“The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Rehoboam Fortifies Judah

Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built up towns for defense in Judah:

He strengthened their defenses and put commanders in them, with supplies of food, olive oil and wine.

In Jerusalem he made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defenses so that soldiers could shoot arrows and hurl large stones from the walls. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.

Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.

Job’s Final Defense

Job continued his discourse:

(“Oh, that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing.

Awake, and rise to my defense! Contend for me, my God and Lord.

The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.

Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.”

The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah, and you looked in that day to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest.

Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made as part of his defense against Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.

They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks.

Are you better than Thebes, situated on the Nile, with water around her? The river was her defense, the waters her wall.

Draw water for the siege, strengthen your defenses! Work the clay, tread the mortar, repair the brickwork!

In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian.

The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people.

“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”

When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense.

Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.”

Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense:

“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews,

At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”

This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me.