God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment; the breadth of his understanding ¹  was as infinite as the sand on the seashore.

(Hiram’s fleet, which carried gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a very large quantity of fine timber and precious gems.

Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, “Ahab worshiped ¹  Baal a little; Jehu will worship ²  him with great devotion. ³ 

He passed his son ¹  through the fire ²  and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. ³  He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. ⁴ 

Hezekiah was very wealthy and greatly respected. He made storehouses for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, and all his other valuable possessions. ¹ 

So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.

(3:33) ¹  Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became angry and was quite upset. He derided the Jews,

Then those in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers ¹  has failed! The debris is so great that we are unable to rebuild the wall.”

I purchased male and female slaves, and I owned slaves who were born in my house; ¹  I also possessed more livestock – both herds and flocks – than any of my predecessors in Jerusalem. ² 

The sleep of the laborer is pleasant – whether he eats little or much – but the wealth of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

For he does not think ¹  much about the fleeting ²  days of his life because God keeps him preoccupied ³  with the joy he derives from his activity. ⁴ 

Not only was the Teacher wise, ¹  but he also taught knowledge to the people; he carefully evaluated ²  and arranged ³  many proverbs.

I will make many stumble. ¹  They will fall over one another in their hurry to flee. ²  They will say, ‘Get up! Let’s go back to our own people. Let’s go back to our homelands because the enemy is coming to destroy us.’ ³ 

Israel has forgotten his Maker and built royal palaces, and Judah has built many fortified cities. But I will send fire on their cities; it will consume their royal citadels.

Israel was a fertile vine that yielded fruit. As his fruit multiplied, he multiplied altars to Baal. ¹  As his land prospered, they adorned the fertility pillars.

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield ¹  and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” ² 

saying, “Take home ¹  great wealth, a lot of cattle, ²  silver, gold, bronze, iron, and a lot of ³  clothing. Divide up the goods captured from your enemies with your brothers.”

When the people saw him, ¹  they praised their god, saying, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!” ² 

Saul replied, “I have sinned. Come back, my son David. I won’t harm you, for you treated my life with value ¹  this day. I have behaved foolishly and have made a very terrible mistake!” ² 

David inquired, “How were things going? ¹  Tell me!” He replied, “The people fled from the battle and many of them ²  fell dead. ³  Even Saul and his son Jonathan are dead!”