World English Bible · The united kingdom

Psalms 51

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. A Psalm by , when the came to him, after he had gone in to . Have mercy on me, , according to your . According to of your , blot out my . Wash me thoroughly from my . Cleanse me from my . For I know my . My is constantly before me. Against you, and you only, I have , and done that which is evil in your sight, so you may be proved right when you speak, and when you judge. Behold, I was born in . My mother conceived me in . Behold, you truth in the inward parts. You teach me in the inmost place. Purify me , and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness, that the bones which you have broken may rejoice. Hide your from my , and blot out all of my . Create in me a clean , O . Renew a right within me. Don't throw me from your , and don't take your from me. Restore to me the joy of your . Uphold me with a willing . Then I will teach transgressors your ways. will be converted to you. me from the of , O , the of my . My will sing aloud of your . , open my . My will declare your . For you don't delight in , or else I would give it. You have no pleasure in burnt offering. The of are a broken . O , you will not despise a broken and contrite . Do well in your good pleasure to . Build the walls of . Then you will delight in the of , in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings. Then they will offer bulls on your .

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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