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14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “Hushai’s advice is better than Ahithophel’s.” For the Lord had determined to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel, which really was the better plan, so that he could bring disaster on Absalom!

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14 Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice(A) of Hushai the Arkite is better than that of Ahithophel.”(B) For the Lord had determined to frustrate(C) the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster(D) on Absalom.(E)

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34 Return to Jerusalem and tell Absalom, ‘I will now be your adviser, O king, just as I was your father’s adviser in the past.’ Then you can frustrate and counter Ahithophel’s advice.

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34 But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘Your Majesty, I will be your servant; I was your father’s servant in the past, but now I will be your servant,’(A) then you can help me by frustrating(B) Ahithophel’s advice.

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19 As the Scriptures say,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
    and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”[a]

20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:19 Isa 29:14.

19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[a](A)

20 Where is the wise person?(B) Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age?(C) Has not God made foolish(D) the wisdom of the world?

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 1:19 Isaiah 29:14

10 Call your councils of war, but they will be worthless.
    Develop your strategies, but they will not succeed.
    For God is with us![a]

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Footnotes

  1. 8:10 Hebrew Immanuel!

10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;(A)
    propose your plan, but it will not stand,(B)
    for God is with us.[a](C)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 8:10 Hebrew Immanuel

30 No human wisdom or understanding or plan
    can stand against the Lord.

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30 There is no wisdom,(A) no insight, no plan
    that can succeed against the Lord.(B)

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21 You can make many plans,
    but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.

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21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
    but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.(A)

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31 When someone told David that his adviser Ahithophel was now backing Absalom, David prayed, “O Lord, let Ahithophel give Absalom foolish advice!”

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31 Now David had been told, “Ahithophel(A) is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David prayed, “Lord, turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.”

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19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say,

“He traps the wise
    in the snare of their own cleverness.”[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 3:19 Job 5:13.

19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness(A) in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”[a];(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 3:19 Job 5:13

“The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light.

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“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world(A) are more shrewd(B) in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.(C)

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37 Who can command things to happen
    without the Lord’s permission?

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37 Who can speak and have it happen
    if the Lord has not decreed it?(A)

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12 He frustrates the plans of schemers
    so the work of their hands will not succeed.
13 He traps the wise in their own cleverness
    so their cunning schemes are thwarted.
14 They find it is dark in the daytime,
    and they grope at noon as if it were night.

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12 He thwarts the plans(A) of the crafty,
    so that their hands achieve no success.(B)
13 He catches the wise(C) in their craftiness,(D)
    and the schemes of the wily are swept away.(E)
14 Darkness(F) comes upon them in the daytime;
    at noon they grope as in the night.(G)

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23 Absalom followed Ahithophel’s advice, just as David had done. For every word Ahithophel spoke seemed as wise as though it had come directly from the mouth of God.

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23 Now in those days the advice(A) Ahithophel gave was like that of one who inquires of God. That was how both David(B) and Absalom regarded all of Ahithophel’s advice.

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28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel,[a] because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”

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Footnotes

  1. 32:28 Jacob sounds like the Hebrew words for “heel” and “deceiver.” Israel means “God fights.”

28 Then the man said, “Your name(A) will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[a](B) because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 32:28 Israel probably means he struggles with God.