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1 Kings 10:1-13

A. 10:1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.

B. 2 And she came to Jerusalem  with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones:

C. and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. 3 And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.

D. 4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom,

E. and the house that he had built, 5 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

F. 6 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.

G. 7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: 

F’. thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.

E’. 8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that

D’. hear thy wisdom.

C’. 9 Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.

B’. 10 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.  11 And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones. 12 And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.

A’. 13 And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Malachi

Malachi

Note: I have reviewed existing posts and had another attempt at following the train of thought, and then looked at Dorsey (Literary Structure of the Old testament)who I believe has done an excellent job.  My recommendation always  is to try yourself first before looking at other posts or publications. That effort  puts us in a good position to assess the work of others. 

Luke 2:40-52

From Gary Milbourne

A Jesus’s Development
40  And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

 B  Jesus and his parents go Up
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.   2  And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.

Joseph & Mary Not Knowing
43  And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it,   44  but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances,   45  and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him.

 D  Jesus questions the teachers
46  After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.   47  And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

 E  His Parents astonished
48  And when his parents saw him, they were astonished.

 F   Mary questions Jesus
And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so?

His Parents distressed
Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”

 D  Jesus questions his parents
49  And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

 C   Joseph & Mary Not Understanding
50  And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.

Jesus and his parents go Down
51  And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

A Jesus’s Development
52  And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

Luke 1:46-55

From Gary Milbourne
 

46  And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,   47  and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, –

A  48  for He has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;   

B  49  for He who is mighty has done great things for me,  and holy is his name.  50  And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.   

C  51  He has shown strength with his arm; 

He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

C  52  He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;   

B  53  He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.  

A  54  He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,  55  as he spoke  to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
 
Author’s Note: 
– There are seven things that God has done indicated by the repetitive phrase “He has”.

Romans 12:1-10

A proposal from From David Inman
Email: [email protected]

A. 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

B.  2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

C. 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

D. 4 For as in one body we have many members,
and the members do not all have the same function,

E. 5 So we, though many, are one body in Christ,
and individually members one of another.

D’. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,
let us use them:

C’. if prophecy, in proportion to our faith,
7  if service, in our serving;
the one who teaches, in his teaching
8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation;
the one who contributes, in generosity;
the one who leads, with zeal;
the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

B’. 9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

A’. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection.
Outdo one another in showing honor.

John 5:24-29*

Note: In The Bible Translator (July 1975) Kenneth Bailey quotes this passage as a five stanza poem, first noted by John Forbes in 1885.

A. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life,
and shall not come into condemnation;
but is passed from death unto life.

B. 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you,
The hour is coming, and now is,
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God:
and they that hear shall live.

C. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself;
so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also,
because he is the Son of man.

B’. 28 Marvel not at this:
for the hour is coming,
in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth;

A’. they that have done good,
unto the resurrection of life;
and they that have done evil,
unto the resurrection of damnation.

Ecclesiastes 7:24-29

From Nicholas White

A. 24 That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out ?

B. 25 I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out  wisdom,

C. and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:

D. 26 And I find more bitter than death the woman,

E. whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands.

E’. Whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her;

D’. but the sinner shall be taken by her.

C’. 27 Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account

B’. 28 Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

A’. 29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

1 Kings 1:24-35*

Based on N Klaus, Pivot Patterns in the Former Prophets,  Sheffield Academic Press, 1999

(Klaus has divided up some of these sections into smaller units)

A.  24 And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?

B’. 25 For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.

C. 26 But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called.  27 Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

D. 28 Then king David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba.

E. And she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king.

F. a. 29 And the king sware, and said, As the LORD liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress,

b. 30 Even as I sware unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead;

a’. even so will I certainly do this day.

E. 31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.

D’. 32 And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king.

C’. 33 The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon:

B’. 34 And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon. 35 Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead:

A’. and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.

1 Kings 2:31-34*

Taken from Nathan Klaus inPivot Patterns in the Former Prophets, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 247, Sheffield, 1999

A. 31 And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him;

B. that thou mayest take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father.

C. 32 And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head,

D. who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword,

E. my father David not knowing thereof,

D’. to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel,
and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.

C’. 33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever:

B’. but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from the LORD.

A’. 34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness

Note: the record of the execution of Job highlights the innocence of David in the death of Abner and Amasa.