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother. You slander your own mother's son. You have done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that I was like you. I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes. "Now consider this, you who forget , lest I tear you into pieces, and there be no one to . Whoever offers the of glorifies me, and prepares his way so that I will show to 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.
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