quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

灭了烈火的猛势，脱了刀剑的锋刃；软弱变为刚强，争战显出勇敢，打退外邦的全军。

灭了烈火的威力，在锋利的刀剑下逃生，从软弱变为刚强，争战中显出勇猛，打退外邦的全军。

灭了烈火的威力，在锋利的刀剑下逃生，从软弱变为刚强，争战中显出勇猛，打退外邦的全军。

熄灭了猛烈的火焰，刀下逃生，由软弱变为刚强，作战勇猛，击退外敌。

消灭了烈火的威力，逃脱了刀剑的锋刃，软弱变成刚强，在战争中显出大能，把外国的军队击退。

灭了烈火的威力，逃脱了刀剑的锋刃，从软弱中得以刚强，在战争中得以强大，击败了外国的军队。

滅了烈火的猛勢，脫了刀劍的鋒刃；軟弱變為剛強，爭戰顯出勇敢，打退外邦的全軍。

滅了烈火的威力，在鋒利的刀劍下逃生，從軟弱變為剛強，爭戰中顯出勇猛，打退外邦的全軍。

滅了烈火的威力，在鋒利的刀劍下逃生，從軟弱變為剛強，爭戰中顯出勇猛，打退外邦的全軍。

熄滅了猛烈的火焰，刀下逃生，由軟弱變為剛強，作戰勇猛，擊退外敵。

消滅了烈火的威力，逃脫了刀劍的鋒刃，軟弱變成剛強，在戰爭中顯出大能，把外國的軍隊擊退。

撲滅了烈火之威力，躲脫了刀劍的鋒刃，從軟弱中得了能力，在戰爭中顯為勇猛，使外國的隊伍掉頭逃竄。

滅了烈火的威力，逃脫了刀劍的鋒刃，從軟弱中得以剛強，在戰爭中得以強大，擊敗了外國的軍隊。

滅火勢、避鋒刃、弱而強、戰而勇、破異邦軍、

使火燄不傷、鋒刃可避、弱而強、戰而勇、破敵陳、

滅火燄之勢、避刀之鋒刃、由弱成強、於戰則勇、攻退異邦人隊伍、

撲滅燎原、脫免刀兵、轉弱為強、奮勇作戰、所向披靡、無一而不憑信德也。

They put out great fires. They escaped being killed by swords. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became powerful in battle. They beat back armies from other countries.

quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight.

quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.

quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens.

quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength after being weak, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.

Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight,

quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee.

to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David. From the deadly sword

After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped.Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the Euphrates River; they went to Helam, with Shobak the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him.But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there.When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders,“ Don’t you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”

Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands.The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted,“ A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites.Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying,“ Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah.They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.

He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.

David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

“ Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered.“ Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”And Elisha prayed,“ Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord,“ Strike this army with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,

and said:“ Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying,‘ If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’“ But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them.See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance.Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.He said:“ Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you:‘ Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel.You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord.Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said,“ Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:“ Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value— more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.

Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usualand commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace.The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers,“ Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied,“ Certainly, Your Majesty.”He said,“ Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted,“ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire,and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.Then Nebuchadnezzar said,“ Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

In famine he will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.

Then Isaiah said,“ Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.Hezekiah had asked Isaiah,“ What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?”Isaiah answered,“ This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”“ It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah.“ Rather, have it go back ten steps.”Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

But he said to me,“ My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said,“ Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.”The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled,and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the Lord and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder.They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the Lord had fallen on them. They looted all these villages, since there was much plunder there.

In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus.“ Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said,“ as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim and all the store cities of Naphtali.When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work.Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah.At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him:“ Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand.For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”

Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping.

King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this.And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword.So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side.

Furthermore, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, and so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands.Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.Then Samson said,“ With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.”When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord,“ You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi.Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.

And Ishbi- Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David.But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying,“ Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.”

After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.Then she called,“ Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and thought,“ I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison.But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying,“ Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying,“ Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain.”While they were in high spirits, they shouted,“ Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. When they stood him among the pillars,Samson said to the servant who held his hand,“ Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.”Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform.Then Samson prayed to the Lord,“ Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.”Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other,Samson said,“ Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.

In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the control of the Philistines.David also defeated the Moabites. He made them lie down on the ground and measured them off with a length of cord. Every two lengths of them were put to death, and the third length was allowed to live. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.Moreover, David defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument at the Euphrates River.David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses.When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of them.He put garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.From Tebah and Berothai, towns that belonged to Hadadezer, King David took a great quantity of bronze.When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer,he sent his son Joram to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory in battle over Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze.King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the nations he had subdued:Edom and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek. He also dedicated the plunder taken from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people.Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder;Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelek son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was secretary;Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests.

Jonathan 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.In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.Then panic struck the whole army— those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties— and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.

After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.

Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it.He said to the men of Sukkoth,“ Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”But the officials of Sukkoth said,“ Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?”Then Gideon replied,“ Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”From there he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had.So he said to the men of Peniel,“ When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen.

Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked,“ What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?”