New English [1970], THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS; CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE) [word count] [B16000].
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1 After him Nathan came forward
to be prophet in the reign of David.
2 As the fat is separated from the sacrifice,
so David was chosen out of all Israel.
3 He played with lions as though they were kids,
with bears as though they were lambs.
4 In his youth did he not kill a giant
and restore the honour of his people,
when he whirled his sling with its stone
and brought down boastful Goliath?
5 For he called on the Lord Most High,
who gave strength to his right arm
to strike down that mighty warrior
and win victory for his people.
6 So they hailed him as conqueror of tens of thousands,
they sang his praises for the blessings bestowed by the Lord,
when he was offered the royal diadem.
7 For he subdued their enemies on every side
and crushed the resistance of the Philistines,
whose power remains broken to this day.
8 In all he did he gave thanks,
ascribing glory to the Holy One, the Most High.
With his whole heart he sang hymns of praise,
to show his love for his Maker.
9 He appointed musicians to stand before the altar
and sing sweet music to the harp.
10 So he gave splendour to the festivals
and fixed for all time the round of sacred seasons,
when men praise the holy name of the Lord
and the sanctuary resounds from morning to night.
11 The Lord pardoned his sins
and endowed him with great power for ever:
he gave him a covenant of kingship
and the glorious throne of Israel.
12 He was succeeded by a wise son, Solomon,
who, thanks to his father David, lived in spacious days.
13 He reigned in an age of peace,
because God made all his frontiers quiet,
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Heroes of Israel's past
and so he was able to build a house in God's honour,
a sanctuary founded to last for ever.
14 How wise you were, Solomon, in your youth!
Your mind was like a brimming river;
15 your influence spread throughout the world,
which you filled with your proverbs and riddles.
16 Your fame reached to distant islands,
and you were beloved for your peaceful reign.
17 Your songs, your proverbs, your parables,
and the answers you gave were the admiration of the world.
18 In the name of the Lord God,
who is known as the God of Israel,
you amassed gold and silver
as though they were tin and lead.
19 But you took women to lie at your side
and gave yourself up to their control.
20 You stained your reputation
and tainted your line.
You brought retribution on your children
and made them grieve over your folly,
21 because it divided the sovereignty
and produced out of Ephraim a rebel kingdom.
22 But the Lord never ceases to be merciful;
he does not destroy what he himself has made;
he will not wipe out the children of his chosen servant
or cut short the line of the man who has loved him.
So he granted a remnant to Jacob
and let one scion of David survive.
23 So Solomon died like his forefathers
and left one of his sons to succeed him,
a man of weak intelligence, the fool of the nation,
Rehoboam, whose policy drove the people to revolt.
Then Jeroboam son of Nebat led Israel into sin
and started Ephraim on its wicked course.
24 Their sins increased beyond measure,
until they were driven into exile from their native land;
25 for they had explored every kind of wickedness,
until retribution came upon them.
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Heroes of Israel's past
New English [1970], THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS; CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE) [word count] [B16000].
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