Ecclesiastes 9:14

Bible in Basic English (1941)

There was a little town and the number of its men was small, and there came a great king against it and made an attack on it, building works of war round about it.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • 2 Sam 20:15-22 : 15 And Joab and his men got him shut up in Abel of Beth-maacah, and put up an earthwork against the town: and all Joab's men did their best to get the wall broken down. 16 Then a wise woman got up on the wall, and crying out from the town, said, Give ear, give ear; say now to Joab, Come near, so that I may have talk with you. 17 And he came near, and the woman said, Are you Joab? And he said in answer, I am. Then she said, Give ear to your servant's words. And he said, I am giving ear. 18 Then she said, In the old days, there was a saying, Let them put the question in Abel and in Dan, saying, Has what was ordered by men of good faith in Israel ever come to an end? 19 Your purpose is the destruction of a mother-town in Israel: why would you put an end to the heritage of the Lord? 20 And Joab, answering her, said, Far, far be it from me to be a cause of death or destruction; 21 Not so: but a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, Sheba, son of Bichri, by name, has taken up arms against the king, against David: give up this man only, and I will go away from the town. And the woman said to Joab, His head will be dropped over the wall to you. 22 Then the woman in her wisdom had talk with all the town. And they had Sheba's head cut off and sent out to Joab. And he had the horn sounded, and sent them all away from the town, every man to his tent. And Joab went back to Jerusalem to the king.
  • 2 Kgs 6:24-7:20 : 24 Now after this, Ben-hadad, king of Aram, got together all his army and went up to make an attack on Samaria, shutting the town in on all sides with his forces. 25 And they became very short of food in Samaria; for they kept it shut in till the price of an ass's head was eighty shekels of silver, and a small measure of doves' droppings was five shekels of silver. 26 And when the king of Israel was going by on the wall, a woman came crying out to him, and said, Help! my lord king. 27 And he said, If the Lord does not give you help, where am I to get help for you? from the grain-floor or the grape-crusher? 28 And the king said to her, What is troubling you? And she said in answer, This woman said to me, Give your son to be our food today, and we will have my son tomorrow. 29 So, boiling my son, we had a meal of him; and on the day after I said to her, Now give your son for our food; but she has put her son in a secret place. 30 Then the king, hearing what the woman said, took his robes in his hands, violently parting them; and, while he was walking on the wall, the people, looking, saw that under his robe he had haircloth on his flesh. 31 Then he said, May God's punishment come on me if Elisha, the son of Shaphat, keeps his head on his body after this day. 32 But Elisha was in his house, and the responsible men were seated there with him; and before the king got there, Elisha said to those who were with him, Do you see how this cruel and violent man has sent to take away my life? 33 While he was still talking to them, the king came down and said, This evil is from the Lord; why am I to go on waiting any longer for the Lord? 1 Then Elisha said, Give ear to the word of the Lord: the Lord says, Tomorrow, about this time, a measure of good meal will be offered for the price of a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the market-place of Samaria. 2 Then the captain whose arm was supporting the king said to the man of God, Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, would such a thing be possible? And he said, Your eyes will see it, but you will not have a taste of the food. 3 Now there were four lepers seated at the doorway into the town: and they said to one another, Why are we waiting here for death? 4 If we say, We will go into the town, there is no food in the town, and we will come to our end there; and if we go on waiting here, death will come to us. Come then, let us give ourselves up to the army of Aram: if they let us go on living, then life will be ours; and if they put us to death, then death will be ours. 5 So in the half light they got up to go to the tents of Aram; but when they came to the outer line of tents, there was no one there. 6 For the Lord had made the sound of carriages and horses, and the noise of a great army, come to the ears of the Aramaeans, so that they said to one another, Truly, the king of Israel has got the kings of the Hittites and of the Egyptians for a price to make an attack on us. 7 So they got up and went in flight, in the half light, without their tents or their horses or their asses or any of their goods; they went in flight, fearing for their lives. 8 And when those lepers came to the outer line of tents, they went into one tent, and had food and drink, and took from it silver and gold and clothing, which they put in a secret place; then they came back and went into another tent from which they took more goods, which they put away in a secret place. 9 Then they said to one another, We are not doing right. Today is a day of good news, and we say nothing: if we go on waiting here till the morning, punishment will come to us. So let us go and give the news to those of the king's house. 10 So they came in, and, crying out to the door-keepers of the town, they gave them the news, saying, We came to the tents of the Aramaeans, and there was no one there and no voice of man, only the horses and the asses in their places, and the tents as they were. 11 Then the door-keepers, crying out, gave the news to those inside the king's house. 12 Then the king got up in the night and said to his servants, This is my idea of what the Aramaeans have done to us. They have knowledge that we are without food; and so they have gone out of their tents, and are waiting secretly in the open country, saying, When they come out of the town, we will take them living and get into the town. 13 And one of his servants said in answer, Send men and let them take five of the horses which we still have in the town; if they keep their lives they will be the same as those of Israel who are still living here; if they come to their death they will be the same as all those of Israel who have gone to destruction: let us send and see. 14 So they took two horsemen; and the king sent them after the army of the Aramaeans, saying, Go and see. 15 And they went after them as far as Jordan; and all the road was covered with clothing and vessels dropped by the Aramaeans in their flight. So those who were sent went back and gave the news to the king. 16 Then the people went out and took the goods from the tents of the Aramaeans. So a measure of good meal was to be had for the price of a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, as the Lord had said. 17 And the king gave authority to that captain, on whose arm he was supported, to have control over the doorway into the town; but he was crushed to death there under the feet of the people, as the man of God had said when the king went down to him. 18 So the words of the man of God came true, which he said to the king: Two measures of barley will be offered for the price of a shekel and a measure of good meal for a shekel, tomorrow about this time in the market-place of Samaria. 19 And that captain said to the man of God, Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, would such a thing be possible? And he said to him, Your eyes will see it, but you will not have a taste of the food. 20 And such was his fate; for he was crushed to death under the feet of the people, in the doorway into the town.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Eccl 9:15-16
    2 verses
    82%

    15Now there was in the town a poor, wise man, and he, by his wisdom, kept the town safe. But no one had any memory of that same poor man.

    16Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man's wisdom is not respected, and his words are not given a hearing.

  • Eccl 9:13
    79%

    13This again I have seen under the sun as wisdom and it seemed great to me.

  • Neh 7:4
    77%

    4Now the town was wide and great: but the people in it were only a small number, and the houses had not been put up.

  • Prov 21:22
    74%

    22A wise man goes up into the town of the strong ones, and overcomes its strength in which they put their faith.

  • Eccl 7:19
    74%

    19Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a town.

  • Job 3:14
    74%

    14With kings and the wise ones of the earth, who put up great houses for themselves;

  • Luke 14:30-31
    2 verses
    72%

    30And saying, This man made a start at building and is not able to make it complete.

    31Or what king, going to war with another king, will not first take thought if he will be strong enough, with ten thousand men, to keep off him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

  • Judg 9:51
    71%

    51But in the middle of the town there was a strong tower, to which all the men and women of the town went in flight and, shutting themselves in, went up to the roof of the tower.

  • Prov 18:11
    71%

    11The property of a man of wealth is his strong town, and it is as a high wall in the thoughts of his heart.

  • Ezek 4:2
    70%

    2And make an attack on it, shutting it in, building strong places against it, and making high an earthwork against it; and put up tents against it, placing engines all round it for smashing down its walls.

  • Nah 2:5
    70%

    5The war-carriages are rushing through the streets, pushing against one another in the wide ways, looking like burning lights, running like thunder-flames.

  • Nah 3:14
    70%

    14Get water for the time when you are shut in, make strong your towns: go into the potter's earth, stamping it down with your feet, make strong the brickworks.

  • Prov 10:15
    70%

    15The property of the man of wealth is his strong town: the poor man's need is his destruction.

  • 2 Chr 14:7
    70%

    7He said to Judah, Let us make these towns, building walls round them with towers and doors and locks. The land is still ours, because we have been true to the Lord our God; we have been true to him and he has given us rest on every side. So they went on building and all went well for them.

  • Prov 24:31-32
    2 verses
    70%

    31And it was all full of thorns, and covered with waste plants, and its stone wall was broken down.

    32Then looking at it, I gave thought: I saw, and I got teaching from it.

  • 2 Chr 17:12
    69%

    12Jehoshaphat became greater and greater, and made strong towers and store-towns in Judah.

  • Ezek 26:9
    69%

    9He will put up his engines of war against your walls, and your towers will be broken down by his axes.

  • Isa 22:10
    69%

    10And you had the houses of Jerusalem numbered, pulling down the houses to make the wall stronger.

  • Isa 26:1
    69%

    1In that day will this song be made in the land of Judah: We have a strong town; he will make salvation our walls and towers.

  • Dan 11:15
    69%

    15So the king of the north will come, and put up earthworks and take a well-armed town: and the forces of the king of the south will make an attempt to keep their position, even the best of his army, but they will not have strength to do so.

  • Deut 3:5
    69%

    5All these towns had high walls round them with doors and locks; and in addition we took a great number of unwalled towns.

  • Eccl 2:9
    69%

    9And I became great; increasing more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom was still with me.

  • 2 Sam 20:15
    69%

    15And Joab and his men got him shut up in Abel of Beth-maacah, and put up an earthwork against the town: and all Joab's men did their best to get the wall broken down.

  • Amos 5:9
    69%

    9Who sends sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the walled town.

  • Jer 1:18
    68%

    18For see, this day have I made you a walled town, and an iron pillar, and walls of brass, against all the land, against the kings of Judah, against its captains, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

  • Prov 11:11
    68%

    11By the blessing of the upright man the town is made great, but it is overturned by the mouth of the evil-doer.

  • Prov 29:8
    68%

    8Men of pride are the cause of violent acts in a town, but by wise men wrath is turned away.

  • Isa 24:12
    68%

    12In the town all is waste, and in the public place is destruction.

  • Hag 2:16
    68%

    16How, when anyone came to a store of twenty measures, there were only ten: when anyone went to the wine-store to get fifty vessels full, there were only twenty.

  • Prov 14:28
    68%

    28A king's glory is in the number of his people: and for need of people a ruler may come to destruction.

  • 2 Chr 33:14
    68%

    14After this he made an outer wall for the town of David, on the west side of Gihon in the valley, as far as the way into the town by the fish doorway; and he put a very high wall round the Ophel; and he put captains of the army in all the walled towns of Judah.

  • Zeph 1:16
    68%

    16A day of sounding the horn and the war-cry against the walled towns and the high towers.

  • Isa 41:28
    67%

    28And I saw that there was no man, even no wise man among them, who might give an answer to my questions.

  • 2 Chr 15:5-6
    2 verses
    67%

    5In those times there was no peace for him who went out or for him who came in, but great trouble was on all the people of the lands.

    6And they were broken by divisions, nation against nation and town against town, because God sent all sorts of trouble on them.

  • Isa 2:15
    67%

    15And on every high tower, and on every strong wall;

  • Job 12:14
    67%

    14Truly, there is no building up of what is pulled down by him; when a man is shut up by him, no one may let him loose.

  • Job 29:7
    67%

    7When I went out of my door to go up to the town, and took my seat in the public place,

  • Ps 55:10
    67%

    10By day and night they go round the town, on the walls; trouble and sorrow are in the heart of it.

  • Prov 24:6
    67%

    6For by wise guiding you will overcome in war: and in a number of wise guides there is salvation.

  • Eccl 9:18
    67%

    18Wisdom is better than instruments of war, but one sinner is the destruction of much good.

  • Ps 37:16
    67%

    16The little which the good man has is better than the wealth of evil-doers.

  • Isa 3:2
    67%

    2The strong man and the man of war; the judge and the prophet; the man who has knowledge of secret arts, and the man who is wise because of his years;

  • 2 Kgs 24:10
    67%

    10At that time the armies of Nebuchadnezzar came up to Jerusalem and the town was shut in on every side.

  • Zech 2:4
    67%

    4Then I said, What have these come to do? And he said, These are the horns which sent Judah in flight, and kept him from lifting up his head: but these men have come to send fear on them and to put down the nations who are lifting up their horns against the land of Judah to send it in flight.