Proverbs 22:11
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11 Those who love a pure heart and are gracious in speech
will have the king as a friend.(A)
Proverbs 16:13
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13 Righteous lips are the delight of a king,
and he loves those who speak what is right.(A)
Matthew 5:8
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8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.(A)
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Proverbs 14:35
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35 A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor,
but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.(A)
Psalm 101:6
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6 I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
so that they may live with me;
whoever walks in the way that is blameless
shall minister to me.(A)
Psalm 45:2
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2 You are the most handsome of men;
grace is poured upon your lips;
therefore God has blessed you forever.(A)
Luke 4:22
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22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”(A)
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Daniel 6:20-23
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20 When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?”(A) 21 Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.”(B) 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him because he had trusted in his God.(C)
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Daniel 3:30
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30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.(A)
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Daniel 2:46-49
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Daniel and His Friends Promoted
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, worshiped Daniel, and commanded that a grain offering and incense be offered to him.(A) 47 The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery!”(B) 48 Then the king promoted Daniel, gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.(C) 49 Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court.(D)
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Esther 10:3
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3 For Mordecai the Jew was next in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was powerful among the Jews and popular with his many kindred, for he sought the good of his people and interceded for the welfare of all his descendants.(A)
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Nehemiah 2:4-6
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4 Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.(A) 5 Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors’ graves, so that I may rebuild it.” 6 The king said to me (the queen also was sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a date.(B)
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Ezra 7:6-11
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6 this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses that the Lord the God of Israel had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was upon him.(A)
7 Some of the people of Israel and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants also went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.(B) 8 They came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. 9 On the first day of the first month the journey up from Babylon was begun, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the gracious hand of his God was upon him.(C) 10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach the statutes and ordinances in Israel.(D)
The Letter of Artaxerxes to Ezra
11 This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, a scholar of the words of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel:
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Genesis 41:39-57
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39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”(A) 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”(B) 42 Removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph’s hand; he arrayed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.(C) 43 He had him ride in the chariot of his second-in-command, and they cried out in front of him, “Bow the knee!”[a] Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.(D) 44 Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”(E) 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah, and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife. Thus Joseph gained authority over the land of Egypt.
46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.(F) 47 During the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. 48 He gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plenty[b] in the land of Egypt and stored up food in the cities; he stored up in every city the food from the fields around it. 49 So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance—like the sand of the sea—that he stopped measuring it; it was beyond measure.
50 Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.(G) 51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh,[c] “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” 52 The second he named Ephraim,[d] “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my misfortunes.”(H)
53 The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of Egypt came to an end, 54 and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every country, but throughout the land of Egypt there was bread.(I) 55 When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do.” 56 And since the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses[e] and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.(J) 57 Moreover, all the world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine became severe throughout the world.
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