From Aroer,<n id="1" /> which is at the edge of Wadi Arnon (it is the city in the wadi),<n id="2" /> all the way to Gilead there was not a town able to resist us &#8211; the <sc>Lordsc> our God gave them all to us.

There was nothing missing, whether small or great. He retrieved sons and daughters, the plunder, and everything else they had taken.<n id="1" /> David brought everything back.

He took away the treasures of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including all the golden shields that Solomon had made.

Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet<n id="1" /> high. The bronze top of one pillar was about four and a half feet<n id="2" /> high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its latticework was like it.p>

Ornan told David, &#8220;You can have it!<n id="1" /> My master, the king, may do what he wants.<n id="2" /> Look, I am giving you the oxen for burnt sacrifices, the threshing sledges for wood, and the wheat for an offering. I give it all to you.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made.

<p class="bodytext">From his own royal flocks and herds, Josiah supplied the people with 30,000 lambs and goats for the Passover sacrifice, as well as 3,000 cattle.<n id="1" />

He brought against them the king of the Babylonians, who slaughtered<n id="1" /> their young men in their temple.<n id="2" /> He did not spare<n id="3" /> young men or women, or even the old and aging. God<n id="4" /> handed everyone over to him.

<p class="bodytext">The exiles who were returning from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel &#8211; twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven male lambs, along with twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the <sc>Lordsc>.

<p class="poetry">God has made everything fit beautifully<n id="1" /> in its appropriate time,p> <p class="poetry">but<n id="2" /> he has also placed ignorance<n id="3" /> in the human heart<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">so that<n id="5" /> people<n id="6" /> cannot discover what God has ordained,<n id="7" />p> <p class="poetry">from the beginning to the end<n id="8" /> of their lives.<n id="9" />p>

<p class="poetry">For the fate of humans<n id="1" /> and the fate of animals are the same:p> <p class="poetry">As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath.p> <p class="poetry">There is no advantage for humans over animals,p> <p class="poetry">for both are fleeting.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">So I reflected on all this,<n id="1" /> attempting to clear<n id="2" /> it all up.p> <p class="poetry">I concluded that<n id="3" /> the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God;p> <p class="poetry">whether a person will be loved or hated<n id="4" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">no one knows what lies ahead.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Everyone shares the same fate<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the righteous and the wicked,p> <p class="poetry">the good and the bad,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the ceremonially clean and unclean,p> <p class="poetry">those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.p> <p class="poetry">What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.p>

<p class="poetry">Just as you do not know the path<n id="1" /> of the wind,p> <p class="poetry">or how the bones form<n id="2" /> in the womb of a pregnant woman,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.p>

<p class="bodytext">To you this entire prophetic revelation<n id="1" /> is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read<n id="2" /> and say, &#8220;Read this,&#8221; he responds, &#8220;I can&#8217;t, because it is sealed.&#8221;

<p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;When<n id="1" /> juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,p> <p class="poetry">someone says, &#8216;Don&#8217;t destroy it, for it contains juice.&#8217;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">So I will do for the sake of my servants &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">I will not destroy everyone.<n id="3" />p>

The bronze top of one pillar was about seven and one-half feet<n id="1" /> high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it.

Now I will tell you the truth.p><t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;Three<n id="1" /> more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth<n id="2" /> king will be unusually rich,<n id="3" /> more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against<n id="4" /> the kingdom of Greece.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Look, today I am about to die.<n id="1" /> You know with all your heart and being<n id="2" /> that not even one of all the faithful promises the <sc>Lordsc> your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized &#8211; not one promise is unfulfilled!<n id="3" />