Because I made this tree so beautiful, and gave it such magnificent foliage, it was the envy of all the other trees of Eden, the garden of God.

我使它的枝条蕃多，成为荣美，以致神伊甸园中的树都嫉妒它。”

我使它枝条繁多，极为荣美；在上帝的园中，伊甸所有的树都嫉妒它。”

我使它枝条繁多，极为荣美；在神的园中，伊甸所有的树都嫉妒它。”

我使它枝繁叶茂，美丽无比，以致上帝伊甸园里的树木都羡慕它。’

我使它因枝条繁多而显得秀美，以致在神的园中，伊甸所有的树木都嫉妒它。

我使它的枝條蕃多，成為榮美，以致神伊甸園中的樹都嫉妒它。」

我使它枝條繁多，極為榮美；在上帝的園中，伊甸所有的樹都嫉妒它。」

我使它枝條繁多，極為榮美；在神的園中，伊甸所有的樹都嫉妒它。」

我使它枝繁葉茂，美麗無比，以致上帝伊甸園裡的樹木都羡慕它。』

我使它因枝條繁多而顯得秀美，以致在神的園中，伊甸所有的樹木都嫉妒它。

我以其枝條之茂盛而使它美麗，以致上帝園中伊甸的眾樹都羨慕它。

我使其枝繁盛、因而榮美、致上帝囿伊甸諸木、咸嫉妒之、

枝葉向榮、葱蒨可悅、我使之然、上帝囿中諸木、亦嫉其高、

我使其柯條繁多、甚為榮美、天主園中、一切伊甸樹木、無不嫉之、

I made it beautiful with abundant branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden in the garden of God.

I gave it many branches. They made it beautiful. All the trees in my Garden of Eden were jealous of it.’ ”

I made it beautiful in the mass of its branches, and all the trees of Eden envied it, that were in the garden of God.

I made it beautiful with its many limbs, and all the trees of Eden, which were in God’s garden, envied it.

I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches, And all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God, were jealous of it.

I made it beautiful with a multitude of branches, So that all the trees of Eden envied it, That were in the garden of God.’

I made it fair by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.

I made it beautiful with its many limbs, and all the trees of Eden, which were in God’s garden, envied it.

I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that[ were] in the garden of God, envied him.

I made it beautiful with its many branches; all the trees of Eden, in the garden of God, envied it.

I made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.’

The Lord will comfort Israel again and have pity on her ruins. Her desert will blossom like Eden, her barren wilderness like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found there. Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.

You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone— red carnelian, pale green peridot, white moonstone, blue green beryl, onyx, green jasper, blue lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald— all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created.

Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt.( This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

I made the nations shake with fear at the sound of its fall, for I sent it down to the grave with all the others who descend to the pit. And all the other proud trees of Eden, the most beautiful and the best of Lebanon, the ones whose roots went deep into the water, took comfort to find it there with them in the depths of the earth.

He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars.

When Saul recognized this, he became even more afraid of him.

Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.

But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him.And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,“ God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made.The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground— trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign Lord.

But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.He was driven from human society. He was given the mind of a wild animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them.“ You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself.For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone— gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!

He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him.

You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!

“ O Egypt, to which of the trees of Eden will you compare your strength and glory? You, too, will be brought down to the depths with all these other nations. You will lie there among the outcasts who have died by the sword. This will be the fate of Pharaoh and all his hordes. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Weep, you cypress trees, for all the ruined cedars; the most majestic ones have fallen. Weep, you oaks of Bashan, for the thick forests have been cut down.

Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest sing for joybefore the Lord, for he is coming! He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with his truth.

That tree, Your Majesty, is you. For you have grown strong and great; your greatness reaches up to heaven, and your rule to the ends of the earth.“‘ Then you saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying,“ Cut down the tree and destroy it. But leave the stump and the roots in the ground, bound with a band of iron and bronze and surrounded by tender grass. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven. Let him live with the animals of the field for seven periods of time.”“‘ This is what the dream means, Your Majesty, and what the Most High has declared will happen to my lord the king.You will be driven from human society, and you will live in the fields with the wild animals. You will eat grass like a cow, and you will be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.

But I have spared you for a purpose— to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth.

Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor.He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold.

And all the trees will know that it is I, the Lord, who cuts the tall tree down and makes the short tree grow tall. It is I who makes the green tree wither and gives the dead tree new life. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I said!”

Once upon a time the trees decided to choose a king. First they said to the olive tree,‘ Be our king!’But the olive tree refused, saying,‘ Should I quit producing the olive oil that blesses both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’“ Then they said to the fig tree,‘ You be our king!’But the fig tree also refused, saying,‘ Should I quit producing my sweet fruit just to wave back and forth over the trees?’“ Then they said to the grapevine,‘ You be our king!’But the grapevine also refused, saying,‘ Should I quit producing the wine that cheers both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’“ Then all the trees finally turned to the thornbush and said,‘ Come, you be our king!’And the thornbush replied to the trees,‘ If you truly want to make me your king, come and take shelter in my shade. If not, let fire come out from me and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’”Jotham continued,“ Now make sure you have acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelech your king, and that you have done right by Gideon and all of his descendants. Have you treated him with the honor he deserves for all he accomplished?For he fought for you and risked his life when he rescued you from the Midianites.But today you have revolted against my father and his descendants, killing his seventy sons on one stone. And you have chosen his slave woman’s son, Abimelech, to be your king just because he is your relative.“ If you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Gideon and his descendants today, then may you find joy in Abimelech, and may he find joy in you.But if you have not acted in good faith, then may fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leading citizens of Shechem and Beth millo; and may fire come out from the citizens of Shechem and Beth millo and devour Abimelech!”

For no one on earth— from east or west, or even from the wilderness— should raise a defiant fist.It is God alone who judges; he decides who will rise and who will fall.

“ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take a branch from the top of a tall cedar, and I will plant it on the top of Israel’s highest mountain.

Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless— like chasing the wind.