Fragmented Bible Verses relating to the discoveries of the land of OPHIR

Bible Verses relating to the discoveries of the land of OPHIR

Genesis 10:29-30

1 These were the descendants of Noe’s children, Sem, Cham and Japheth, through the sons that were born to them after the flood. 2 These were the sons of Japheth; Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Thubal, Mosoch and Thiras. 3 And these were Gomer’s sons, Ascenez, Riphath and Thogorma. 4 And these were Javan’s sons, Elisa, Tharsis, Cetthim and Dodanim; 5 who divided up the islands of the Gentiles, region by region. Each of these became separate nations, distinct in speech and in blood.

6 These were Cham’s sons; Chus, Mesraim, Phuth and Chanaan. 7 And these were the sons of Chus; Saba, Hevila, Sabatha, Regma and Sabatacha. And these were Regma’s sons, Saba and Dadan. 8 Chus was also the father of Nemrod, who was the first great warrior; 9 bold, too, by God’s grace,[1] at the hunt, whence the proverb arose, By God’s grace, a huntsman bold as Nemrod. 10 His empire began with Babylon, Arach, Achad and Chalanne, in the country of Sennaar. 11 It was from that country Assur went out to build Nineve and its suburbs,[2] and Chale; 12 and between Nineve and Chale he built the great city of Resen. 13 Mesraim was the father of the Ludim, the Anamim, the Laabim, and the Nephthuim; 14 the Phetrusim, too, and the Chasluim (from whom the Philistines sprang) and the Caphtorim. 15 Chanaan was the father of Sidon; this was his first-born son. From him, too, come Hethites, 16 Jebusites, Amorrhites, Gergesites, 17 Hevites, Aracites, Sinites,18 Aradians, Samarites and Amathites; so, in later times, the Chanaanite peoples spread this way and that. 19 That Chanaanite territory, beginning at Sidon, reached as far as Gaza on the road to Gerara, and as far as Lesa on the road to Sodom, Gomorrha, Adama and Seboim. 20 These were the descendants of Cham; such were the tribes, the tongues, the branches, the countries, the peoples that came from him.

21 Sem, too, Japheth’s elder brother, had children; he is father of all who claim descent from Heber.22 His sons were called Aelam, Assur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram. 23 These were Aram’s sons, Us, Hul, Gether and Mes. 24 Arphaxad was the father of Sale, and Sale of Heber. 25 Heber had two sons; one was called Phaleg, Division, because in his time the territory was divided up, and his brother’s name was Jectan. 26 This Jectan was the father of Elmodad, Saleph, Asarmoth, Jare, 27 Aduram, Uzal, Decla, 28 Ebal, Abimael, Saba, 29 Ophir, Hevila and Jobab. All these were Jectan’s sons,30 and their territory reached from Messa to mount Sephar in the east. 31 These were the sons of Sem; such were their tribes and tongues and countries and peoples.

32 These were the descendants that sprang from Noe, divided according to their peoples and their races; this was how the nations were scattered over the earth after the flood.

1 KINGS 9:26-28

1 When Solomon had finished building temple and palace, and achieved all his purpose, 2 the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him once at Gabaon. 3 I have listened to thy prayer, the Lord told him, to the suit thou hast preferred before me; and this temple thou hast built I myself have hallowed, to be the everlasting shrine of my name; never a day but my eyes shall be watching, my heart attentive here. 4 Do thou guide thy steps, like thy father, as in my presence, with an undivided heart and steadfastly; do thou fulfil all that I command, hold true to my observances and my decrees; 5 and I will grant to thy line dominion over Israel eternally. Such was my promise to thy father David, that he should always have an heir to sit on the throne of Israel.6 But if you and your children are content to turn your backs on me, following me no more, neglecting the commands and observances I have enjoined on you, betaking yourselves to the service and worship of alien gods, 7 then I will sweep Israel away from the land I gave them, and this temple which I have hallowed as the shrine of my name, shall be thrust away out of my sight. Israel shall become a proverb and a by-word among all the nations, 8 and this house shall be the monument of its fall. The passer-by will stand wondering, and hiss in derision; What means it, he will ask, that the Lord has treated this land, this house so cruelly? 9 And the answer will come, Because they forsook the Lord their God, who rescued their fathers from the land of Egypt, and betook themselves to the worship and service of alien gods; that is why the Lord brought all this ruin upon them.

10 It was twenty years after Solomon had finished the two buildings, temple and palace, 11 that Hiram, king of Tyre, who had sent him the cedar and the fir-wood and the gold he needed for his undertaking, received twenty townships from him, belonging to the land of Galilee. 12 And when he came on a visit from Tyre to see the townships Solomon had allotted to him, he liked them but little; 13 What, brother, he cried, were these the only cities thou couldst spare me? And he gave that region the name of Chabul,[1] which it bears to this day. 14 It was twenty thousand talents’ weight of gold that Hiram sent to king Solomon.

15 As for the reasons why king Solomon made such heavy disbursements, they were these; he must build the temple, and the palace, and Mello, and Jerusalem wall, and Heser, and Mageddo, and Gazer. 16 Gazer had been taken and burnt by the invading army of Pharao, king of Egypt; its inhabitants, who were Chanaanites, he put to the sword, and later gave it by way of dowry when his daughter married king Solomon. 17 It was for Solomon, therefore, to rebuild it, 18 together with Lower Bethoron, and Baalath, and Palmyra out in the desert. 19 And in general he fortified the unwalled towns in his dominions; he must have cities, too, in which his chariots and horsemen could be quartered. Much else, too, he had the whim to build in Jerusalem, and on Lebanon, and in all parts of his kingdom. 20 (Many of the former inhabitants still remained, not of Israelite stock, Amorrhites, Hethites, Pherezites, Hevites, and Jebusites; 21 and these descendants of the races which Israel could never exterminate, king Solomon made into bondservants, as they are to this day. 22 Among the Israelites, he would make no man his slave; it was from these that he drew his warriors and his courtiers, his princes and his captains, the commanders of his chariots and horsemen. 23 Five hundred and fifty overseers king Solomon had, to hold the people to their appointed tasks.) 24 And no sooner had Pharao’s daughter removed from the Keep of David to her new palace, than Solomon set about building up Mello.

25 Three times a year Solomon offered burnt-sacrifice and welcome-offerings on the altar he had made in the Lord’s honour, and burned incense in the Lord’s presence; and he kept the temple in repair.

26 King Solomon also built a fleet at Asion-Gaber, near Ailath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the territory of Edom. 27 In this fleet, Hiram sent men of his own, mariners that had long experience of the sea, to serve with king Solomon’s men. 28 They sailed as far as Ophir, and thence brought back to Solomon four hundred and twenty talents’ weight of gold.

1 KINGS 10:11-22

1 And now Solomon was visited by the queen of Saba. She had heard by report of the wisdom with which the Lord’s favour had endowed him, and came to make trial of his powers with knotty questions. 2 Magnificent was the retinue with which she entered Jerusalem; spices and abundant gold and precious stones were the lading of her camels. And when she met king Solomon, she told him all the thoughts that exercised her mind;3 every doubt he resolved, no question of hers but found an answer. 4 And when she saw how wise a man he was, saw, too, the house he had built, 5 the food that was on his table, the lodging of his servants, the order and splendour of his court, how the wine went round, and what burnt-sacrifice he offered in the Lord’s temple,[1] she stood breathless in wonder. 6 And she said to the king, It was no false tale I heard in my own country, 7 of all thou doest and of all the wisdom that is thine. I could not believe what they told me, without coming and seeing it for myself; and now I find that half of it was lost in the telling; here is greater wisdom, greater prosperity than all the tales that reached me. 8 Happy thy folk, happy these servants of thine who wait ever upon thy presence and listen to thy wise words. 9 Blessed be the Lord thy God, who, in his eternal love for Israel, has brought thee, his favourite, to the throne, given thee a king’s power to do justice and to make award!

10 A hundred and twenty talents’ weight of gold she gave to king Solomon, with many spices and precious stones; never did such abundance of spices come to Israel as those which the queen of Saba gave. 11 (Though indeed Hiram’s fleet, when it brought back the gold from Ophir, brought rich store of sandal-wood, as well as precious stones;12 and of this sandal-wood king Solomon made pedestals for temple and palace, harp and zither for his musicians; finer sandal-wood never reached us, no, nor was ever seen.) 13 Solomon, in his turn, gave the queen of Saba all she desired and asked for; gave her much, too, unasked, in the royal munificence that was his. And so she went back to her own country, with all her retinue.

14 The weight of gold that reached Solomon every year was six hundred and sixty-six talents, 15 not counting what was brought him by his revenue officers, merchants and pedlars, from the kings of Arabia, and from his own commissioners. 16 Two hundred shields king Solomon made of the purest gold, allowing six hundred sicles of gold to the plating of each; 17 three hundred bucklers, too, of assayed gold, with three (hundred) minas of gold to cover each;[2] and all these the king put in the building that was called the Forest of Lebanon.18 He also made a great throne of ivory, and lined it with gold unalloyed; 19 six steps led up to it, and at the back the upper part of it was rounded. The seat itself had two supporters, with a lion standing by each, 20 and on each step there was a lion at either side; no other kingdom could shew such workmanship. 21 Of gold were all the goblets from which king Solomon drank, of purest gold all the furniture in the building called the Forest of Lebanon; no silver was used, for indeed in King Solomon’s day silver was little thought of. 22 And every three years the king’s fleet and Hiram’s would sail to Tharsis, whence they came back laden with gold and silver; with ivory, too, and apes, and peacocks for their freight.

2 CHRONICLES 8:17-18

1 Twenty years passed, after Solomon had built the Lord’s temple and his own palace; 2 then he set about fortifying the towns which Hiram had made over to him, and establishing Israelite inhabitants there.[1] 3 He marched against Emath Suba, and took possession of it, 4 fortified Palmyra, out in the desert, and other fastnesses in the Emath country.5 He rebuilt Bethoron, upper and lower, making two walled cities there, bolted and barred against attack; 6 Baalath, too, and all those other fortress-cities which bear Solomon’s name, cities where he stationed his chariots and his horsemen. In Jerusalem, on Lebanon, all through his kingdom Solomon built whatever he had the whim to design. 7 Some of the old population was still left, Hethites, Amorrhites, Pherezites, Hevites, Jebusites, that were no true breed of Israel, 8 but came down from the stock which had been spared by the invaders; these king Solomon made into bondservants, as they are to this day. Among the Israelites, 9 he would have no man enslaved to the royal service; it was from these he drew his warriors and his courtiers, the commanders of his chariots and his horsemen. 10 Five hundred and fifty captains king Solomon had, that issued his commands to the people at large. 11 He must build a new house, too, for Pharao’s daughter, so that she might dwell in David’s Keep no longer. I will not house wife of mine, said he, in David’s home, that was king of Israel; the ark of the Lord has found its way there, and it is hallowed ground now.

12 Solomon used the altar he had built to the Lord in front of the temple porch for offering burnt-sacrifice 13 day by day, as the law of Moses enjoined, on sabbaths, too, and at the new moon, and for the three feasts that came round yearly, the feasts of Unleavened Bread, of Weeks, and of Tabernacles. 14 And he assigned to the priests the duties they were to perform, as his father David had prescribed them; and to the Levites their duties of singing praise, and of helping the priests with their task, as the needs of each day required; and to the door-keepers their various posts. All that God’s servant David had enjoined must be done;15 neither priest nor Levite might go beyond the king’s orders, in this or in the keeping of the sacred treasures.

16 All that he needed king Solomon had by him, from the day when he laid the foundations of the Lord’s house till the day when he finished it;[2]17 after that, he betook himself to Asiongaber, and Ailath, in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea,18 where Hiram’s men met him with ships and skilful mariners. These, with Solomon’s own men, sailed for Ophir, and brought back four hundred and fifty talents of gold to the royal coffers.

2 CHRONICLES 9:10

1 And now Solomon was visited by the queen of Saba. His fame had reached her, and she came to make trial of his power with knotty questions. Great was the wealth she brought with her to Jerusalem; her camels were loaded with spices and abundant gold and precious stones. And when she met Solomon, she told him all the thoughts that exercised her mind; 2 every doubt he resolved, no question of hers but found an answer. 3 And when she saw how wise a man he was, saw, too, the house he had built, 4 the food that was on his table, the lodging of his servants, the order and splendour of his court, the fine attire of his cup-bearers, and what victims he offered in the Lord’s temple, she stood breathless in wonder. 5 And she said to the king, It was no false tale I heard in my own country, of the powers thou hast, of the wisdom which is thine. 6 I could not believe what they told me, without coming and seeing it for myself; now I find that half of it was lost in the telling, here are wonders surpassing all I heard.7 Happy thy folk, happy these servants of thine who wait ever on thy presence, and listen to thy wise words. 8 Blessed be the Lord thy God, that would have a throne for himself, and thee, a king of his own, to sit on it! He loves Israel indeed, and means to preserve it evermore, that has appointed such a king to do justice and to make award for it.

9 A hundred and twenty talents’ weight of gold she gave to king Solomon, with many spices and precious stones; never were such spices as the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon. 10 (Though indeed Hiram’s fleet, when it brought back gold from Ophir, brought sandal-wood, as well as precious stones; 11 and of this sandal-wood king Solomon made pedestals for temple and palace, harp and zither for his musicians; never was such wood seen in Juda.) 12 Solomon, in his turn, gave the queen of Saba all she desired and asked for, more than ever she brought with her; and so she went back to her own country, with all her retinue.

13 The weight of gold that reached Solomon every year was six hundred and sixty-six talents, 14 not counting what was brought by the envoys of different countries, by his own merchantmen, and by the kings of Arabia, with the governors of their provinces; these, too, brought gold and silver to king Solomon. 15 Two hundred shields king Solomon made of the gold;[1] six hundred sicles of gold went to one shield; 16 besides three hundred golden bucklers, three hundred sicles of gold being used for the plating of each; and all these the king put away in the store-chamber of the building that was called the Forest of Lebanon.17 He also made a great throne of ivory, and lined it with gold unalloyed; 18 six steps led up to it, and the footstool was all of gold. This throne had an arm at either side, and a lion standing by it;19 twelve other lions stood on the steps, six on either side; no other kingdom had a throne to match it. 20 Of gold all the plate was when the king feasted, of pure gold all the ornaments in the house called the Forest of Lebanon; in those days, silver was little thought of. 21 Every three years the king’s fleet and Hiram’s would sail to Tharsis, whence they came back laden with gold and silver; with ivory, too, and apes and peacocks for their freight.

22 So, both in riches and in renown, Solomon outvied all the kings of the world; 23 and kings from every part of the world craved his audience, to make proof for themselves of the wisdom God had put in his heart. 24 And all these brought him gifts, so that gold and silver ware, presents of clothes and armour, spices, too, and horses and mules came in year by year. 25 Forty thousand horses king Solomon had in his stables, twelve thousand chariots, and horsemen with them; some he kept in his chariot cities, and others at his side in Jerusalem. 26 And he was overlord of all the kings from the river Euphrates to Philistia, and to the frontiers of Egypt. 27 Silver he made as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedars as plentiful as the sycamores that grow in the valleys;28 horses he had from Egypt and from all the world over.[2]

29 What else Solomon did, first and last, is to be found in the book that was written by the prophet Nathan, in the prophecy of Ahias the Silonite, and in the vision of the seer Addo that pronounces doom against Jeroboam son of Nabat. 30 For forty years Solomon reigned at Jerusalem over all Israel; 31 then they laid him to rest with his fathers, with the Keep of David for his burying-place, and the throne passed to his son Roboam.

JOB 22:24

1 Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite: 2 A man cannot hope to implead God, even a man of perfect wisdom. 3 Just though thou be, how is God the better for knowing thou art just? Can stainless life of thine advantage him? 4 Or dost thou think that fear of thee will persuade him to appear in court, and prove thee in the wrong?[1] 5 Must he browbeat thee over a long record of guilt,[2] over many heinous deeds done; 6 remind thee of the usurer’s pledge needlessly taken, of thy brother left to go naked while thou hadst his garment by thee, 7 of water grudged to thirsty men, bread refused to the hungry? 8 Must he tell the story of a rich tyrant that had lands and held to them; 9 of widows sent away without redress, orphans left without support, through thy means? 10 Must he say, that is why thou art caught in the snare, dismayed by sudden peril, 11 left benighted when thou thoughtest to see day, overwhelmed by the unexpected flood?

12 Bethink thee, God is high as heaven itself, reaches beyond the uttermost star. 13 Wouldst thou tell us that he has no knowledge of what passes, that he issues his decree blindly, 14 gives no heed to our mortal doings, there where he walks above heaven’s vault, all wrapped in cloud? 15 That were to follow old paths of error, trodden long ago by impious feet. 16 Snatched away before their time were the men that reasoned so; a flood engulfed the solid ground beneath them. 17 These, beyond doubt, were men who bade God keep his distance from them, thought the Omnipotent could give them no aid, 18 when he had filled their abode with blessings! Not for nothing do I shun their counsels! 19 Here was a sight to make the just triumphant, make innocent folk laugh aloud in scorn, 20 to see how their proud hopes vanished, and all that was left of them perished in the flames.[3]

21 Fall in with the Lord’s ways, and be his friend; thou shalt be well rewarded. 22 Let his lips be thy oracle, his words written on thy heart. 23 Turn back to the Almighty for thy healing, and rid thy dwelling-place of guilt. 24 Firm rock thou shalt have for shifting dust, and for firm rock streams of gold; 25 the Almighty himself will be thy shield, and silver thou shalt never lack.[4] 26 In those omnipotent arms thou shalt rest content, thy face upturned towards God himself, 27 thy prayer heard as soon as offered, thy vows paid as soon as due;28 all thy desire thou shalt have, and all thy paths will be sunshine. 29 He that was once brought low shall be high in renown; the downcast eye shall win deliverance.

30 But the innocent shall be kept safe; in a pair of clean hands there was safety ever.

JOB 28:16

1 Where, then, does wisdom lie?[1] Easy to trace where the veins of silver run, where gold-ore is refined, 2 where iron is dug from the depths of earth, and rocks must be melted to yield copper.3 See how man has done away with the darkness, has pierced into the very heart of things, into caves under ground, black as death’s shadow! 4 Where yonder ravine cuts them off from the shepherd-folk, the miners toil, forgotten; lost to all track, far from the haunts of men.[2] 5 That earth, from whose surface our bread comes to us, must be probed by fire beneath, 6 till the rocks yield sapphires, and the clods gold. 7 Here are passages no bird discovers in its flight, no vulture’s eye has seen; 8 that never gave roving merchant[3] shelter, or the lioness a lair. 9 Boldly man matches himself against the flint, uproots the mountain, 10 cuts channels through the rock, where things of price have dazzled his eye; 11 narrowly he scans the river’s depths, and brings to light all they hide.12 But wisdom, tell me where to search for wisdom; tell me in what cache discernment lies?

13 How should man set a price on it? This earth our pleasant home, yields no return of it; 14 Not here, cries the abyss beneath us, and the sea echoes, Not here. 15 Not for pure gold is it bartered, or weighed against silver in the balance;16 not the bright wares of the Indies, nor jewel of sardonyx, nor sapphire can vie with it; 17 it is not to be matched with treasures of glass or gold, rivalled by all the goldsmith’s workmanship.18 Do not talk of coral or of crystal;[4] for wisdom you must make deeper search still; 19 with wisdom the topaz from Ethiopia and the finest gold-leaf cannot compare.

20 Whence, then, does wisdom come to us; where is discernment to be found? 21 That is the secret kept hidden from beast on earth and bird in heaven; 22 the shadow-world of death claims no more than to have heard the rumour of it. 23 Only God knows the way to it, only God can tell where it lies, 24 he whose view reaches to the world’s end, sees all that passes under the wide heavens.25 He, when first he took scale and measuring-line to set wind and water their task, 26 when he appointed a time for the rain’s abating, and a track for the whistling storm, 27 descried wisdom already; traced its plan, and set all in order, and mastered it.

28 To man, he has told this much, that wisdom is fearing the Lord; there lies discernment, in refusing the evil path.

PSALM 45:10

1 (To the choir-master. Melody: The Lilies. Of the sons of Core. A maskil. A love-song.)

2 Joyful the thoughts that well up from my heart, the King’s honour for my theme; my tongue flows readily as the pen of a swift writer. 3 Thine is more than mortal beauty, thy lips overflow with gracious utterance; the blessings God has granted thee can never fail. 4 Gird on thy sword at thy side, great warrior, 5 gird thyself with all thy majesty and all thy beauty; ride on triumphant, in the name of faithfulness and justice. Dread counsel thy own might shall give thee; 6 so sharp are thy arrows, subduing nations to thy will, daunting the hearts of the king’s enemies. 7 Thy throne, O God, endures for ever and ever, the sceptre of thy royalty is a rod that rules true;[1] 8 thou hast been a friend to right, an enemy to wrong, and God, thy own God, has given thee an unction to bring thee pride beyond any of thy fellows. 9 Thy garments are scented with myrrh, and aloes, and cassia; from ivory palaces there are harps sounding in thy honour. 10 Daughters of kings come out to meet thee; at thy right hand stands the queen, in Ophir gold arrayed. 11 (Listen, my daughter, and consider my words attentively; thou art to forget, henceforward, thy own nation, and the house of thy father; 12 thy beauty, now, is all for the king’s delight; he is thy Lord, and worship belongs to him.) 13 The people of Tyre, too, will have its presents to bring; the noblest of its citizens will be courting thy favour. 14 She comes, the princess, all fair to see, her robe of golden cloth, 15 a robe of rich embroidery, to meet the King. The maidens of her court follow her into thy presence, 16 all rejoicing, all triumphant, as they enter the king’s palace! 17 Thou shalt have sons worthy of thy own fathers, and divide a world between them for their domains. 18 While time lasts, mine it is to keep thy name in remembrance; age after age, nations will do thee honour.

ISAIAH 13:12

1 The burden[1] that awaits Babylon, as it was revealed to Isaias, son of Amos.

2 A signal raised amid the shadow of the mountain, voices lifted, and a waving of hands; all is ready for the captains to march in through the city gates.3 These are my chosen warriors, doing my bidding; my champions whom I have summoned to execute my vengeance; they boast of my renown.4 The hills echo with the voices of a multitude, as if a host had gathered; voices of assembled kings, of whole peoples mustered there; the Lord of hosts is marshalling his troops for battle. 5 They come from far away, from the most distant region under heaven; the Lord is angry, and these are the instruments of his vengeance, to lay a whole world waste. 6 Cry aloud, for the day of the Lord is coming; his the dominion, his the doom. 7 No hand now but will hang useless, no heart but will be fainting with dismay; 8 tortures and pangs will seize them, throes as of a woman in travail; each man looks at his neighbour in bewilderment, their faces ashy pale.[2]

9 Yes, the day of the Lord is coming, pitiless, full of vengeance and bitter retribution, ready to turn earth into a wilderness, ridding it of its sinful brood. 10 The stars of heaven, its glittering constellations, will shed no ray; sunrise will be darkness, and the moon refuse her light. 11 I will punish the world’s guilt, and tax the wicked with their misdoings, stilling the rebel’s pride, crushing the haughtiness of tyrants, 12 till a man is a rarer sight than gold, and a slave cannot be bought with all the treasure of Ophir. 13 So terribly will I shake the heavens, and move earth from its place, to shew that the Lord of hosts will be patient no longer, and the hour of his bitter vengeance has come. 14 Men will take to flight as deer or sheep would, with none to marshal them, each turning towards his own home, seeking refuge in his own country. 15 Whoever is found left behind will be slain, and those who are encountered in the open will fall at the sword’s point; 16 their children will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses plundered, their wives ravished.

17 With such an enemy I mean to embroil them; the Medians, who reck nothing of silver, who are not to be tempted with gold; 18 they will make young boys a target for their arrows, have no pity for pregnant mothers, no kindly glance for children.19 So Babylon, the pride of many nations, glory and boast of the Chaldeans, will go the way of Sodom and Gomorrha, cities which the Lord overthrew. 20 It shall remain for ever uninhabited; generation after generation will pass, but it will not be founded again; even the Arabs will not pitch their tents, wandering shepherds will not find a lodging there. 21 Wild beasts will make their lairs in it, its houses will be tenanted by serpents; ostriches will nest there, and satyrs dance; 22 the owls will hoot to one another in its palaces, birds of ill omen in its temples of delight.