On the Horn of Africa, a tiny 'country' has Congress' ear

FOREIGN POLICY

On the Horn of Africa, a tiny 'country' has Congress' ear

Somaliland's delegation swept through Washington, promising to support Taiwan and ditch China. All it wants is a little recognition.

By PHELIM KINE

12/21/2021 03:07 PM EST

As China floods Africa with billions of dollars in development aid, massive infrastructure investment and even talk of a new military base, a tiny East African “country” is offering the U.S. a deal that it says could counter China’s advance.

And Congress is listening.

Last month, a diplomatic delegation from the self-declared independent republic of Somaliland — which broke away from Somalia in 1991 but has no formal diplomatic ties with major developed nations — worked the halls of Capitol Hill seeking sit-downs with whomever would meet with them. The delegation presented itself to U.S. government agencies and lawmakers as an African ally insulated from the instability and China ties that define many of its neighbors.

Somaliland brought solid anti-China credentials to those meetings: it slammed the door on aid and cooperation with Beijing in July 2020 when it inked a diplomatic relations agreement with Taiwan.

That move infuriated the Chinese government because it marked a rare victory in Taiwan’s battle against Beijing’s diplomatic strangulation of the self-governing island.

Somaliland also has geostrategic potential: its location on the Gulf of Aden and deep-water port of Berbera, into which Dubai’s DP World has poured $442 million to build a new container cargo facility, would allow for naval power protection in the Middle East and East Africa. That’s a serious enticement given U.S. Africa Command’s security concerns about its base in neighboring Djibouti: a Chinese naval installation just a few miles away was stood up in 2017.

“We have come to the U.S. to show them that we have the same enemy, and our long-term strategy is we want to be closer to democracies and market economies like the U.S.,” said Bashir Goth, head of mission at Somaliland’s unofficial outpost in Alexandria, Va. “We are countering China [and] the Chinese influence in the Horn of Africa and we deserve [U.S. government] help.”

That pitch had impact — last week, the first-ever staff congressional delegation visited the territory, marking what the Somaliland Chronicle described as “the highest-level American delegation” in more than a decade. That fact-finding mission included staff members of Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The staffers returned home convinced of Somaliland’s value to the U.S. in countering China’s regional influence, said Piero Tozzi, senior foreign policy adviser for Smith.

“As China becomes more aggressive in pushing its debt trap model in Africa — the indebtedness of Djibouti and the transfer of control of Entebbe airport in Uganda provide it with political leverage in these countries — Somaliland becomes increasingly significant,” Tozzi said. “I would hope that the U.S. government will start to deal directly with the government in Hargeisa instead of going via Mogadishu, and join countries such as the United Kingdom, Ethiopia and the UAE in opening a representative office.”

In D.C., Somaliland’s delegation, which included Foreign Minister Essa Kayd Mohamoud and special envoy Edna Adan Ismail, made that same pitch for greater engagement and diplomatic relations when they visited congressional offices in November. They also want the U.S. government to remove Somaliland from its inclusion in the State Department’s “Level 4: Do not travel” classification for Somalia, which is wracked by political turmoil and violence from the al Qaeda-affiliated extremist group al-Shabab. That classification warns of hazards, including “car bombs, suicide bombers, individual attackers, and mortar fire” that are unknown in Somaliland.

“We are a safe country free of al-Shabab and al Qaeda terrorists,” Kayd said — an opinion echoed by the Lonely Planet travel guide company.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who serves on the Africa subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says he’s all-in — not least because of the potential for U.S. access to the Berbera port. The diplomatically isolated territory offers the U.S. a regional bulwark against “China’s efforts to bully its way into various economies,” Van Hollen said.

China's superpower status in Africa

That may be wishful thinking, given the level of China’s economic influence in Africa. Since 2000, the Chinese government has super-charged engagement through its Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Chinese government data notes construction of “6,000 kilometers of railways and roads… nearly 20 ports and more than 80 large power plants” across the continent. And that’s not even counting the total investments of Chinese state-owned and private sector investments in African countries, which totaled $4.2 billion in 2020 alone. Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged in December 2021 to increase the value of African exports to China $300 billion annually within three years from a current level of around $200 billion.

Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative has also lavished hundreds of billions of dollars in loans for infrastructure development projects in 40 African states since 2013. Those loans prompted then-USAID Administrator Mark Green in 2019 to accuse the Chinese government of state-backed predatory lending practices, something Beijing denies. China has also expanded military links in Africa through its naval port in Djibouti, a new base planned for Equatorial Guinea and through a sharp increase in training programs for African military personnel since 2006.

“My view is that the United States should be more engaged with Somaliland [and] what we're looking at is the opening of an office in Somaliland that would include some diplomatic representation... possibly a military liaison,” said Van Hollen. “China's mercantilist approach to the continent, and the fact that they use their centralized economic levers to exact concessions from these countries [makes] this is an opportunity to expand U.S. diplomatic presence in the region.”

Goth and the Somaliland delegation also met with representatives of the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, State Department and USAID. In those meetings, the Somalilanders made the case that the self-declared republic, a former British protectorate with 530 miles of coastline on the Gulf of Aden wedged between Djibouti, Somalia and Ethiopia, should be the U.S. government’s newest best friend on the continent.

Kayd said that the delegation reached an agreement with U.S. officials “to establish a framework for U.S.-Somaliland cooperation.” That may include allowing USAID to operate regional foreign aid operations from Somaliland as well as a currently undefined U.S. government “presence” in the territory, he added.

USAID, State and DoD offered a more ambiguous account of those meetings. A USAID written statement didn’t disclose any possible plans to use Somaliland as a conduit to neighboring Ethiopia and other African states. State said that in its meeting with Essa, it “expressed a willingness to explore opportunities to cooperate with Somaliland on issues of mutual interest,” a sentiment echoed by DoD, a State Department spokesperson told POLITICO.

All three agencies referenced the diplomatic awkwardness of Somaliland’s strained relationship with Somalia, which still claims sovereignty over the breakaway state 30 years after it unilaterally seceded. They expressed support for the “territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia, which includes Somaliland” and urged a “mutually acceptable solution on the question of Somaliland’s status,” the spokesperson said. In those meetings, U.S. government agencies “did not discuss on-the-ground presence of U.S. military personnel or equipment” in Somaliland, a senior administration official told POLITICO.

That ambiguity reflects U.S. sensitivities to concerns that greater international engagement with Somaliland might inspire restive regions across the continent, including in Cameroon, Ghana and Tanzania, to redouble efforts to seek independence.

“It has a very strong case [for diplomatic recognition], but its practicalities which are keeping international recognition because the African Union is scared to death of promoting fragmentation of some of its major members,” said Tibor Nagy, former assistant secretary of State for African Affairs.

Turning to Taiwan

Somaliland’s answer to that diplomatic impasse is a risky geopolitical chess move: embrace Taiwan. In July 2020, Somaliland and Taiwan sealed a bilateral relations deal that opened the door for Taiwanese investment and assistance and allowed both territories to open representative offices in each other’s capitals. A furious Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, reportedly sought to derail that agreement by offering Somaliland’s government sweeteners, including investment in airport and road projects.

But Somaliland stood firm with Taiwan and its offer of less capital-intensive investments in “fisheries, agriculture, energy, mining, public health [and] education.”

That’s been a win for both Taiwan as well as for Somaliland’s efforts to explicitly brand itself as Africa’s sole opponent to Chinese authoritarianism. “We have values and democracy and respect for human rights, and we want to run our government the way we want [so] we prefer to have Taiwan rather than China which is a dictatorship,” Kayd said.

Somaliland’s alliance with Taiwan is also strategic: it seeks to tap the self-governing island’s 50 years of experience in navigating international relations without a United Nations’ seat and with few — and often unreliable — diplomatic allies.

Taiwan’s value has grown in recent months as the U.S. has responded to intensifying military intimidation from China by boosting bilateral ties and inviting Taiwan representatives to President Joe Biden’s Summit for Democracy earlier this month. “The philosophy of the relationship between Taiwan and Somaliland is we’re in the same boat,” said Kayd. “We are both navigating together toward that goal of being countries that are free from China [influence].”

Taiwan sees a diplomatic foothold in Somaliland as an entry point for developing wider and deeper relations with other east African nations. Taiwan hopes such ties can provide some relief from Beijing’s efforts to diplomatically isolate the self-governing island. Taiwan’s diplomatic allies around the globe have shrunk to just 14 since Nicaragua switched ties to China on Dec. 9; its sole other ally on the continent is the monarchy of Eswatini in southern Africa, population 1.2 million.

The U.S. is unlikely to embrace Somaliland with full diplomatic recognition. But given the intensifying geostrategic competition between the U.S. and China in Africa — particularly for the mineral resources that will power the clean energy of the future — time is on Somaliland’s side.

“It took a while for people to realize the threat that China represents in Africa as we move into the 21st century … the United States is coming to this game late,” Nagy said.

© 2021 POLITICO LLC

HAPPY New Year 2022

Cyber Mercenaries’: How Israel’s Spyware Industry Is Getting Slammed Around the World

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'Cyber Mercenaries’: How Israel’s Spyware Industry Is Getting Slammed Around the World

U.S. blacklisting and scathing reports by Google and Facebook-owner Meta are only some of the steps being taken against Israeli firms that are not being properly supervised by agencies at home

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Sagi Cohen

21.12.2021 | 17:07 

At first glance, the Israeli startup Cobwebs Technologies seems like just another cybercompany. On its website, the firm proudly declares that it’s “a world leader in web intelligence.” In 2019, when it announced that it had raised $10 million, the company claimed to have developed a search engine for intelligence information and said it wanted to be the “Google for intelligence.”

Early in the coronavirus crisis, Cobwebs announced that it had developed a product that would predict the spread of the pandemic, and even boasted that it was working with the Defense Ministry’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure.

But the report released Thursday by Meta, Facebook’s parent company, exposes a more secretive element of the company’s activities. The report describes Cobwebs, three other Israeli companies and three outfits from India, China and North Macedonia as “cyber mercenaries.”

According to Meta, Cobwebs activates counterfeit accounts for its clients that conduct surveillance online, including on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Twitter. For example, the clients can collect information on activists, politicians and government officials around the world.

The counterfeit accounts also join communities and forums, tricking people to reveal personal data and later hacking the targets’ phones or computers. Cobwebs has clients in the United States but also in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

Meta’s report was anything but circumspect. It named the Israeli companies Cobwebs, Cognyte, Bluehawk and Black Cube, as well as North Macedonia’s Cytrox (which is apparently Israeli-owned), India-based firm BellTroX and “an unknown entity in China.” They are described as belonging to a “global surveillance-for-hire industry” whose methods are similar to that of the Israeli company NSO Group Technologies.

“Given the severity of their violations, we have banned them from our services,” Meta writes. “We also alerted around 50,000 people who we believe were targeted by these malicious activities worldwide, using the alert system we launched in 2015. We recently updated it to provide people with more granular details about the types of targeting and the actor behind it so they can take steps to protect their accounts, depending on the phase of the surveillance attack chain we detect in each case.

For the most part, the cybersecurity industry operates under the radar. While most companies don’t specialize in sophisticated hacking tools like NSO, the targets and methods are similar. These companies make sure they operate in a legally gray area and consider themselves legitimate intelligence-gathering firms.

Indeed, intelligence collection by countries and companies is done as a matter of course. Though some of the firms say their tools help fight terror or crime, Facebook is shining a spotlight on, for example, the hacking of devices of journalists, human rights activists and regime opponents in some 100 countries, including non-democracies.

Inthe report, Meta doesn’t discuss the clients’ motives, but these might include companies’ collecting intelligence on competitors, regimes surveilling their opponents, and people or organizations gathering intelligence for extortion or legal claims. “Find some dirt on him for me,” CEOs and politicians around the world might tell their people – who then contact the Israeli spyware purveyors.

Meta’s report is rare; the company hardly ever gets down to this level of detail. The cybersecurity companies gather intelligence by exploiting the platforms owned by Meta – WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. This lets Meta’s investigators identify the targets, clients and methods of operation. 

Inthe first stage, the counterfeit account makes contact with the target and persuades him or her to carry on a conversation and provide information such as contact details or passwords.

In the second stage, surveillance software is implanted in the target’s phone or computer; it can be a sophisticated cyberwarfare tool or merely an off-the-shelf product. Either way, it allows full surveillance of one’s digital life. The Israeli companies named by Meta either performed some or both of these stages.

Social engineering

Besides Cobwebs, Meta also named Cognyte, the firm headed by Elad Sharon that was spun off from Israeli company Verint in 2019. According to the report, Cognyte sells tools to manage counterfeit accounts on social media sites from Facebook to YouTube to Russia’s Vkontakte. The tools, Meta says, allow clients “to social-engineer people and collect data.”

In other words, they get the victim to, for example, reveal sensitive details or click on a malicious link. Cognyte’s clients are located in countries including Israel, Colombia, Kenya, Morocco, Jordan and Indonesia. Among the targets: journalists and politicians.

Black Cube, a corporate intelligence company headed by Dan Zorella, is already familiar with controversy. According to Meta, the company enables clients to pose as other people and acquire a person’s email address for the purpose of phishing attacks.

Targets have been identified in the medical industry, mining, energy and among nonprofit groups. Other targets have included Palestinian activists, people in the Russian media, and experts in academia, high tech and finance.

Bluehawk, headed by Guy Klisman, an alumnus of Israeli Military Intelligence’s research division, provides spyware options including the collecting of legal information and the management of counterfeit accounts designed to persuade people to install malware. One common practice is to pose as a journalist. Victims have included Emirati and Qatari politicians and business people. 

Another firm mentioned by Meta is North Macedonia-based Cytrox, which develops hacking tools similar to those of NSO. According to a report by Citizen Lab, a University of Toronto research group that focuses on abuses of surveillance technology, Cytrox has close ties with organizations and businesspeople in Israel. According to a 2019 article in Forbes, Cytrox was acquired by the Israeli Tal Dillian, a former commander of a Military Intelligence technology unit and now a cyberwarfare entrepreneur.

Meta attacking Israel?

Gathering information on users, of course, is at the heart of Meta’s business model, and the company controlled by Mark Zuckerberg has been implicated in its own surveillance and information-collection scandals such as the Cambridge Analytica affair. Facebook also bought the Israeli app Onavo that let Facebook gather data on its users’ actions.

Sources close to Cobwebs attack Meta. “Facebook first chose to go to the media and only later informed the companies. If they were truly concerned about their users’ well-being, they would have first approached the companies and not the media, as is customary,” one source said.

"Cobwebs is a standard company; there are dozens like it around the world. Not one of its many competitors in the United States or Europe is mentioned in the report, which leads you to the conclusion that this is a well-orchestrated attack against Israeli companies in an attempt to show that Meta is protecting its users.”

Meanwhile, digital surveillance and spyware tools have become an extremely popular export sector for Israel. These companies exploit the abundance of information amassed over the years by the IDF in the cyber and intelligence fields and combine it with prowess in information analysis and digital advertising. Thus they’re strong technically, but sometimes ethically less so.

There is nothing new about Israeli high-tech firms operating in gray areas when it comes to violating privacy and acquiring data. For instance, the software company Glassbox got in trouble with Apple after it was revealed that it enabled apps to secretly record iPhone users’ actions.

Also, an add-on of the Israeli company Similarweb was blocked by Google’s Chrome browser because it tracked users’ web surfing, while a VPN add-on of the Israeli company Hola (of the outfit now known as Bright Data) has been repeatedly accused of violations of privacy and data security – until is was recently blocked and removed by Chrome.

But the companies named by Meta do espionage of an entirely different level. It’s very possible that these firms aren’t taking into account that the rules of the game are starting to change.

The Meta report is part of a wave of events showing that the technology sector’s patience with spyware companies is wearing thin. The tech giants may themselves be intelligence gathering empires, but they’re less conciliatory when it comes to Israeli third-party companies exploiting their platforms to conduct surveillance and collect data on their users.

Israel lacks supervision

Similarly, governments and regulatory agencies in the United States and Europe are beginning to realize that the phenomenon must be addressed. “It’s significant, because it shows this is not the problem of a single company or a handful of companies. It’s an industry-wide problem,” John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, told Bloomberg.

The evidence is what has happened in recent months to NSO. Despite its claims that it’s working against terror and crime, it has been sued by Facebook and Apple, with the U.S. administration slapping on sanctions (and on another Israeli cyberwarfare company, Candiru).

Last week, Google released a report with unprecedented detail on the methods of Pegasus, the hacking tool developed by NSO. According to foreign media reports, all this has gotten NSO to consider shutting down or selling its cyberwarfare operations.

Should this process worsen, the Israeli cyberwarfare and spyware industries, which still enjoy freedom of action, will have to show greater accountability, change the way they operate, become more transparent, alter their business models or maybe even close down. This wouldn’t be the first time; pressure from the technology giants once destroyed an entire industry that developed in Israel: invasive toolbars that took over people’s browsers and computers. A clutch of Israeli companies had to shut down or change direction.

Should this process worsen, the Israeli cyberwarfare and spyware industries, which still enjoy freedom of action, will have to show greater accountability, change the way they operate, become more transparent, alter their business models or maybe even close down. This wouldn’t be the first time; pressure from the technology giants once destroyed an entire industry that developed in Israel: invasive toolbars that took over people’s browsers and computers. A clutch of Israeli companies had to shut down or change direction.

Yet somehow all the pressure on Israeli companies is coming from foreign governments and corporations. Aside from the media and a few civil society groups, no government ministry, agency or regulator – not the departments that oversee exports at the economics and defense ministries, not the Privacy Protection Authority and not the National Cyber Directorate – have expressed any special interest in supervising or restricting use of dubious practices of Israeli spyware companies.

These companies offer their services to nondemocratic regimes, and this is happening even though most of these firms depend on the expertise of IDF veterans.

Black Cube said in a statement: “Black Cube does not engage in any phishing or hacking and does not operate in the cyberworld. Black Cube is a litigation support firm that uses legal human-intelligence investigation methods to obtain information for litigations and arbitrations. Black Cube works with the world’s leading law firms in proving bribery, uncovering corruption and recovering hundreds of millions in stolen assets. Black Cube obtains legal advice in every jurisdiction in which we operate in order to ensure that all our agents’ activities are fully compliant with local laws.”

Cobweb said: “Our products are based on open source data and we operate solely in accordance with the law and the strictest standards of privacy protection.”

Bluehawk said: “The Bluehawk company rejects the claims of Meta, whose representatives have never made contact with the company to clarify matters. The company operates in business information research and support for litigation procedures, and does not engage in any way in espionage or phishing, and is not close in its operations to the companies listed by Meta, because the research and collection is carried out solely from open sources.”

Cognyte did not immediately comment.

What does the Bible say about Negative ?Thinking100 Bible Verses aboutNegative Thinking

What does the Bible say about 

Negative Thinking

100 Bible Verses about

Negative Thinking

 

Habtamu_abino@aol.com 

Philippians 4:8-9 ESV / 388 helpful votes 

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV / 339 helpful votes 

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Luke 6:37 ESV / 272 helpful votes 

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 ESV / 262 helpful votes 

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV / 261 helpful votes 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV / 234 helpful votes 

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Psalm 94:19 ESV / 213 helpful votes 

When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

Isaiah 26:3 ESV / 198 helpful votes 

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

James 3:14-15 ESV / 164 helpful votes 

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

Proverbs 4:23 ESV / 163 helpful votes 

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Hebrews 4:12 ESV / 162 helpful votes 

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

1 John 1:9 ESV / 138 helpful votes 

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Psalm 37:1-40 ESV / 135 helpful votes 

Of David. Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. ...

Romans 12:1-2 ESV / 107 helpful votes 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Revelation 21:4 ESV / 104 helpful votes 

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 104 helpful votes 

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV / 100 helpful votes 

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Mark 11:23 ESV / 94 helpful votes 

Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.

John 8:44 ESV / 83 helpful votes 

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV / 79 helpful votes 

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Ephesians 6:17 ESV / 73 helpful votes 

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV / 72 helpful votes 

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

Galatians 5:21 ESV / 71 helpful votes 

Envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Romans 10:4 ESV / 66 helpful votes 

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Philippians 2:5 ESV / 63 helpful votes 

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

1 Peter 3:18 ESV / 54 helpful votes 

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

Luke 16:19-31 ESV / 54 helpful votes 

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. ...

Isaiah 54:17 ESV / 53 helpful votes 

No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”

1 Peter 5:10 ESV / 52 helpful votes 

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Proverbs 23:7 ESV / 48 helpful votes 

For he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

Galatians 5:22 ESV / 42 helpful votes 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Matthew 6:23 ESV / 38 helpful votes 

But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Galatians 6:7 ESV / 35 helpful votes 

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

1 Corinthians 11:1-34 ESV / 35 helpful votes 

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. ...

1 Chronicles 16:11 ESV / 34 helpful votes 

Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV / 33 helpful votes 

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Psalm 100:1-5 ESV / 33 helpful votes 

A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Luke 6:45 ESV / 30 helpful votes 

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Isaiah 49:24-26 ESV / 30 helpful votes 

Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued? For thus says the Lord: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children. I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Proverbs 15:1 ESV / 30 helpful votes 

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Matthew 21:22 ESV / 28 helpful votes 

And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

1 John 4:4 ESV / 27 helpful votes 

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Matthew 15:11 ESV / 27 helpful votes 

It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

Psalm 19:14 ESV / 27 helpful votes 

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Romans 12:2 ESV / 24 helpful votes 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

John 14:27 ESV / 24 helpful votes 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Matthew 17:1-9 ESV / 24 helpful votes 

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” ...

Psalm 95:2 ESV / 22 helpful votes 

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

2 Corinthians 11:3 ESV / 20 helpful votes 

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Psalm 27:13 ESV / 20 helpful votes 

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!

1 Samuel 30:6 ESV / 20 helpful votes 

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Psalm 119:11 ESV / 19 helpful votes 

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 100:4 ESV / 19 helpful votes 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

Esther 5:1-14 ESV / 18 helpful votes 

On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, in front of the king's quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.” Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked.” So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared. ...

Ephesians 5:20 ESV / 17 helpful votes 

Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

1 Corinthians 4:5 ESV / 16 helpful votes 

Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.

Daniel 11:14-12:13 ESV / 16 helpful votes 

“In those times many shall rise against the king of the south, and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they shall fail. Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siegeworks and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, or even his best troops, for there shall be no strength to stand. But he who comes against him shall do as he wills, and none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the glorious land, with destruction in his hand. He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom, but it shall not stand or be to his advantage. Afterward he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many of them, but a commander shall put an end to his insolence. Indeed, he shall turn his insolence back upon him. ...

Psalm 139:17 ESV / 16 helpful votes 

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

James 1:2-4 ESV / 15 helpful votes 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Romans 8:1-39 ESV / 15 helpful votes 

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ...

1 Peter 1:1-25 ESV / 14 helpful votes 

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ...

James 4:1-17 ESV / 14 helpful votes 

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? ...

James 3:11-18 ESV / 14 helpful votes 

Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ...

Ephesians 4:1-32 ESV / 14 helpful votes 

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ...

Romans 1:28 ESV / 14 helpful votes 

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

Proverbs 17:13-28 ESV / 14 helpful votes 

If anyone returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house. The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out. He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord. Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense? A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. ...

Joshua 1:9 ESV / 13 helpful votes 

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Philippians 4:1-23 ESV / 12 helpful votes 

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ...

Ephesians 4:25-6:12 ESV / 12 helpful votes 

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. ...

Jonah 2:1-10 ESV / 12 helpful votes 

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head ...

Proverbs 17:22-18:12 ESV / 12 helpful votes 

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice. The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him. To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good, nor to strike the noble for their uprightness. ...

Deuteronomy 6:1-25 ESV / 12 helpful votes 

“Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ...

Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV / 11 helpful votes 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

2 Timothy 2:11-12 ESV / 11 helpful votes 

The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;

Revelation 20:7-22:12 ESV / 10 helpful votes 

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. ...

Revelation 1:1-20 ESV / 10 helpful votes 

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ...

Hebrews 12:20-13:6 ESV / 10 helpful votes 

For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. ...

Colossians 3:1-4:18 ESV / 10 helpful votes 

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ...

2 Corinthians 6:1-7:16 ESV / 10 helpful votes 

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; ...

2 Corinthians 4:1-18 ESV / 10 helpful votes 

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. ...

Jeremiah 29:11-13 ESV / 10 helpful votes 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Proverbs 18:14-21 ESV / 10 helpful votes 

A man's spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear? An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before the great. The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him. The lot puts an end to quarrels and decides between powerful contenders. ...

Proverbs 16:1-33 ESV / 10 helpful votes 

The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished. ...

Proverbs 3:1-4:27 ESV / 10 helpful votes 

My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. ...

Psalm 119:28-50 ESV / 10 helpful votes 

My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word! Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law! I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me. I cling to your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame! I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart! ...

1 John 4:1-5:21 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. ...

Romans 8:28 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

John 16:13-33 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ...

Luke 10:1-11:54 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ ...

Matthew 14:23-36 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” ...

Matthew 12:34-45 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” ...

Matthew 2:12-23 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. ...

Daniel 1:1-2:49 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. ...

Jeremiah 42:1-22 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, came near and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let our plea for mercy come before you, and pray to the Lord your God for us, for all this remnant—because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us— that the Lord your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your request, and whatever the Lord answers you I will tell you. I will keep nothing back from you.” Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the Lord your God sends you to us. ...

Isaiah 37:1-38:22 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’” When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, ...

Psalm 119:55-98 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

I remember your name in the night, O Lord, and keep your law. This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts. The Lord is my portion; I promise to keep your words. I entreat your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise. When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies; ...

1 Samuel 5:1-6:21 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. ...

1 Samuel 1:1-2:36 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. ...

Deuteronomy 34:1-12 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, ...

Exodus 16:1-17:16 ESV / 8 helpful votes 

They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” ...

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Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com. Cite this page: Editor: Stephen Smith. Publication date: Dec 18, 2021. Publisher: OpenBible.info.