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Stories of Strength Through Pain in the Bible

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch31" data-usfm="GEN.31">
 <div class="label">31</div><div class="s1">Jacob Flees From Laban</div><div class="p">1Jacob heard that Laban&#8217;s sons were saying, &#8220;Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.&#8221; 2And Jacob noticed that Laban&#8217;s attitude toward him was not what it had been.</div><div class="p">3Then the Lord said to Jacob, &#8220;Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.&#8221;</div><div class="p">4So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. 5He said to them, &#8220;I see that your father&#8217;s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. 6You know that I&#8217;ve worked for your father with all my strength, 7yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. 8If he said, &#8216;The speckled ones will be your wages,&#8217; then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, &#8216;The streaked ones will be your wages,&#8217; then all the flocks bore streaked young. 9So God has taken away your father&#8217;s livestock and has given them to me.</div><div class="p">10&#8220;In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. 11The angel of God said to me in the dream, &#8216;Jacob.&#8217; I answered, &#8216;Here I am.&#8217; 12And he said, &#8216;Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. 13I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p">14Then Rachel and Leah replied, &#8220;Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father&#8217;s estate? 15Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. 16Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.&#8221;</div><div class="p">17Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, 18and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram,#31:18 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.</div><div class="p">19When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father&#8217;s household gods. 20Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. 21So he fled with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.</div><div class="s1">Laban Pursues Jacob</div><div class="p">22On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. 23Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. 24Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, &#8220;Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.&#8221;</div><div class="p">25Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. 26Then Laban said to Jacob, &#8220;What have you done? You&#8217;ve deceived me, and you&#8217;ve carried off my daughters like captives in war. 27Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn&#8217;t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels and harps? 28You didn&#8217;t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing. 29I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, &#8216;Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.&#8217; 30Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father&#8217;s household. But why did you steal my gods?&#8221;</div><div class="p">31Jacob answered Laban, &#8220;I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. 32But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.&#8221; Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.</div><div class="p">33So Laban went into Jacob&#8217;s tent and into Leah&#8217;s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah&#8217;s tent, he entered Rachel&#8217;s tent. 34Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel&#8217;s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.</div><div class="p">35Rachel said to her father, &#8220;Don&#8217;t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I&#8217;m having my period.&#8221; So he searched but could not find the household gods.</div><div class="p">36Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. &#8220;What is my crime?&#8221; he asked Laban. &#8220;How have I wronged you that you hunt me down? 37Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.</div><div class="p">38&#8220;I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. 39I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. 40This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. 41It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. 42If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.&#8221;</div><div class="p">43Laban answered Jacob, &#8220;The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? 44Come now, let&#8217;s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.&#8221;</div><div class="p">45So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46He said to his relatives, &#8220;Gather some stones.&#8221; So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.#31:47 The Aramaic Jegar Sahadutha and the Hebrew Galeed both mean witness heap.</div><div class="p">48Laban said, &#8220;This heap is a witness between you and me today.&#8221; That is why it was called Galeed. 49It was also called Mizpah,#31:49 Mizpah means watchtower. because he said, &#8220;May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. 50If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.&#8221;</div><div class="p">51Laban also said to Jacob, &#8220;Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. 52This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. 53May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.&#8221;</div><div class="p">So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. 54He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.</div><div class="p">55Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.#31:55 In Hebrew texts this verse (31:55) is numbered 32:1.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1SA">
 <div class="chapter ch13" data-usfm="1SA.13">
 <div class="label">13</div><div class="s1">Samuel Rebukes Saul</div><div class="p">1Saul was thirty#13:1 A few late manuscripts of the Septuagint; Hebrew does not have thirty. years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-#13:1 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text (see Acts 13:21); Masoretic Text does not have forty-. two years.</div><div class="p">2Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.</div><div class="p">3Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, &#8220;Let the Hebrews hear!&#8221; 4So all Israel heard the news: &#8220;Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines.&#8221; And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.</div><div class="p">5The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand#13:5 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew thirty thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. 6When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. 7Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.</div><div class="p">Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. 8He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul&#8217;s men began to scatter. 9So he said, &#8220;Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.&#8221; And Saul offered up the burnt offering. 10Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.</div><div class="p">11&#8220;What have you done?&#8221; asked Samuel.</div><div class="p">Saul replied, &#8220;When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, 12I thought, &#8216;Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord&#8217;s favor.&#8217; So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.&#8221;</div><div class="p">13&#8220;You have done a foolish thing,&#8221; Samuel said. &#8220;You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord&#8217;s command.&#8221;</div><div class="p">15Then Samuel left Gilgal#13:15 Hebrew; Septuagint Gilgal and went his way; the rest of the people went after Saul to meet the army, and they went out of Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.</div><div class="s1">Israel Without Weapons</div><div class="p">16Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah#13:16 Two Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts Geba, a variant of Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. 17Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, 18another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.</div><div class="p">19Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, &#8220;Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!&#8221; 20So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles#13:20 Septuagint; Hebrew plow points sharpened. 21The price was two-thirds of a shekel#13:21 That is, about 1/4 ounce or about 8 grams for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel#13:21 That is, about 1/8 ounce or about 4 grams for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.</div><div class="p">22So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.</div><div class="s1">Jonathan Attacks the Philistines</div><div class="p">23Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Mikmash.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1SA">
 <div class="chapter ch14" data-usfm="1SA.14">
 <div class="label">14</div><div class="nb">1One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer, &#8220;Come, let&#8217;s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.&#8221; But he did not tell his father.</div><div class="p">2Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, 3among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod&#8217;s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord&#8217;s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.</div><div class="p">4On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez and the other Seneh. 5One cliff stood to the north toward Mikmash, the other to the south toward Geba.</div><div class="p">6Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, &#8220;Come, let&#8217;s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.&#8221;</div><div class="p">7&#8220;Do all that you have in mind,&#8221; his armor-bearer said. &#8220;Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.&#8221;</div><div class="p">8Jonathan said, &#8220;Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. 9If they say to us, &#8216;Wait there until we come to you,&#8217; we will stay where we are and not go up to them. 10But if they say, &#8216;Come up to us,&#8217; we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands.&#8221;</div><div class="p">11So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. &#8220;Look!&#8221; said the Philistines. &#8220;The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.&#8221; 12The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, &#8220;Come up to us and we&#8217;ll teach you a lesson.&#8221;</div><div class="p">So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, &#8220;Climb up after me; the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.&#8221;</div><div class="p">13Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. 14In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.</div><div class="s1">Israel Routs the Philistines</div><div class="p">15Then panic struck the whole army&#8212;those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties&#8212;and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.#14:15 Or a terrible panic</div><div class="p">16Saul&#8217;s lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions. 17Then Saul said to the men who were with him, &#8220;Muster the forces and see who has left us.&#8221; When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor-bearer who were not there.</div><div class="p">18Saul said to Ahijah, &#8220;Bring the ark of God.&#8221; (At that time it was with the Israelites.)#14:18 Hebrew; Septuagint &#8220;Bring the ephod.&#8221; (At that time he wore the ephod before the Israelites.) 19While Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the Philistine camp increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, &#8220;Withdraw your hand.&#8221;</div><div class="p">20Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords. 21Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit. 23So on that day the Lord saved Israel, and the battle moved on beyond Beth Aven.</div><div class="s1">Jonathan Eats Honey</div><div class="p">24Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, &#8220;Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!&#8221; So none of the troops tasted food.</div><div class="p">25The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. 26When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out; yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. 27But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.#14:27 Or his strength was renewed; similarly in verse 29 28Then one of the soldiers told him, &#8220;Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, &#8216;Cursed be anyone who eats food today!&#8217; That is why the men are faint.&#8221;</div><div class="p">29Jonathan said, &#8220;My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. 30How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?&#8221;</div><div class="p">31That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Mikmash to Aijalon, they were exhausted. 32They pounced on the plunder and, taking sheep, cattle and calves, they butchered them on the ground and ate them, together with the blood. 33Then someone said to Saul, &#8220;Look, the men are sinning against the Lord by eating meat that has blood in it.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;You have broken faith,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Roll a large stone over here at once.&#8221; 34Then he said, &#8220;Go out among the men and tell them, &#8216;Each of you bring me your cattle and sheep, and slaughter them here and eat them. Do not sin against the Lord by eating meat with blood still in it.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p">So everyone brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there. 35Then Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first time he had done this.</div><div class="p">36Saul said, &#8220;Let us go down and pursue the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Do whatever seems best to you,&#8221; they replied.</div><div class="p">But the priest said, &#8220;Let us inquire of God here.&#8221;</div><div class="p">37So Saul asked God, &#8220;Shall I go down and pursue the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel&#8217;s hand?&#8221; But God did not answer him that day.</div><div class="p">38Saul therefore said, &#8220;Come here, all you who are leaders of the army, and let us find out what sin has been committed today. 39As surely as the Lord who rescues Israel lives, even if the guilt lies with my son Jonathan, he must die.&#8221; But not one of them said a word.</div><div class="p">40Saul then said to all the Israelites, &#8220;You stand over there; I and Jonathan my son will stand over here.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Do what seems best to you,&#8221; they replied.</div><div class="p">41Then Saul prayed to the Lord, the God of Israel, &#8220;Why have you not answered your servant today? If the fault is in me or my son Jonathan, respond with Urim, but if the men of Israel are at fault,#14:41 Septuagint; Hebrew does not have &#8220;Why&#8230; at fault. respond with Thummim.&#8221; Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, and the men were cleared. 42Saul said, &#8220;Cast the lot between me and Jonathan my son.&#8221; And Jonathan was taken.</div><div class="p">43Then Saul said to Jonathan, &#8220;Tell me what you have done.&#8221;</div><div class="p">So Jonathan told him, &#8220;I tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now I must die!&#8221;</div><div class="p">44Saul said, &#8220;May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan.&#8221;</div><div class="p">45But the men said to Saul, &#8220;Should Jonathan die&#8212;he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God&#8217;s help.&#8221; So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.</div><div class="p">46Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and they withdrew to their own land.</div><div class="p">47After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings#14:47 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint king of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them.#14:47 Hebrew; Septuagint he was victorious 48He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.</div><div class="s1">Saul&#8217;s Family</div><div class="p">49Saul&#8217;s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi and Malki-Shua. The name of his older daughter was Merab, and that of the younger was Michal. 50His wife&#8217;s name was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of Saul&#8217;s army was Abner son of Ner, and Ner was Saul&#8217;s uncle. 51Saul&#8217;s father Kish and Abner&#8217;s father Ner were sons of Abiel.</div><div class="p">52All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines, and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkPSA">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="PSA.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="cl">Psalm 2</div><div class="q1">1Why do the nations conspire#2:1 Hebrew; Septuagint rage</div><div class="q2">and the peoples plot in vain?</div><div class="q1">2The kings of the earth rise up</div><div class="q2">and the rulers band together</div><div class="q2">against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,</div><div class="q1">3&#8220;Let us break their chains</div><div class="q2">and throw off their shackles.&#8221;</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1">4The One enthroned in heaven laughs;</div><div class="q2">the Lord scoffs at them.</div><div class="q1">5He rebukes them in his anger</div><div class="q2">and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,</div><div class="q1">6&#8220;I have installed my king</div><div class="q2">on Zion, my holy mountain.&#8221;</div><div class="p">7I will proclaim the Lord&#8217;s decree:</div><div class="q1">He said to me, &#8220;You are my son;</div><div class="q2">today I have become your father.</div><div class="q1">8Ask me,</div><div class="q2">and I will make the nations your inheritance,</div><div class="q2">the ends of the earth your possession.</div><div class="q1">9You will break them with a rod of iron#2:9 Or will rule them with an iron scepter (see Septuagint and Syriac);</div><div class="q2">you will dash them to pieces like pottery.&#8221;</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1">10Therefore, you kings, be wise;</div><div class="q2">be warned, you rulers of the earth.</div><div class="q1">11Serve the Lord with fear</div><div class="q2">and celebrate his rule with trembling.</div><div class="q1">12Kiss his son, or he will be angry</div><div class="q2">and your way will lead to your destruction,</div><div class="q1">for his wrath can flare up in a moment.</div><div class="q2">Blessed are all who take refuge in him.</div>
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