Traces the arc of King David's journey from obscurity to fame, from shepherd to soldier, from hero to traitor, from beloved king to murderous despot and into his remorseful and diminished dotage.

Belili escaped death nearly seventy years ago as the Babylonians ransacked Jerusalem and took their finest as captives. She'd perfected her survival skills in the many years amongst the Magoi and the idol worshippers, pretending with all the others in King Nebuchadnezzar's court. Now, as Daniel's wife and a septuagenarian matriarch, Belili thinks she's safe and can live out her days in Babylon without fear-- until the night Daniel is escorted to Belshazzar's...

"Lord, Teach Us to Pray" Deep with feelings of joy, fear, shame, awe, and at times inconsolable rage, the Psalms help readers express a range of emotions in their prayers and their daily lives. The book of Psalms will broaden and deepen your understanding and experience of prayer by following these examples from our spiritual ancestors. They teach us how to express our hearts to God. Enrich your prayers and know God more deeply as He invites you into...

"Toba Spitzer's God Is Here is a transformative exploration of the idea of God, offering new paths to experiencing the realm of the sacred. Most of us are hungry for a system of meaning to make sense of our lives, yet traditional religion too often leaves those seeking spiritual sustenance unsatisfied. Rabbi Toba Spitzer understands this problem firsthand, and knows that too often it is traditional ideas of the deity-he's too big, too impersonal,...

The Story of Humanity's Redemption ContinuesThe book of Exodus recounts how God brought Israel out of slavery and allowed them to become His treasured possession. Through miraculous deliverance and covenant law, the Redeemer is revealed. Exodus contains one of the earliest sets of laws ever recorded, beginning to shape a more just society for everyone. The book points us to God's purpose for which all laws and people are made-pure and wholehearted...

Daniel is a difficult book. But it is a book about the meaning of history, and people today need its message. The whole church needs reassurance, especially in view of Marxist claims to be able by human effort to introduce a utopian world government. "When the church lets part of its message go by default people look elsewhere for a substitute," writes Joyce Baldwin. "All the more reason, then, why the church needs to be counting on the certainties...

"For most Bible readers Ezekiel is almost a closed book," writes John Taylor. "Their knowledge of him extends little further than his mysterious vision of God's chariot-throne, with its wheels within wheels, and the vision of the valley of the dry bones." "Otherwise his book is as forbidding in its size as the prophet himself is in the complexity of his make-up," Taylor goes on. "In its structure, however, if not in its thought and language, the book...

"The inimitable Jane Yolen has teamed up with Barbara Diamond Goldin (a prolific author in her own right) to retell Bible stories from the point of view of twelve women (in nine chapters, as some come in pairs). After each story, there is a reflection "imagine" piece written from the voice of each woman (written by Barbara) and a poem about her (written by Jane). Intermixed with the main text are sidebars called "midrash" in the singular or "midrashim"...

The book of Judges contains some of the most famous of the Bible's stories, as well as some of the least known. They show us the deepest sins of humanity but reveal them in the light of God's abundant grace. Behind human leaders such as Deborah, Jephthah, and Samson stands the principal actor in this drama: God as Judge, discerning and deciding. Michael Wilcock astutely explores the message of Judges to show that God never abandons his people then...