The Tower of Babel(Genesis 11:1-9)11:1Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.2And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.3And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.4Then they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.5And theLordcame down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.6And theLordsaid, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.7Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.8So theLorddispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there theLordconfused the language of all the earth. And from there theLorddispersed them over the face of all the earth.David Kills Goliath(1 Samuel 17:1-51)17:1Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines.3And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.4And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.5He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.6And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.7The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him.8He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.9If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.10And the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.11When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.12Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.13The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.14David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul,15but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.16For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.17And Jesse said to David his son, Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.18Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.19Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.20And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry.21And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army.22And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers.23As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.24All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid.25And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.26And David said to the men who stood by him, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?27And the people answered him in the same way, So shall it be done to the man who kills him.28Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.29And David said, What have I done now? Was it not but a word?30And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.31When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him.32And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.33And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.34But David said to Saul, Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock,35I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.36Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.37And David said, TheLordwho delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and theLordbe with you!38Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail,39and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them. So David put them off.40Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.41And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him.42And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.43And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.44The Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.45Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of theLordof hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.46This day theLordwill deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,47and that all this assembly may know that theLordsaves not with sword and spear. For the battle is theLord's, and he will give you into our hand.48When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.49And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.51Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.Solomon's Wisdom(1 Kings 3:1-28)3:1Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of theLordand the wall around Jerusalem.2The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of theLord.3Solomon loved theLord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places.4And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.5At Gibeon theLordappeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what I shall give you.6And Solomon said, You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day.7And now, OLordmy God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.8And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude.9Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?10It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.11And God said to him, Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,12behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.13I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.14And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.15And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.16Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.17The one woman said, Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.18Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house.19And this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on him.20And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast.21When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.22But the other woman said, No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours. The first said, No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine. Thus they spoke before the king.23Then the king said, The one says, This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead; and the other says, No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.24And the king said, Bring me a sword. So a sword was brought before the king.25And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.26Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death. But the other said, He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.27Then the king answered and said, Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.28And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.Chariot of Fire(2 Kings 1:1-2:25)1:1After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel.2Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.3But the angel of theLordsaid to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?4Now therefore thus says theLord, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die. So Elijah went.5The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, Why have you returned?6And they said to him, There came a man to meet us, and said to us, Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says theLord, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.7He said to them, What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?8They answered him, He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.9Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, O man of God, the king says, Come down.10But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.11Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, O man of God, this is the king's order, Come down quickly!12But Elijah answered them, If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty. Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.13Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight.14Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.15Then the angel of theLordsaid to Elijah, Go down with him; do not be afraid of him. So he arose and went down with him to the king16and said to him, Thus says theLord, Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekronis it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.17So he died according to the word of theLordthat Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.18Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?2:1Now when theLordwas about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.2And Elijah said to Elisha, Please stay here, for theLordhas sent me as far as Bethel. But Elisha said, As theLordlives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel.3And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, Do you know that today theLordwill take away your master from over you? And he said, Yes, I know it; keep quiet.4Elijah said to him, Elisha, please stay here, for theLordhas sent me to Jericho. But he said, As theLordlives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho.5The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, Do you know that today theLordwill take away your master from over you? And he answered, Yes, I know it; keep quiet.6Then Elijah said to him, Please stay here, for theLordhas sent me to the Jordan. But he said, As theLordlives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So the two of them went on.7Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan.8Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you. And Elisha said, Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.10And he said, You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.11And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.12And Elisha saw it and he cried, My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen! And he saw him no more.Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.13And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.14Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, Where is theLord, the God of Elijah? And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.15Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.16And they said to him, Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. It may be that the Spirit of theLordhas caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley. And he said, You shall not send.17But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men. And for three days they sought him but did not find him.18And they came back to him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, Did I not say to you, Do not go?19Now the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.20He said, Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it. So they brought it to him.21Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, Thus says theLord, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.22So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.23He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!24And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of theLord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.25From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.Ezekiel's Vision(Ezekiel 37:1-14)37:1The hand of theLordwas upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of theLordand set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.2And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.3And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O LordGod, you know.4Then he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of theLord.5Thus says the LordGodto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am theLord.7So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.8And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.9Then he said to me, Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the LordGod: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.11Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.12Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the LordGod: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.13And you shall know that I am theLord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.14And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am theLord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares theLord.