Ecclesiastes 9:14

World English Bible (2000)

There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.

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Referenced Verses

  • 2 Sam 20:15-22 : 15 They came and besieged him in Abel of Beth Maacah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down. 16 Then a wise woman cried out of the city, "Hear, hear! Please say to Joab, 'Come near here, that I may speak with you.'" 17 He came near to her; and the woman said, "Are you Joab?" He answered, "I am." Then she said to him, "Hear the words of your handmaid." He answered, "I do hear." 18 Then she spoke, saying, "They were used to say in old times, 'They shall surely ask counsel at Abel;' and so they settled it. 19 I am among those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the inheritance of Yahweh?" 20 Joab answered, "Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy. 21 The matter is not so. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David. Deliver him only, and I will depart from the city." The woman said to Joab, "Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall." 22 Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. They cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. He blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
  • 2 Kgs 6:24-7:20 : 24 It happened after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. 26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!" 27 He said, "If Yahweh doesn't help you, from where could I help you? From of the threshing floor, or from the winepress?" 28 The king said to her, "What ails you?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.' 29 So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, 'Give your son, that we may eat him;' and she has hidden her son." 30 It happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes (now he was passing by on the wall); and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his flesh. 31 Then he said, "God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stay on him this day." 32 But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Then the king sent a man from before him; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, "Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door shut against him. Isn't the sound of his master's feet behind him?" 33 While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, "Behold, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?" 1 Elisha said, "Hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says Yahweh, 'Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.'" 2 Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, "Behold, if Yahweh made windows in heaven, could this thing be?" He said, "Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it." 3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said one to another, "Why do we sit here until we die? 4 If we say, 'We will enter into the city,' then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. If we sit still here, we also die. Now therefore come, and let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die." 5 They rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they had come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there. 6 For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great army: and they said one to another, Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come on us. 7 Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 8 When these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drink, and carried there silver, and gold, and clothing, and went and hid it. Then they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried there also, and went and hid it. 9 Then they said one to another, "We aren't doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we keep silent. If we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come, let us go and tell the king's household." 10 So they came and called to the porter of the city; and they told them, saying, "We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were." 11 He called the porters; and they told it to the king's household within. 12 The king arose in the night, and said to his servants, "I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, 'When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city.'" 13 One of his servants answered, "Please let some take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are consumed. Let us send and see." 14 They took therefore two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the army of the Syrians, saying, "Go and see." 15 They went after them to the Jordan; and behold, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. The messengers returned, and told the king. 16 The people went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was [sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of Yahweh. 17 The king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate: and the people trod on him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. 18 It happened, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, "Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria;" 19 and that captain answered the man of God, and said, "Now, behold, if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?" and he said, "Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it." 20 It happened like that to him; for the people trod on him in the gate, and he died.

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 a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

    16Then I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

  • Eccl 9:13
    79%

    13I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

  • Neh 7:4
    77%

    4Now the city was wide and large; but the people were few therein, and the houses were not built.

  • Prov 21:22
    74%

    22A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and brings down the strength of its confidence.

  • Eccl 7:19
    74%

    19Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

  • Job 3:14
    74%

    14with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves;

  • Luke 14:30-31
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    72%

    30saying, 'This man began to build, and wasn't able to finish.'

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  • Judg 9:51
    71%

    51But there was a strong tower within the city, and there fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower.

  • Prov 18:11
    71%

    11The rich man's wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.

  • Ezek 4:2
    70%

    2and lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.

  • Nah 2:5
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    5He summons his picked troops. They stumble on their way. They dash to its wall, and the protective shield is put in place.

  • Nah 3:14
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    14Draw water for the siege. Strengthen your fortresses. Go into the clay, and tread the mortar. Make the brick kiln strong.

  • Prov 10:15
    70%

    15The rich man's wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

  • 2 Chr 14:7
    70%

    7For he said to Judah, "Let us build these cities, and make walls around them, with towers, gates, and bars. The land is yet before us, because we have sought Yahweh our God; we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side." So they built and prospered.

  • Prov 24:31-32
    2 verses
    70%

    31Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

    32Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction:

  • 2 Chr 17:12
    69%

    12Jehoshaphat grew great exceedingly; and he built in Judah castles and cities of store.

  • Ezek 26:9
    69%

    9He shall set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers.

  • Isa 22:10
    69%

    10You numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.

  • Isa 26:1
    69%

    1In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city. God appoints salvation for walls and bulwarks.

  • Dan 11:15
    69%

    15So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mound, and take a well-fortified city: and the forces of the south shall not stand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to stand.

  • Deut 3:5
    69%

    5All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars; besides the unwalled towns a great many.

  • Eccl 2:9
    69%

    9So I was great, and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me.

  • 2 Sam 20:15
    69%

    15They came and besieged him in Abel of Beth Maacah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.

  • Amos 5:9
    69%

    9who brings sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the fortress.

  • Jer 1:18
    68%

    18For, behold, I have made you this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

  • Prov 11:11
    68%

    11By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

  • Prov 29:8
    68%

    8Mockers stir up a city, but wise men turn away anger.

  • Isa 24:12
    68%

    12The city is left in desolation, and the gate is struck with destruction.

  • Hag 2:16
    68%

    16Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty, there were only twenty.

  • Prov 14:28
    68%

    28In the multitude of people is the king's glory, but in the lack of people is the destruction of the prince.

  • 2 Chr 33:14
    68%

    14Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate; and he encircled Ophel [with it], and raised it up to a very great height: and he put valiant captains in all the fortified cities of Judah.

  • Zeph 1:16
    68%

    16a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements.

  • Isa 41:28
    67%

    28When I look, there is no man; even among them there is no counselor who, when I ask of them, can answer a word.

  • 2 Chr 15:5-6
    2 verses
    67%

    5In those times there was no peace to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands.

    6They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God troubled them with all adversity.

  • Isa 2:15
    67%

    15For every lofty tower, for every fortified wall,

  • Job 12:14
    67%

    14Behold, he breaks down, and it can't be built again. He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.

  • Job 29:7
    67%

    7when I went forth to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street.

  • Ps 55:10
    67%

    10Day and night they prowl around on its walls. Malice and abuse are also within her.

  • Prov 24:6
    67%

    6for by wise guidance you wage your war; and victory is in many advisors.

  • Eccl 9:18
    67%

    18Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

  • Ps 37:16
    67%

    16Better is a little that the righteous has, than the abundance of many wicked.

  • Isa 3:2
    67%

    2the mighty man, the man of war, the judge, the prophet, the diviner, the elder,

  • 2 Kgs 24:10
    67%

    10At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.

  • Zech 2:4
    67%

    4and said to him, "Run, speak to this young man, saying, 'Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.