Contempt

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

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• From Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

  "Like it? No! I never liked the thing. But she fixed it all up to have it done, like." He returned to pulling off his boots. "If you don't like it, why do you keep it hanging there? Perhaps your wife would like to have it," she said. He looked up at her with a sudden grin. "She carted off ivrything as was worth taking from th'ouse," he said. "But she left _that_!" "Then why do you keep it? For sentimental reasons?" "Nay, I niver look at it. I hardly knowed it wor theer. It's bin theer sin' we come to this place." "Why don't you burn it?" she said. He twisted round again and looked at the enlarged photograph. It was framed in a brown-and-gilt frame, hideous. It showed a clean-shaven, alert, very young looking man in a rather high collar, and a somewhat plump, bold young woman with hair fluffed out and crimped, and wearing a dark satin blouse. "It wouldn't be a bad idea, would it?" he said. He had pulled off his boots, and put on a pair of slippers. He stood up on the chair, and lifted down the photograph. It left a big pale place on the greenish wallpaper. "No use dusting it now," he said, setting the thing against the wall. He went to the scullery, and returned with hammer and pincers. Sitting where he had sat before, he started to tear off the back-paper from the big frame, and to pull out the springs that held the backboard in position, working with the immediate quiet absorption that was characteristic of him. He soon had the nails out: then he pulled out the backboards, then the enlargement itself, in its solid white mount. He looked at the photograph with amusement. "Shows me for what I was, a young curate, and her for what she was, a bully," he said. "The prig and the bully!" "Let me look!" said Connie. He did look indeed very clean-shaven and very clean altogether, one of the clean young men of twenty years ago. But even in the photograph his eyes were alert and dauntless. And the woman was not altogether a bully, though her jowl was heavy. There was a touch of appeal in her. "One never should keep these things," said Connie. "That one shouldn't! One should never have them made!" He broke the cardboard photograph and mount over his knee, and when it was small enough, put it on the fire. "It'll spoil the fire, though," he said. The glass and the backboards he carefully took upstairs. The frame he knocked asunder with a few blows of the hammer, making the stucco fly. Then he took the pieces into the scullery. "We'll burn that tomorrow," he said. "There's too much plaster-moulding on it." Having cleared away, he sat down. "Did you love your wife?" she asked him. "Love?" he said. "Did you love Sir Clifford?" But she was not going to be put off.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  As they went, they were discovered and taken with the dead body by the officers of the provostry, who chanced to be abroad at that hour about some other matter. Andrevuola, more desirous of death than of life, recognizing the officers, said frankly, 'I know who you are and that it would avail me nothing to seek to flee; I am ready to go with you before the Seignory and there declare how the case standeth; but let none of you dare to touch me, provided I am obedient to you, or to remove aught from this body, an he would not be accused of me.' Accordingly, without being touched of any, she repaired, with Gabriotto's body, to the palace, where the Provost, hearing what was to do, arose and sending for her into his chamber, proceeded to enquire of this that had happened. To this end he caused divers physicians look if the dead man had been done to death with poison or otherwise, who all affirmed that it was not so, but that some imposthume had burst near the heart, the which had suffocated him. The magistrate hearing this and feeling her to be guilty in [but] a small matter, studied to make a show of giving her that which he could not sell her and told her that, an she would consent to his pleasures, he would release her; but, these words availing not, he offered, out of all seemliness, to use force. However, Andrevuola, fired with disdain and waxed strong [for indignation], defended herself manfully, rebutting him with proud and scornful words.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  [2 Chr 15:2 ; Jer 29:13 ] 5 “But do not resort to Bethel [to worship the golden calf] Nor enter [idolatrous] Gilgal, Nor cross over to Beersheba [and its idols]; For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity and exile, And Bethel will come to nothing. 6 “Seek the LORD [search diligently for Him and long for Him as your most essential need] so that you may live, Or He will rush down like a [devouring] fire, O a house of Joseph, And there will be no one to quench the flame for [idolatrous] b Bethel, 7 “For those [shall be consumed] who turn justice into wormwood (bitterness) And cast righteousness down to the earth.” 8 He who made the [cluster of stars called] Pleiades and [the constellation] Orion, Who turns deep darkness into the morning And darkens the day into night, Who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the surface of the earth, The LORD is His name. 9 It is He who causes [sudden] destruction to flash forth on the strong So that destruction comes on the fortress. 10 They hate the one who reprimands [the unrighteous] in the [court held at the city] gate [regarding him as unreasonable and rejecting his reprimand], And they detest him who speaks [the truth] with integrity and honesty. 11 Therefore, because you impose heavy rent on the poor And demand a tribute (food-tax) of grain from them, Though you have built [luxurious] houses of square stone, You will not live in them; You have planted beautiful vineyards, but you will not drink their wine. 12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great (shocking, innumerable), You who distress the righteous and take bribes, And turn away from the poor in the [court of the city] gate [depriving them of justice]. 13 Therefore, he who is prudent and has insight will keep silent at such a [corrupt and evil] time, for it is an evil time [when people will not listen to truth and will disregard those of good character]. 14 Seek (long for, require) good and not evil, that you may live; And so may the LORD God of hosts be with you, Just as you have said! 15 Hate evil and love good, And establish justice in the [court of the city] gate. Perhaps the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph [that is, those who remain after God’s judgment]. 16 Therefore, thus says the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, “There is wailing in all the public plazas, And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ And they call the farmers to mourning [for those who have died] And professional mourners to wailing. 17 “And in all vineyards there is wailing, For I will pass through your midst [in judgment],” says the LORD .

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  8 They (the priests) a feed on the sin offering of My people And set their heart on their wickedness. [Lev 7:7 , 8 ] 9 And it shall be: like people, like priest [both are wicked and both will be judged]; So I will punish them for their ways And repay them for their deeds. 10 They will eat, but not have enough; They will play the prostitute, but not increase [their descendants], Because they have stopped giving heed to the LORD . 11 Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away the mind and the [spiritual] understanding. 12 My people consult their [lifeless] wooden idol, and their [diviner’s] wand gives them oracles. For a spirit of prostitution has led them astray [morally and spiritually], And they have played the prostitute, withdrawing themselves from their God. 13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains And burn incense on the hills, Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, Because the shade is pleasant there. Therefore your daughters play the prostitute And your brides commit adultery. 14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute Or your brides when they commit adultery, For the men themselves slip away with prostitutes, And they offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes [who give their bodies in honor of the idol]. So the people without understanding [stumble and fall and] come to ruin. 15 Though you, Israel, play the prostitute [by worshiping idols], Do not let Judah become guilty [of the same thing]; And do not go to Gilgal [where idols are worshiped], Or go up to b Beth-aven (House of Wickedness), Nor swear [oaths in idolatrous worship, saying], “As the LORD lives!” 16 For Israel is stubborn, Like a stubborn heifer. Can the LORD now pasture them Like a lamb in a large field? 17 Ephraim is joined to idols, So let him alone [to suffer the consequences]. 18 When their liquor is gone [and their drinking parties are over], They habitually go to play the prostitute; Ephraim’s rulers continue to dearly love shame [more than her glory which is the LORD , Israel’s God]. 19 The wind [of God’s relentless wrath] has wrapped up Israel in its wings, And [in captivity] they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices [to calves, to sun, to moon, to stars, and to pagan gods]. Hosea 5 The People’s Apostasy Rebuked 1 H EAR THIS and pay close attention, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Listen, O house of the king! For the [pronounced] judgment pertains to you and is meant for you to hear, Because you have been a snare at Mizpah And a net spread out over Tabor (military strongholds on either side of the Jordan River). 2 The revolters have gone deep into depravity, But I [the LORD God] will chastise them all. 3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you have played the prostitute and have worshiped idols; Israel has defiled itself.

• From Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

  "Well, hear how he goes on: 'It is thus slowly passing, with a slowness inconceivable in our measures of time, to new creative conditions, amid which the physical world, as we at present know it, will be represented by a ripple barely to be distinguished from nonentity.'" She listened with a glisten of amusement. All sorts of improper things suggested themselves. But she only said: "What silly hocus-pocus! As if his little conceited consciousness could know what was happening as slowly as all that! It only means _he_'s a physical failure on the earth, so he wants to make the whole universe a physical failure. Priggish little impertinence!" "Oh, but listen! Don't interrupt the great man's solemn words! 'The present type of order in the world has risen from an unimaginable past, and will find its grave in an unimaginable future. There remains the inexhaustive realm of abstract forms, and creativity with its shifting character ever determined afresh by its own creatures, and God, upon whose wisdom all forms of order depend.' There, that's how he winds up!" Connie sat listening contemptuously. "He's spiritually blown out," she said. "What a lot of stuff! Unimaginables, and types of order in graves, and realms of abstract forms, and creativity with a shifty character, and God mixed up with forms of order! Why it's idiotic!" "I must say, it is a little vaguely conglomerate, a mixture of gases, so to speak," said Clifford. "Still, I think there is something in the idea that the universe is physically wasting and spiritually ascending." "Do you? Then let it ascend, so long as it leaves me safely and solidly physically here below." "Do you like your physique?" he asked. "I love it!" And through her mind went the words: It's the nicest, nicest woman's arse as is! "But that is really rather extraordinary, because there's no denying it's an encumbrance. But then I suppose a woman doesn't take a supreme pleasure in the life of the mind." "Supreme pleasure?" she said, looking up at him. "Is that sort of idiocy the supreme pleasure of the life of the mind? No thank you! Give me the body. I believe the life of the body is a greater reality than the life of the mind: when the body is really wakened to life. But so many people, like your famous wind-machine, have only got minds tacked on to their physical corpses." He looked at her in wonder. "The life of the body," he said, "is just the life of the animals." "And that's better than the life of professional corpses. But it's not true! The human body is only just coming to real life. With the Greeks it gave a lovely flicker, then Plato and Aristotle killed it, and Jesus finished it off. But now the body is coming really to life, it is really rising from the tomb. And it will be a lovely, lovely life in the lovely universe, the life of the human body."

• From Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

  "I deny that Bolshevism is logical, it rejects the major part of the premisses," said Hammond. "My dear man, it allows the material premiss; so does the pure mind ... exclusively." "At least Bolshevism has got down to rock bottom," said Charlie. "Rock bottom! The bottom that has no bottom! The Bolshevists will have the finest army in the world in a very short time, with the finest mechanical equipment." "But this thing can't go on ... this hate business. There must be a reaction...." said Hammond. "Well, we've been waiting for years ... we wait longer. Hate's a growing thing like anything else. It's the inevitable outcome of forcing ideas on to life, forcing one's deepest instincts; our deepest feelings we force according to certain ideas. We drive ourselves with a formula, like a machine. The logical mind pretends to rule the roost, and the roost turns into pure hate. We're all Bolshevists, only we are hypocrites. The Russians are Bolshevists without hypocrisy." "But there are many other ways," said Hammond, "than the Soviet way. The Bolshevists aren't really intelligent." "Of course not. But sometimes it's intelligent to be half-witted: if you want to make your end. Personally, I consider Bolshevism half-witted; but so do I consider our social life in the west half-witted. So I even consider our far-famed mental life half-witted. We're all as cold as cretins, we're all as passionless as idiots. We're all of us Bolshevists, only we give it another name. We think we're gods ... men like gods! It's just the same as Bolshevism. One has to be human, and have a heart and a penis if one is going to escape being either a god or a Bolshevist ... for they are the same thing: they're both too good to be true." Out of the disapproving silence came Berry's anxious question: "You do believe in love then, Tommy, don't you?" "You lovely lad!" said Tommy. "No, my cherub, nine times out of ten, no! Love's another of those half-witted performances today. Fellows with swaying waists fucking little jazz girls with small boy buttocks, like two collar studs! Do you mean that sort of love? Or the joint-property, make-a-success-of-it, my-husband-my-wife sort of love? No, my fine fellow, I don't believe in it at all!" "But you do believe in something?" "Me? Oh, intellectually I believe in having a good heart, a chirpy penis, a lively intelligence, and the courage to say 'shit!' in front of a lady." "Well, you've got them all," said Berry.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  Fra Cipolla had a servant, whom some called Guccio[313] Balena,[314] others Guccio Imbratta[315] and yet others Guccia Porco[316] and who was such a scurvy knave that Lipo Topo[317] never wrought his like, inasmuch as his master used oftentimes to jest of him with his cronies and say, 'My servant hath in him nine defaults, such that, were one of them in Solomon or Aristotle or Seneca, it would suffice to mar all their worth, all their wit and all their sanctity. Consider, then, what a man he must be, who hath all nine of them and in whom there is neither worth nor wit nor sanctity.' Being questioned whiles what were these nine defaults and having put them into doggerel rhyme, he would answer, 'I will tell you. He's a liar, a sloven, a slugabed; disobedient, neglectful, ill bred; o'erweening, foul-spoken, a dunderhead; beside which he hath divers other peccadilloes, whereof it booteth not to speak. But what is most laughable of all his fashions is that, wherever he goeth, he is still for taking a wife and hiring a house; for, having a big black greasy beard, him-seemeth he is so exceeding handsome and agreeable that he conceiteth himself all the women who see him fall in love with him, and if you let him alone, he would run after them all till he lost his girdle.[318] Sooth to say, he is of great assistance to me, for that none can ever seek to speak with me so secretly but he must needs hear his share; and if it chance that I be questioned of aught, he is so fearful lest I should not know how to answer, that he straightway answereth for me both Ay and No, as he judgeth sortable.' [Footnote 313: Diminutive of contempt of Arrigo, contracted from Arriguccio, _i.e._ mean little Arrigo.] [Footnote 314: _i.e._ Whale.] [Footnote 315: _i.e._ Dirt.] [Footnote 316: _i.e._ Hog.] [Footnote 317: A painter of Boccaccio's time, of whom little or nothing seems to be known.] [Footnote 318: _Perpendo lo coreggia._ The exact meaning of this passage is not clear. The commentators make sundry random shots at it, but, as usual, only succeed in making confusion worse confounded. It may perhaps be rendered, "till his wind failed him."]

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  19 “But you [king of Babylon] have been cast out of your tomb (denied burial) Like a rejected branch, Clothed with the slain who are pierced by the sword, Who go down to the stones of the pit [into which carcasses are thrown], Like a dead body trampled [underfoot]. 20 “You will not be united with them in burial, Because you have destroyed your land, You have slain your people. May the descendants of evildoers never be named! 21 “Prepare a slaughtering place for his sons Because of the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of their fathers. They must not rise and take possession of the earth, And fill the face of the world with cities.” 22 “I will rise up against them,” says the LORD of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, and son and grandson,” declares the LORD . 23 “I will also make Babylon a possession of the hedgehog and of c swamps of water, and I will sweep it away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts. Judgment on Assyria 24 The LORD of hosts has sworn [an oath], saying, “Just as I have intended, so it has certainly happened, and just as I have planned, so it will stand— 25 to break the Assyrian in My land, and on My mountains I will trample him underfoot. Then the Assyrian’s d yoke will be removed from them (the people of Judah) and his burden removed from their shoulder. 26 “This is the plan [of God] decided for the whole earth [regarded as conquered and put under tribute by Assyria]; and this is the hand [of God] that is stretched out over all the nations. 27 “For the LORD of hosts has decided and planned, and who can annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” Judgment on Philistia 28 In the year that King Ahaz [of Judah] died this [mournful, inspired] oracle (e a burden to be carried) came: 29 “Do not rejoice, O Philistia, any of you, Because the rod [of Judah] that struck you is broken; For out of the serpent’s root will come a viper [King Hezekiah of Judah], And its offspring will be a flying serpent. [2 Kin 18:1 , 3 , 8 ] 30 “The firstborn of the helpless [of Judah] will feed [on My meadows], And the needy will lie down in safety; But I will kill your root with famine, And your survivors will be put to death. 31 “Howl, O gate; cry, O city! Melt away, O Philistia, all of you; For smoke comes out of the north, And there is no straggler in his ranks and no one stands detached [in Hezekiah’s battalions]. 32 “Then what answer will one give the messengers of the [Philistine] nation?

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  12 “For everyone who does these things is utterly repulsive to the LORD ; and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God is driving them out before you. 13 “You shall be blameless (complete, perfect) before the LORD your God. 14 “For these nations which you shall dispossess listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners and fortune-tellers, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so. 15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a e prophet like me [Moses] from among you, from your countrymen (brothers, brethren). You shall listen to him. [Matt 21:11 ; John 1:21 ] 16 “This is according to all that you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb (Mount Sinai) on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear the voice of the LORD my God again, nor see this great fire anymore, so that I will not die.’ 17 “The LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18 ‘I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 ‘It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him [and there will be consequences]. 20 ‘But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet shall die.’ 21 “If you say in your heart, ‘How will we know and recognize the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ 22 “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the thing does not happen or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 19 Cities of Refuge 1 “W HEN THE LORD your God cuts off (destroys) the nations whose land He is giving you, and you dispossess them and live in their cities and in their houses, 2 you shall designate three cities for yourself in the central area of the land, which the LORD your God is giving you to possess. 3 “You shall prepare and maintain for yourself the roads [to these cities], and divide the territory of your land into three parts, so that anyone who kills another unintentionally may escape there [for asylum].

• From Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

  "The woman has blown off an amazing quantity of poison-gas. She has aired in detail all those incidents of her conjugal life which are usually buried down in the deepest grave of matrimonial silence, between married couples. Having chosen to exhume them, after ten years of burial, she has a weird array. I hear these details from Linley and the doctor: the latter being amused. Of course there is really nothing in it. Humanity has always had a strange avidity for unusual sexual postures, and if a man likes to use his wife, as Benvenuto Cellini says, 'in the Italian way,' well that is a matter of taste. But I had hardly expected our gamekeeper to be up to so many tricks. No doubt Bertha Coutts herself first put him up to them. In any case, it is a matter of their own personal squalour, and nothing to do with anybody else. "However, everybody listens: as I do myself. A dozen years ago, common decency would have hushed the thing. But common decency no longer exists, and the colliers' wives are all up in arms and unabashed in voice. One would think every child in Tevershall, for the last fifty years, had been an immaculate conception, and every one of our nonconformist females was a shining Joan of Arc. That our estimable gamekeeper should have about him a touch of Rabelais seems to make him more monstrous and shocking than a murderer like Crippen. Yet these people in Tevershall are a loose lot, if one is to believe all accounts. "The trouble is, however, the execrable Bertha Coutts has not confined herself to her own experiences and sufferings. She has discovered, at the top of her voice, that her husband has been 'keeping' women down at the cottage, and has made a few random shots at naming the women. This has brought a few decent names trailing through the mud, and the thing has gone quite considerably too far. An injunction has been taken out against the woman. "I have had to interview Mellors about the business, as it was impossible to keep the woman away from the wood. He goes about as usual, with his Miller-of-the-Dee air, I care for nobody, no not I, if nobody cares for me! Nevertheless, I shrewdly suspect he feels like a dog with a tin can tied to its tail: though he makes a very good show of pretending the tin can isn't there. But I hear that in the village the women call away their children if he is passing, as if he were the Marquis de Sade in person. He goes on with a certain impudence, but I am afraid the tin can is firmly tied to his tail, and that inwardly he repeats, like Don Rodrigo in the Spanish ballad: 'Ah, now it bites me where I most have sinned!'

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  [Ex 14:21 ] 10 So He saved them from the hand of the one that hated them, And redeemed them from the hand of the [Egyptian] enemy. [Ex 14:30 ] 11 And the waters covered their adversaries; Not one of them was left. [Ex 14:27 , 28 ; 15:5 ] 12 Then Israel believed in [the validity of] His words; They sang His praise. 13 But they quickly forgot His works; They did not [patiently] wait for His counsel and purpose [to be revealed regarding them], 14 But lusted intensely in the wilderness And tempted God [with their insistent desires] in the desert. [Num 11:4 ] 15 So He gave them their request, But sent a wasting disease among them. [Ps 78:29–31 ] 16 They envied Moses in the camp, And Aaron [the high priest], the holy one of the LORD , [Num 16:1–32 ] 17 Therefore the earth opened and swallowed Dathan, And engulfed the company of Abiram. [Num 16:31 , 32 ] 18 And a fire broke out in their company; The flame consumed the wicked. [Num 16:35 , 46 ] 19 They made a calf in Horeb (Sinai) And worshiped a cast image. [Ex 32:4 ] 20 Thus they exchanged [the true God who was] their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass. 21 They forgot God their Savior, Who had done such great things in Egypt, 22 Wonders in the land of Ham, Awesome things at the Red Sea. 23 Therefore He said He would destroy them, [And He would have done so] had not Moses, His chosen one, stepped into the gap before Him, To turn away His wrath from destroying them. [Ex 32:10 , 11 , 32 ] 24 Then they despised the pleasant land [of Canaan]; They did not believe in His word nor rely on it, 25 But they sulked and complained in their tents; They did not listen to the voice of the LORD . 26 Therefore He lifted up His hand [swearing] to them, That He would cause them to fall in the wilderness, 27 And that He would cast out their descendants among the nations And scatter them in the lands [of the earth]. 28 They joined themselves also to [the idol] Baal of Peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead. 29 Thus they provoked Him to anger with their practices, And a plague broke out among them. 30 Then Phinehas [the priest] stood up and b interceded, And so the plague was halted. [Num 25:7 , 8 ] 31 And that was credited to him for righteousness, To all generations forever. 32 They provoked Him to anger at the waters of c Meribah, So that it went hard with Moses on their account; [Num 20:3–13 ] 33 Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, Moses spoke recklessly with his lips.

• From Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

  Mrs. Bolton was both thrilled and ashamed, she both loved and hated it. Yet she never rebuffed nor rebuked him. And they drew into a closer physical intimacy, an intimacy of perversity, when he was a child stricken with an apparent candour and an apparent wonderment, that looked almost like a religious exaltation: the perverse and literal rendering of: "except ye become again as a little child." While she was the Magna Mater, full of power and potency, having the great blond child-man under her will and her stroke entirely. The curious thing was that when this child-man, which Clifford was now and which he had been becoming for years, emerged into the world, it was much sharper and keener than the real man he used to be. This perverted child-man was now a _real_ businessman; when it was a question of affairs, he was an absolute he-man, sharp as a needle, and impervious as a bit of steel. When he was out among men, seeking his own ends, and "making good" his colliery workings, he had an almost uncanny shrewdness, hardness, and a straight sharp punch. It was as if his very passivity and prostitution to the Magna Mater gave him insight into material business affairs, and lent him a certain remarkable inhuman force. The wallowing in private emotion, the utter abasement of his manly self, seemed to lend him a second nature, cold, almost visionary, business-clever. In business he was quite inhuman. And in this Mrs. Bolton triumphed. "How he's getting on!" she would say to herself in pride. "And that's my doing! My word, he'd never have got on like this with Lady Chatterley. She was not the one to put a man forward. She wanted too much for herself." At the same time, in some corner of her weird female soul, how she despised him and hated him! He was to her the fallen beast, the squirming monster. And while she aided and abetted him all she could, away in the remotest corner of her ancient healthy womanhood she despised him with a savage contempt that knew no bounds. The merest tramp was better than he. His behaviour with regard to Connie was curious. He insisted on seeing her again. He insisted, moreover, on her coming to Wragby. On this point he was finally and absolutely fixed. Connie had promised to come back to Wragby, faithfully. "But is it any use?" said Mrs. Bolton. "Can't you let her go, and be rid of her?" "No! She said she was coming back, and she's got to come." Mrs. Bolton opposed him no more. She knew what she was dealing with. "I needn't tell you what effect your letter has had on me," he wrote to Connie to London. "Perhaps you can imagine it if you try, though no doubt you won't trouble to use your imagination on my behalf.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  4 Our soul is greatly filled With the scoffing of those who are at ease, And with the contempt of the proud [who disregard God’s law]. Psalm 124 Praise for Rescue from Enemies. A Song of a Ascents. Of David. 1 “I F IT had not been the LORD who was on our side,” Let Israel now say, 2 “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side When men rose up against us, 3 Then they would have [quickly] swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; 4 Then the waters would have engulfed us, The torrent would have swept over our soul; 5 Then the b raging waters would have swept over our soul.” 6 Blessed be the LORD , Who has not given us as prey to be torn by their teeth. 7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; The trap is broken and we have escaped. 8 Our help is in the name of the LORD , Who made heaven and earth. Psalm 125 The LORD Surrounds His People. A Song of a Ascents. 1 T HOSE WHO trust in and rely on the LORD [with confident expectation] Are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but remains forever. 2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever. 3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land of the righteous, So that the righteous will not reach out their hands to do wrong. 4 Do good, O LORD , to those who are good And to those who are upright in their hearts. 5 But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways [in unresponsiveness to God], The LORD will lead them away with those who do evil. Peace be upon Israel. Psalm 126 Thanksgiving for Return from Captivity. A Song of a Ascents. 1 W HEN THE LORD brought back the captives to Zion (Jerusalem), We were like those who dream [it seemed so unreal]. [Ps 53:6 ; Acts 12:9 ] 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter And our tongue with joyful shouting; Then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” 3 The LORD has done great things for us; We are glad! 4 Restore our b captivity, O LORD , As the stream-beds in the South (the Negev) [are restored by torrents of rain]. 5 They who sow in tears shall reap with joyful singing. 6 He who goes back and forth weeping, carrying his bag of seed [for planting], Will indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. Psalm 127 Prosperity Comes from the LORD . A Song of a Ascents. Of Solomon. 1 U NLESS THE LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.

• From Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

  "Sir Clifford!" he said. "Won't he ... won't he be...?" She paused a moment to consider. "Perhaps!" she said. And she looked up at him. "I don't want Clifford to know ... not even to suspect. It would hurt him so much. But I don't think it's wrong, do you?" "Wrong! Good God, no! You're only too infinitely good to me ... I can hardly bear it." He turned aside, and she saw that in another moment he would be sobbing. "But we needn't let Clifford know, need we?" she pleaded. "It _would_ hurt him so. And if he never knows, never suspects, it hurts nobody." "Me!" he said, almost fiercely; "he'll know nothing from me! You see if he does. Me give myself away! Ha! Ha!" He laughed hollowly, cynically at such an idea. She watched him in wonder. He said to her: "May I kiss your hand and go? I'll run into Sheffield I think, and lunch there if I may, and be back to tea. May I do anything for you? May I be sure you don't hate me?--and that you won't?"--he ended with a desperate note of cynicism. "No, I don't hate you," she said. "I think you're nice." "Ah!" he said to her fiercely, "I'd rather you said that to me than said you love me! It means such a lot more.... Till afternoon then. I've plenty to think about till then." He kissed her hands humbly and was gone. "I don't think I can stand that young man," said Clifford at lunch. "Why?" asked Connie. "He's such a bounder underneath his veneer ... just waiting to bounce us." "I think people have been so unkind to him," said Connie. "Do you wonder? And do you think he employs his shining hours doing deeds of kindness?" "I think he has a certain sort of generosity." "Towards whom?" "I don't quite know." "Naturally you don't. I'm afraid you mistake unscrupulousness for generosity." Connie paused. Did she? It was just possible. Yet the unscrupulousness of Michaelis had a certain fascination for her. He went whole lengths where Clifford only crept a few timid paces. In his way he had conquered the world, which was what Clifford wanted to do. Ways and means...? Were those of Michaelis more despicable than those of Clifford? Was the way the poor outsider had shoved and bounced himself forward in person, and by the back doors, any worse than Clifford's way of advertising himself into prominence? The bitch-goddess, Success, was trailed by thousands of gasping dogs with lolling tongues. The one that got her first was the real dog among dogs, if you go by success! So Michaelis could keep his tail up.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  6 For behold, they will go away because of devastation and destruction; Egypt will gather them up, Memphis will bury them. Weeds will take over their treasures of silver; Thorns will grow in their tents. 7 The days of punishment have come; The days of retribution are at hand; Let Israel know this! The prophet is [considered] a fool; The man [of God] who is inspired is [treated as if] demented, Because of the abundance of your wickedness and guilt, And because your deep antagonism [toward God and the prophets] is so great. [Luke 21:22 ] 8 Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a [true] prophet [to warn the nation]; But the snare of a bird catcher was laid in all his paths. And there is only deep hostility in the house of his God (the land of Israel). 9 They have deeply corrupted (perverted) themselves As in the days of Gibeah. The LORD will remember their wickedness and guilt; He will punish their sins. [Judg 20 ] 10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness [an unexpected and refreshing delight]; I saw your fathers (ancestors) as the first ripe fruit on the fig tree in its first season, But they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to shamefulness [the worship of Baal], And [because of their spiritual and physical adultery] they became as detestable and loathsome as the thing they loved. 11 As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird; No birth, no pregnancy, and [because of their impurity] no conception. 12 Even though they bring up their children, Yet I will bereave them until not one is left. Indeed, woe (judgment is coming) to them when I look away and withdraw [My blessing] from them! 13 Ephraim, as I have seen, Is planted in a pleasant [and prosperous] meadow like Tyre; But Ephraim will bring out his children to the executioner [for slaughter]. 14 Give them [the punishment they deserve], O LORD ! What will You give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. 15 All their wickedness [says the LORD ] is focused in Gilgal; Indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their [idolatrous] practices I will drive them out of My house (the land of Israel)! I will love them no longer; All their princes are rebels. [Hos 4:15 ; 12:11 ] 16 Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, They will bear no fruit. Even though they give birth, I will slay the precious children of their womb. 17 My God will reject them and cast them away Because they did not listen to Him; And they will be wanderers (fugitives) among the nations. Hosea 10 Retribution for Israel’s Sin 1 I SRAEL IS a luxuriant and prolific vine; He produces fruit for himself. The more his fruit, The more altars he made [to Baal]; The richer his land, The better he made the [idolatrous] pillars.

• From Understanding the Old Testament (2019)

  leCtUre 14 | BiBli Cal short stories: rUth and esther 93 The Book of Esther The book of Esther is set in the Persian Empire, and portrays it fairly accurately, albeit comically. The background is that Persian rule was always considered by the Jews to be positive. Persia was good. Persians did not commit atrocities; they restored the exiles and the temple. There were no Jewish rebellions against the Persians. The Persian king, Ahasuerus, is made out to be a joke. Ahasuerus is obsessed with honor and with appearing generous, with the result that anyone’s will can become law. An example of this occurs in Esther 1:16–21, where the officer Memuchan turns a marital spat into a national crisis and then tells the king how to deal with it. Queen Vashti refuses to appear when summoned. Memuchan says this is a disaster for the entire nation, and then he tells the king exactly what edict to pass. Similarly, the king’s officer, Haman, manufactures a dilemma and proposes the solution: a genocide of the Jews. The king immediately signs it into law and then sits down to dinner as if nothing is unusual. Later, Ahasuerus says he cannot rescind the law he made for Haman, although he had forgotten that it was he who initiated the genocide in the first place. However, he immediately grants his new Jewish queen Esther and her uncle Mordechai royal authority: “Do whatever you want to defend t he Je w s.” Queen vashti

• From Understanding the Old Testament (2019)

  Understanding the o ld testament 76 David’s child by Bathsheba dies. But that’s only the beginning. The terrible collision of David’s avarice, lust, royal privilege, and murder leads to more sexual violence and family assassination that mark the rest of David’s reign. David never truly changes his ways. Solomon Solomon succeeds David, and Solomon’s reign is comparatively peaceful. He’s also famous for constructing what is now known as Solomon’s Temple, the first temple to Israel’s God in Jerusalem. Today, no archaeological remains survive. (Visible in Jerusalem today are remnants of the Second Temple, constructed in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah in the 5th century BCE and thoroughly renovated by Herod the Great in the 1st century CE.) From the Bible’s description of Solomon’s Temple, it was a three-part structure consisting of outer courts, a sanctuary, and a holy of holies within. Its floor plan is identical to any temple from ancient Syria or Phoenicia. However, in the back, where the statue of the god would otherwise be, Solomon’s Temple had the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was a large, gold-plated wooden chest. Inside were the two stone tablets Moses received from God. l e Ct Ure 12 | t he Boo Ks of s am Uel 77 This signifies that the central focus of Israel’s worship is a text, not an image. In other words, whereas Greeks or Phoenicians would pray oriented toward a statue of Zeus or Athena or Astarte, Israel focused its attention on a document, the agreement attesting to their relationship with God. Questions to Consider Y Is David a great hero or a traitor? Which tradition is more important for the Old Testament, and why? Y Does the Old Testament think monarchy is good or bad? Suggested Reading Halpern, David’s Secret Demons. Houston, Justice. 78 QUIZ 2 1. Decalogue means: a. 10 fingers b. 10 plagues c. 10 words d. 10 commandments 2. “You shall not hew steps leading up to my altar” because: a. Stone is sacred to God. b. The priestly vestments were too tight fitting. c. There was no underwear in antiquity. d. The animal offerings would escape 3. Which of the following is kosher? a. crawdads b. squirrel c. crickets d. shark meat 4. Deuteronomistic theology is basically: a. Do good, receive good. b. If you make sacrifices, your injustice won’t matter. c. Life is vanity of vanities. 79 QUiz 2 5. When Jephthah promised to sacrifice the first thing to come out of his house upon his homecoming, he probably expected: a. his daughter b. his wife c. a sheep d. the neighbor 6. Which of the following does King David not do? a. commit adultery b. join the enemy c. worship Baal d. have his officer murdered Answers: 1.(c); 2.(c); 3.(c); 4.(a); 5.(a); 6.(c)

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  17 Will they continue to empty their net And [mercilessly] go on destroying nations without sparing? Habakkuk 2 God Answers the Prophet 1 I WILL stand at my guard post And station myself on the tower; And I will keep watch to see what He will say to me, And what answer I will give [as His spokesman] when I am reproved. 2 Then the LORD answered me and said, “Write the vision And engrave it plainly on [clay] tablets So that the one who reads it will run. 3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed [future] time It hurries toward the goal [of fulfillment]; it will not fail. Even though it delays, wait [patiently] for it, Because it will certainly come; it will not delay. [Heb 10:37 , 38 ] 4 “Look at the proud one, His soul is not right within him, But the righteous will live by his faith [in the true God]. [Rom 1:17 ; Gal 3:11 ] 5 “Moreover, wine is treacherous and betrays the arrogant man, So that he does not stay at home. His appetite is large like Sheol, And he is like death, never satisfied. He gathers to himself all nations And collects to himself all peoples [as if he owned them]. 6 “Will all these [victims of his greed] not take up a taunting song against him, And in mocking derision against him Say, ‘a Woe (judgment is coming) to him who increases that which is not his— How long [will he possess it]? And [woe to him who] makes himself wealthy with loans.’ 7 “Will your creditors not rise up suddenly, And those who collect from you awaken? Then you will become plunder for them. 8 “Because you [king of Babylon] have looted many nations, All peoples who are left will loot you— Because of human bloodshed and for the violence done to the land, To the city and all its inhabitants. 9 “Woe (judgment is coming) to him who obtains wicked gain for his house [and thinks by so doing] To set his nest on high, That he may be rescued from the hand of evil. 10 “You have devised a shameful thing for your house By cutting off and putting an end to many peoples; So you are sinning against your own life and forfeiting it. 11 “For the stone will cry out from the wall [to accuse you—built in sin!] And the rafter will answer it out of the woodwork. 12 “Woe (judgment is coming) to him who builds a city with bloodshed And establishes a town by violence! 13 “Is it not indeed from the LORD of hosts That peoples labor [only] for the fire [that will destroy their work], And nations grow weary for nothing [that is, things which have no lasting value]? 14 “But [the time is coming when] the earth shall be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD , As the waters cover the sea.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  15 The lazy person buries his hand in the dish [losing opportunity after opportunity]; It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. [Prov 19:24 ] 16 The lazy person is wiser in his own eyes Than seven [sensible] men who can give a discreet answer. 17 Like one who grabs a dog by the ears [and is likely to be bitten] Is he who, passing by, stops to meddle with a dispute that is none of his business. 18 Like a madman who throws Firebrands, arrows, and death, 19 So is the man who deceives his neighbor (acquaintance, friend) And then says, “Was I not joking?” [Eph 5:4 ] 20 For lack of wood the fire goes out, And where there is no whisperer [who gossips], contention quiets down. 21 Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to kindle strife. [Prov 15:18 ; 29:22 ] 22 The words of a whisperer (gossip) are like dainty morsels [to be greedily eaten]; They go down into the innermost chambers of the body [to be remembered and mused upon]. [Prov 18:8 ] 23 Like a [common] clay vessel covered with the silver dross [making it appear silver when it has no real value] Are burning lips [murmuring manipulative words] and a wicked heart. 24 He who hates, disguises it with his lips, But he stores up deceit in his heart. 25 When he speaks graciously and kindly [to conceal his malice], do not trust him, For seven abominations are in his heart. 26 Though his hatred covers itself with guile and deceit, His malevolence will be revealed openly before the assembly. 27 Whoever digs a pit [for another man’s feet] will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone [up a hill to do mischief], it will come back on him. [Ps 7:15 , 16 ; 9:15 ; 10:2 ; 57:6 ; Prov 28:10 ; Eccl 10:8 ] 28 A lying tongue hates those it wounds and crushes, And a flattering mouth works ruin. Proverbs 27 Warnings and Instructions 1 D O NOT boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring. [Luke 12:19 , 20 ; James 4:13 ] 2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips. 3 Stone is heavy and the sand weighty, But a fool’s [unreasonable] wrath is heavier and more burdensome than both of them. 4 Wrath is cruel and anger is an overwhelming flood, But who is able to endure and stand before [the sin of] jealousy? 5 Better is an open reprimand [of loving correction] Than love that is hidden. [Prov 28:23 ; Gal 2:14 ] 6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend [who corrects out of love and concern], But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful [because they serve his hidden agenda]. 7 He who is satisfied loathes honey, But to the hungry soul any bitter thing is sweet.

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  Whatever their differences, however, all these three fundamental heresies amount at last to a more or less distinct denial of the central truth of the gospel—the incarnation of the Son of God for the salvation of the world. They make Christ either a mere man, or a mere superhuman phantom; they allow, at all events, no real and abiding union of the divine and human in the person of the Redeemer. This is just what John gives as the mark of antichrist, which existed even in his day in various forms.864 It plainly undermines the foundation of the church. For if Christ be not God-man, neither is he mediator between God and men; Christianity sinks back into heathenism or Judaism. All turns at last on the answer to that fundamental question: "What think ye of Christ?" The true solution of this question is the radical refutation of every error. Notes. "It has often been remarked that truths and error keep pace with each other. Error is the shadow cast by truth, truth the bright side brought out by error. Such is the relation between the heresies and the apostolical teaching of the first century. The Gospels indeed, as in other respects, so in this, rise almost entirely above the circumstances of the time, but the Epistles are, humanly speaking, the result of the very conflict between the good and the evil elements which existed together in the bosom of the early Christian society. As they exhibit the principles afterward to be unfolded into all truth and goodness, so the heresies which they attack exhibit the principles which were afterward to grow up into all the various forms of error, falsehood and wickedness. The energy, the freshness, nay, even the preternatural power which belonged to the one belonged also to the other. Neither the truths in the writings of the Apostles, nor the errors in the opinions of their opponents, can be said to exhibit the dogmatical form of any subsequent age. It is a higher and more universal good which is aimed at in the former; it is a deeper and more universal principle of evil which is attacked in the latter. Christ Himself, and no subordinate truths or speculations concerning Him, is reflected in the one; Antichrist, and not any of the particular outward manifestations of error which have since appeared, was justly regarded by the Apostles as foreshadowed in the other." — Dean Stanley (Apostolic Age, p. 182).