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19 Feasts are made for laughter,
    wine gladdens life,
    and money meets every need.(A)

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15     and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine
    and bread to strengthen the human heart.(A)

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19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’(A)

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You have already spent enough time in doing what the gentiles like to do, living in debauchery, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry.(A)

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15 You Philippians indeed know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone.(A) 16 For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs more than once. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit[a] that accumulates to your account.(B) 18 I have been paid in full and have more than enough; I am fully satisfied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.(C) 19 And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 4.17 Gk fruit

11 There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
    all joy has reached its eventide;
    the gladness of the earth is banished.(A)

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11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance,
    an advantage to those who see the sun.(A)
12 For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,
    and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to the one who possesses it.

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They have distributed freely; they have given to the poor;
    their righteousness endures forever;
    their horn is exalted in honor.(A)

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18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,(A) 19 as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to one another, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts,(B)

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29 The disciples determined that, according to their ability, each would send relief to the brothers and sisters living in Judea;(A)

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45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds[a] to all, as any had need.

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Footnotes

  1. 2.45 Gk them

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth[a] so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the eternal homes.[b](A)

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Footnotes

  1. 16.9 Gk mammon
  2. 16.9 Gk tents

and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to them[a] out of their own resources.

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Footnotes

  1. 8.3 Other ancient authorities read him

21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money[a] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 19.21 Gk lacks the money

27 However, so that we do not give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me.”(A)

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Belshazzar’s Feast

King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand.(A)

Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar commanded that they bring in the vessels of gold and silver that his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.(B) So they brought in the vessels of gold that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.(C)

The Writing on the Wall

Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the wall of the royal palace, next to the lampstand. The king was watching the hand as it wrote.(D) Then the king’s face turned pale, and his thoughts terrified him. His limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.(E) The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the diviners, and the king said to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me its interpretation shall be clothed in purple, have a chain of gold around his neck, and rank third in the kingdom.”(F) Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king the interpretation.(G) Then King Belshazzar became greatly terrified, and his face turned pale, and his lords were perplexed.(H)

10 The queen, when she heard the discussion of the king and his lords, came into the banquet hall. The queen said, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts terrify you or your face grow pale.(I) 11 There is a man in your kingdom who is endowed with a spirit of the holy gods.[a] In the days of your father he was found to have enlightenment, understanding, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and diviners,[b](J) 12 because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will reveal the interpretation.”(K)

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Footnotes

  1. 5.11 Or a holy, divine spirit
  2. 5.11 Aram adds the king your father

18 Her merchandise and her wages will be dedicated to the Lord; her profits[a] will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who live in the presence of the Lord.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 23.18 Heb it

It is better to go to the house of mourning
    than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of everyone,
    and the living will lay it to heart.(A)
Sorrow is better than laughter,
    for by sadness of countenance the heart is made glad.(B)
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise
    than to hear the song of fools.(C)
For like the crackling of thorns under a pot,
    so is the laughter of fools;
    this also is vanity.

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The Futility of Self-Indulgence

I said to myself, “Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But again, this also was vanity.(A) I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”(B)

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and said to them, “As far as we were able, we have bought back our Jewish kindred who had been sold to other nations, but now you are selling your own kin, who must then be bought back by us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say.(A)

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All their neighbors aided them with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, with livestock, and with valuable gifts, besides all that was freely offered.

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11 Whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was a large amount of silver in it, the king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. So they did day after day and collected silver in abundance.(A) 12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. 13 So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward at their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it.(B) 14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the silver to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the Lord, utensils for the service and for the burnt offerings, and ladles, and vessels of gold and silver. They offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord regularly all the days of Jehoiada.

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So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones, and marble in abundance.(A) Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house,(B) and for all the work to be done by artisans, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating themselves today to the Lord?”

Then the leaders of ancestral houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of the thousands and of the hundreds, and the officers over the king’s work.(C) They gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron.(D) Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, into the care of Jehiel the Gershonite.(E) Then the people rejoiced because these had given willingly, for with single mind they had offered freely to the Lord; King David also rejoiced greatly.(F)

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24 But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

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28 Then Absalom commanded his servants, “Watch when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not be afraid; have I not myself commanded you? Be courageous and valiant.”(A)

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