King James Version · The united kingdom
Psalms 55
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To the on , Maschil, . Give ear to my , O ; and hide not thyself from my . Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; Because of the voice of , because of the of : for they cast upon me, and in they hate me. is sore pained within me: and the terrors of are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had like a ! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and in . . I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest. Destroy, O , and divide their : for I have seen and strife in the city. Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets. For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet together, and walked unto the house of in company. Let seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them. As for me, I will call upon ; and shall me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I , and cry aloud: and he shall . He hath in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me. shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. . Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not . He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his . The words of his were smoother than butter, but war was in : his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn . Cast thy burden upon , and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer to be moved. But thou, O , shalt bring them down into of : bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will in thee.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. 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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