She does not recognise that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal.
But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors, he brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
I have now brought the first of the land’s produce that you, Lord, have given me. You will then place the container before the Lord your God and bow down to him.
The Lord said to Gideon, ‘You have too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say, “I saved myself.”
Then Amaziah said to the man of God, ‘What should I do about the 3.5 tonnes of silver I gave to Israel’s division? ’ The man of God replied, ‘The Lord is able to give you much more than this.’
Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favour to the skilful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them.
So remember your Creator in the days of your youth: Before the days of adversity come, and the years approach when you will say, ‘I have no delight in them’;
houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant #– #and when you eat and are satisfied,
‘Carefully follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land the Lord swore to your ancestors.
Riches and honour come from you, and you are the ruler of everything. Power and might are in your hand, and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all.
Through their dreams that they tell one another, they plan to cause my people to forget my name as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship.