Why did you say that she was your sister, and let me take her as my wife? Here is your wife; take her and get out!"

So Jesus said to her, "Because of that answer, go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!"

Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live!" The man believed Jesus' words and went.

The best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have earned. And yet, I realized that even this comes from God.

God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness to those who please him, but he makes sinners work, earning and saving, so that what they get can be given to those who please him. It is all useless. It is like chasing the wind.

So I realized that all we can do is be happy and do the best we can while we are still alive.

All of us should eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for. It is God's gift.

Here is what I have found out: the best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for during the short life that God has given us; this is our fate.

So I am convinced that we should enjoy ourselves, because the only pleasure we have in this life is eating and drinking and enjoying ourselves. We can at least do this as we labor during the life that God has given us in this world.

Feasting makes you happy and wine cheers you up, but you can't have either without money.

There, in the presence of the LORD your God, who has blessed you, you and your families will eat and enjoy the good things that you have worked for.

Be joyful there in his presence, together with your children, your servants, and the Levites who live in your towns; remember that the Levites will have no land of their own.

Enjoy it with your children, your servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns.

Honor the LORD your God by celebrating this festival for seven days at the one place of worship. Be joyful, because the LORD has blessed your harvest and your work.

On the eighth day Solomon sent the people home. They all praised him and went home happy because of all the blessings that the LORD had given his servant David and his people Israel.

They took the Covenant Box to the tent which David had prepared for it and put it inside. Then they offered sacrifices and fellowship offerings to God.

and distributed food to them all. He gave each man and woman in Israel a loaf of bread, a piece of roasted meat, and some raisins.

The following day they killed animals as sacrifices, dedicating them to the LORD, and then gave them to the people to eat. In addition, they sacrificed a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, which they burned whole on the altar. They also brought the offerings of wine.

So Solomon succeeded his father David on the throne which the LORD had established. He was a successful king, and the whole nation of Israel obeyed him.

they all decided to celebrate for another seven days. So they celebrated with joy.

So everyone was happy---the people of Judah, the priests, the Levites, the people who had come from the north, and the foreigners who had settled permanently in Israel and Judah.

The priests and the Levites asked the LORD's blessing on the people. In his home in heaven God heard their prayers and accepted them.

Now go home and have a feast. Share your food and wine with those who don't have enough. Today is holy to our Lord, so don't be sad. The joy that the LORD gives you will make you strong."

So all the people went home and ate and drank joyfully and shared what they had with others, because they understood what had been read to them.

Then Abel brought the first lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering,

but he rejected Cain and his offering. Cain became furious, and he scowled in anger.

Then Moses took the blood in the bowls and threw it on the people. He said, "This is the blood that seals the covenant which the LORD made with you when he gave all these commands."

and they saw the God of Israel. Beneath his feet was what looked like a pavement of sapphire, as blue as the sky.

But give what is in your cups and plates to the poor, and everything will be ritually clean for you.

Those who fear him and do what is right are acceptable to him, no matter what race they belong to.