Joy

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.

Page 242 of 299 · 20 per page

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  6 The sun’s rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat. 7 The law of the LORD is perfect (flawless), restoring and refreshing the soul; The statutes of the LORD are reliable and trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true, they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned [reminded, illuminated, and instructed]; In keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can understand his errors or omissions? Acquit me of hidden (unconscious, unintended) faults . 13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous (deliberate, willful) sins; Let them not rule and have control over me. Then I will be blameless (complete), And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight, O LORD , my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 20 Prayer for Victory over Enemies. To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. 1 a M AY THE LORD answer you (David) in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high [and defend you in battle]! 2 May He send you help from the sanctuary (His dwelling place) And support and strengthen you from Zion! 3 May He remember all your meal offerings And accept your burnt offering. Selah. 4 May He grant you your heart’s desire And fulfill all your plans. 5 We will sing joyously over your victory, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the LORD fulfill all your petitions. 6 Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, But we will remember and trust in the name of the LORD our God. 8 They have bowed down and fallen, But we have risen and stood upright. 9 O LORD , save [the b king]; May the c King answer us in the day we call. Psalm 21 Praise for Help. To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. 1 O LORD the king will delight in Your strength, And in Your salvation how greatly will he rejoice! 2 You have given him his heart’s desire, And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah. 3 For You meet him with blessings of good things; You set a crown of pure gold on his head.

• From Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women (2017)

  Her account of sneaking out at night, while at Oberlin, to dance in the gymnasium provides an example. “It was against the rules for girls to dance at any of the college functions, and decidedly against the rules for young men and women to dance together anywhere.” Undeterred, the mischievous young Terrell found “a girl in Ladies Hall who loved to dance as well as [she] did,” and the two would go “to the gymnasium every evening after supper and trip the light fantastic to our heart’s content, priding ourselves especially on the fact that we knew all the latest steps.” 57 The pleasure she derived from dancing and knowing the latest dance steps might seem like the frivolous and normal pursuits of college-aged women. But detailed accounts about engaging in physically pleasurable activities, especially those like dancing, that were socially forbidden because of social anxieties around sex and women’s sexuality, are virtually nonexistent in any autobiographies written by Black women until the publication of Terrell’s book. Dancing was “frowned upon by everybody who wanted to be considered intellectual or who sighed to be classified as highbrow.” 58 Her choice to dance, to flout the conventions of respectability and to do so deliberately and in full knowledge of many in the community, including “several of the teachers who boarded in the Ladies Hall and some very serious-minded young women,” indicates that Black women had a range of strategies for resisting the kind of respectable gender socialization that would deny them access to pleasure. Moreover, it indicates that Terrell had reckoned on multiple levels with her body both as a site of pleasure and as a site of political potentiality. She chose to own all parts of herself. Certainly, Terrell’s privileged class background and the very place of her micro-rebellion—Oberlin College—undercut the broad historical impact of a quotidian form of resistance like dance. But her insistence on including something so potentially trivial within an already expansive tome suggests that, in fact, Terrell pushed, both during her young womanhood and in her latter years, to insist on the importance of creating a space of pleasure in the midst of doing race work. Well into her late seventies, she discussed her love of dancing. In fact, it became a kind of framing narrative for her autobiography because she returns to it in the final chapter of her book, “Carrying On”: I can dance as long and as well as I ever did, although I get very few chances to do so. There seems to be a sort of tradition that after a woman reaches a certain age she should not want to trip the light fantastic and that even if she is anachronistic enough to wish to do such an unseemly thing, she should not be allowed to indulge in this healthful and fascinating exercise.

• From The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988)

  His shoulders were broad, too broad given his slender torso, as though a man were climbing up out of the adolescent. We looked down at ourselves in the mirror, not as one might watch pornography starring oneself but to confirm the happy fiction that we were in each other’s arms. The commotion of happiness ringing in my head was so loud I could scarcely hear what was happening. Such moments in a whole long life are neither as rare as one fears at first nor as frequent as later one hopes. His penis was crooked when erect. It was big and veered off to one side. The next day I said, “Lou says it’s wrong to see each day as a separate beginning. It’s wrong to divide time up into days and weeks. He says you should live as though time is one unbroken flow.” “Is that right?” Again that look of anxiety, that wincing look of concentration. “Yes, and I have no business saying this now, after I’ve just met you, but I feel that you’re going to turn my life into something like that. Today, all day at the office, I was so full of expectation.” Sean nodded. We ate our salad out of a battered saucepan, sharing Sean’s only fork. “Tell me about Lou,” Sean said. What a fool I am, I thought. “Oh, he’s terrific; I love him very much.” “Were you and he ever lovers?” “Yes.” “When?” “About a hundred years ago. The best friends are old lovers, don’t you think?” “I don’t know. I never had a lover.” “I can’t believe that.” “Well,” Sean said, “I had an affair with this guy Ted. But we’re not friends now. He drove me nuts. He’s a professional broken heart. Moons around all the time, threatens suicide, calls me up when he’s drunk.” Sean leapt up and opened the refrigerator. Staring into it he said, “I guess that’s what I think. That’s what my friend Julio says. It sounds right.” “You don’t know?” He sank back down. “I don’t know anything. Tell me anything and I’ll believe it. And that’s not even true.” “Who’s Julio?” “Oh, this great guy I met through Ted. You’ll meet him. He’s a famous dress designer.” All evening long I questioned Sean about every detail of his life. I memorized each name. I wanted to know all of Sean’s history right away. Every word he uttered either raised or dashed my hopes. “I’m very tired tonight”—bad, he wants to get rid of me. “But who needs sleep? It’s more important to talk to you and” (radiant smile) “more fun”—good, very, very good. “I should study some Latin”—bad. “Can you read while I work? I don’t want you to go. I like you here” (pats the couch deliberately, looking me in the eye)—good. Excellent.

• From Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women (2017)

  Colored Woman in a White World (1940) is simultaneously theoretical tome, political manifesto, and memoir. As the first book-length public leadership memoir published by a Black woman, it fits within the genre of what Margo V. Perkins calls “political autobiography,” which many prominent African American women such as Angela Davis, Assata Shakur, and Elaine Brown will turn to in the latter half of the twentieth century.4 It therefore constitutes a critical site in the intellectual geography of race women being mapped in this book. More importantly, it offers a rare look into the interior life of one of the most prominent race women of the twentieth century. In it, she shares her thoughts on the politics of dating and marriage as a race leader, her struggles with depression, and her love of dancing. The information in the text, coupled with materials from her archives, also offer a complex picture of her social and intellectual relationships with other race leaders like her mentor Frederick Douglass and her sometimes-rival Ida B. Wells. Terrell gives us a picture of some of the humorous, mischievous, and often complicated ways that she resisted both the politics of racism and the politics of racial respectability throughout her life. The ephemeral and affective aspects of outwitting constricting social forces around the operations of race and gender—that is, the joys and pleasures—are frequently harder to capture, particularly if we look at race women solely through frames of dissemblance and respectability. But Terrell emerges in this book as deft negotiator of the competing private and public demands of her life. [image file=image_rsrc2RJ.jpg] FIGURE 3. Mary Church Terrell at a Protest. Courtesy of Moorland Spingarn Research Center, Manuscripts Division, Howard University, Washington D.C. Race Women’s Leadership after Frederick DouglassAs the story frequently goes, the death of Frederick Douglass in February of 1895 left a gap in public Black racial leadership, and Booker T. Washington stepped in to fill that gap. However, the autobiographies of Mary Church Terrell (1940) and Ida B. Wells (1970) intentionally contest this Great Race Man account of turn-of-the-century racial leadership. Both women pointedly situate themselves as protégés of Douglass and, consequently, as heirsapparent to his trajectory of racial leadership. Terrell happened to see Douglass on the day he died at a meeting of the National Council of Women in Washington, D.C. The two initially met in Washington in the early 1890s. During the 1893 World’s Fair, they toured some of the exhibits together, and he introduced her to the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar. A celebrity among Black and women’s audiences, the National Council of Women received Douglass with great fanfare and a “Chatauqua salute,” Terrell recalled in her autobiography.5 Terrell described her encounter with Douglass after the meeting:

• From The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988)

  Then she announced that she wanted to visit me in New York. She’d be coming without her husband but with the neighbor lady, Peg. Since by now I was making a decent living, I bought a new sofa bed for them. My sister was in love with Peg. Awkward, bespectacled, ashamed, my sister gazed at the handsome Peg with adoration and recounted to me by the hour the sad saga of Peg’s life (brutal parents, elderly husband, delinquent children, unfulfilled artistic ambitions). It was obvious to me that Peg didn’t love my sister but enjoyed all the attention, something her husband wasn’t providing. The two women never stopped drinking. First thing in the morning they’d stir up a batch of bloody marys, declaring that they were on vacation and determined to whoop it up. I discovered that my sister no longer thought I was a weirdo but someone who’d had the courage to lead a free life. She seemed strangely gratified that I found Peg beautiful—my sister apparently was as obsessed with physical beauty as I. I think she also was hoping that somehow, mysteriously, things would work out between Peg and her in my presence. I was shocked. I called Maria and said, “I had closed the books on my sister. She was the mother of three and the PTA member. Do you think she’s really a lesbian? Or is she just copying me?” Maria laughed. “Didn’t you tell me she was always getting crushes on other girls? She never dated men and she married the first guy who asked her.” My sister and Maria spent a long boozy evening in New York together after Peg flew home early. “Your sister is a riot,” Maria reported. “She is so extraordinarily frank—frank to the point of shocking even jaded old me. But she has no sense whatsoever of her rights as a woman. She’s terribly confused. She says the worst things about herself, thinking she’s being honest. She hates her husband, she never stops drinking and she’s absolutely desperate about Peg, but funny at the same time. It sounds like the suburbs are a lesbian hotbed. Tomorrow night we’re going to a dyke bar; your sister has already bought boots and trousers.” Another night my sister made me accompany her to a black-and-tan lesbian dance place where a lesbian band was playing. There we were, me in a coat and tie, she in her suburban pleated gray skirt and shoulder-strap bag (we’d been to the theater), trying to get past the bouncer, although we looked like a provincial husband and wife who’d strayed to the wrong door. “But we’re gay!” we kept protesting, laughing. “We look square but we’re a hundred percent gay.” Then I added, “This is my sister and she’s trying to come out and she’s afraid to come in here alone.” That did the trick. I’d never felt so close to my sister before.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  45 “And blessed [spiritually fortunate and favored by God] is she who believed and confidently trusted that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her [by the angel sent] from the Lord.” The Magnificat 46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies and exalts the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 “For He has looked [with loving care] on the humble state of His maidservant; For behold, from now on all generations will count me blessed and happy and favored by God! 49 “For He who is mighty has done great things for me; And holy is His name [to be worshiped in His purity, majesty, and glory]. 50 “AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION TOWARD THOSE WHO [stand in great awe of God and] FEAR HIM . FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION . [Ps 103:17 ] 51 “He has done mighty deeds with His [powerful] arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. 52 “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And exalted those who were humble. 53 “HE HAS FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS ; And sent the rich away empty-handed. 54 “He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, 55 Just as He promised to our fathers, To Abraham and to his descendants forever.” [Gen 17:7 ; 18:18 ; 22:17 ; 1 Sam 2:1–10 ; Mic 7:20 ] 56 And Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months, and then returned to her home. John Is Born 57 Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown His great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her. 59 It happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child [as required by the Law], and they intended to name him Zacharias, after his father; [Gen 17:12 ; Lev 12:3 ] 60 but his mother answered, “No indeed; instead he will be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by that name.” 62 Then they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. 63 And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished. 64 At once Zacharias’ mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began speaking, praising and blessing and thanking God. 65 Then fear came on all their neighbors; and all these things were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard these things kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this little boy turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him [to bring about his birth].

• From Vox (1992)

  145 I let my other leg sprawl so that I was absolutely wide open, and now, when I sprayed his cock and his hand the water streamed down his thighs and then down my thigh and on me. And it was exactly what I wanted, and it started to feel so good, and I said so, and suddenly he started stroking himself incredibly fast, it was this blur, like a sewing machine, and he produced this major jet of sperm at a diagonal right into the circular spray of the water, so that it fought against all the drops and was sort of torn apart by them, and he was clamping my leg, my smooth leg, extremely tight with those perfectly water- groomed thighs, and I shifted adroitly so that the poached sperm and hot-water runoff wouldn't pour directly into me and possibly cause trouble, but so that it still poured over me. And then he took the showerhead again, and still holding his cock and still clamping my knee very tight, he sprayed slowly across my hand and my thighs very close with the water until I closed my eyes and came, imagining I was in front of a circus audience. So that was nice." "God of mercy, I am so jealous!" "Don't be," she said. "I think my offhand talk of yeast unnerved him, and his subservient streak unnerved me. Anyway, the point is, that story is connected to this very call between you and me, because when I was in the shower yesterday, and close to coming—" "Thinking about the three painters." "No, after the three painters, when I was very close to

• From The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988)

  When she talked, she squinted as though sighting an idea in the distance. Her squint would even flutter slightly. A small colorless wen was attached to her lower left eyelid and, like a speck in her eye, this slight deformity added—oh, but it’s hopeless for me to work up an inventory of this woman I’ve known now for three decades and whose looks and way of moving have become the argot of my feelings. That night the summer heat did not lift and I lay naked under a wet sheet in a little cabin I’d been assigned on the edge of the woods. I listened to crickets. The sweat poured freely from my body. I was wide awake. The crickets throbbed louder and louder, as though they were rattles on the ankles of approaching dancers. When I closed my eyes, I still could feel the lurching and speeding of the train. The train would delve into a tunnel, then emerge and flirt with a fellow-traveling river that refused to stick to the party line. I was so happy. Since the cabin had no closet, my clothes were hung on hangers along the wall or draped from hooks at different heights, and in the moonlight these shirts and jacket and pants looked like a flight ascending the white wall. I pulled on a pair of shorts and walked barefoot through the dew- squeaky grass down to the shack Maria had called the lithography studio. No one anywhere was awake, not a bird or dog or person. The cabins had no electricity, and even their kerosene lamps had been extinguished. The moon was nearly full and almost directly overhead, like the hole in the Pantheon. But not an absence, rather a presence I’d call human except that it was nobler, at once tender and aloof—not a speaking presence but an intelligence I could address. Two big wooden lawn chairs, painted green, but looking almost blue-black in this light, conversed with one another sporadically like old people. The water scarcely moved but once in a great while lapped, as a sleeping dog will wake and hugely lick its lips before dozing off again. Until now, looking at the night sky had usually made me long to be elsewhere, to escape, and had reminded me that I was alone, but here the night had changed and become friendlier. The moon was not the retreating face of a traveler seen through a veil of smoke but a concentrated attention bearing down on these cabins, these sleeping minds. I could picture the moon’s rays as a protractor slowly turning to encompass us all in a perfect circle. The next morning I had breakfast with Maria at the inn. Solitaire was made up of the paying guests, mostly older Sunday painters who came for a week or two and stayed with their husbands in the inn, and the kids who lived in the cabins for the whole summer and did odd jobs.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  10 The [reverent] fear of the LORD is the beginning (the prerequisite, the absolute essential, the alphabet) of wisdom; A good understanding and a teachable heart are possessed by all those who do the will of the LORD ; His praise endures forever. [Job 28:28 ; Prov 1:7 ; Matt 22:37 , 38 ; Rev 14:7 ] Psalm 112 Prosperity of the One Who Fears the LORD . 1 P RAISE THE LORD ! (Hallelujah!) Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who fears the LORD [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with obedience], Who delights greatly in His commandments. [Deut 10:12 ] 2 His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, And his righteousness endures forever. 4 Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous (upright—in right standing with God). 5 It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He conducts his affairs with justice. [Ps 37:26 ; Luke 6:35 ; Col 4:5 ] 6 He will never be shaken; The righteous will be remembered forever. [Prov 10:7 ] 7 He will not fear bad news; His heart is steadfast, trusting [confidently relying on and believing] in the LORD . 8 His heart is upheld, he will not fear While he looks [with satisfaction] on his adversaries. 9 He has given freely to the poor; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted in honor. [2 Cor 9:9 ] 10 The wicked will see it and be angered, He will gnash his teeth and melt away [in despair and death]; The desire of the wicked will perish and come to nothing. Psalm 113 The LORD Exalts the Humble. 1 a P RAISE THE LORD ! (b Hallelujah!) Praise, O servants of the LORD , Praise the name of the LORD . 2 Blessed be the name of the LORD From this time forth and forever. 3 From the rising of the sun to its setting The name of the LORD is to be praised [with awe-inspired reverence]. 4 The LORD is high above all nations, And His glory above the heavens. 5 Who is like the LORD our God, Who is enthroned on high, 6 Who humbles Himself to regard The heavens and the earth? [Ps 138:6 ; Is 57:15 ] 7 He raises the poor out of the dust And lifts the needy from the ash heap, 8 That He may seat them with princes, With the princes of His people. 9 He makes the barren woman live in the house As a joyful mother of children. Praise the LORD ! (Hallelujah!) Psalm 114 God’s Rescue of Israel from Egypt. 1 W HEN ISRAEL came out of Egypt, The house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 2 Judah became His sanctuary, And Israel His dominion.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  9 The voice of the LORD c makes the doe labor and give birth And strips the forests bare; And in His temple all are saying, “Glory!” 10 The LORD sat as King at the flood; Yes, the LORD sits as King forever. 11 The LORD will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace. Psalm 30 Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death. A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House (Temple). A Psalm of David. 1 I WILL extol and praise You, O LORD , for You have lifted me up, And have not let my enemies rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You have healed me. 3 O LORD , You have brought my life up from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead); You have kept me alive, so that I would not go down to the pit (grave). 4 Sing to the LORD , O you His godly ones, And give thanks at the mention of His holy name. 5 For His anger is but for a moment, a His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may endure for a night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. [2 Cor 4:17 ] 6 As for me, in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.” 7 By Your favor and grace, O LORD , you have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was horrified. 8 I called to You, O LORD , And to the Lord I made supplication (specific request). 9 “What profit is there in my blood (death), if I go down to the pit (grave)? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness [to man]? 10 “Hear, O LORD , be gracious and show favor to me; O LORD , be my helper.” 11 You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 12 That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever. Psalm 31 A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise. To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. 1 I N YOU, O LORD , I have placed my trust and taken refuge; Let me never be a ashamed; In Your righteousness rescue me. 2 Incline Your ear to me, deliver me quickly; Be my rock of refuge, And a strong fortress to save me. 3 Yes, You are my rock and my fortress; For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me. 4 You will draw me out of the net that they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength and my stronghold. 5 b Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD , the God of truth and faithfulness.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  2 And there was a man called Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector [a superintendent to whom others reported], and he was rich. 3 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, but he could not see a because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead [of the crowd] and climbed up in a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. 5 When Jesus reached the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 So Zaccheus hurried and came down, and welcomed Jesus with joy. 7 When the people saw it, they all began muttering [in discontent], “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a [notorious] sinner.” 8 Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “See, Lord, I am [now] giving half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will give back four times as much.” [Ex 22:1 ; Lev 6:5 ; Num 5:6 , 7 ] 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this household, because he, too, is a [b spiritual] son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Parable of Money Usage 11 While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they assumed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately [as soon as He reached the city]. 12 So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to obtain for himself a kingdom, and [then] to return. 13 “So he called ten of his servants, and gave them ten minas [one apiece, each equal to about a hundred days’ wages] and said to them, ‘Do business [with this] until I return.’ 14 “But his citizens [the residents of his new kingdom] hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to be a king over us.’ 15 “When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these servants, to whom he had given the money, be called to him, that he might find out what business they had done. 16 “The first one came before him and said, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.’ 17 “And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you proved yourself faithful and trustworthy in a very little thing, you shall [now] have authority over ten cities [in my kingdom].’ 18 “The second one came and said, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 “And he said to him also, ‘And you shall take charge over five cities.’ 20 “Then another came and said, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I have kept laid up in a handkerchief [for safekeeping].

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  [Matt 8:11 ; Luke 13:29 ] 20 “A Redeemer (Messiah) will come to Zion, And to those in Jacob (Israel) who turn from transgression (sin),” declares the LORD . 21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD : “My Spirit which is upon you [writing the law of God on the heart], and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouths of your [true, spiritual] e children, nor from the mouth of your children’s children,” says the LORD , “from now and forever.” [Jer 31:33 ; Rom 11:26 , 27 ; Gal 3:29 ; Heb 12:22–24 ] Isaiah 60 A Glorified Zion 1 “A RISE [from spiritual depression to a new life], shine [be radiant with the glory and brilliance of the LORD ]; for your light has come, And the glory and brilliance of the LORD has risen upon you. [Zech 8:23 ] 2 “For in fact, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness will cover the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you [Jerusalem] And His glory and brilliance will be seen on you. [Is 60:19–22 ; Mal 4:2 ; Rev 21:2 , 3 ] 3 “Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. [Is 2:2 , 3 ; Jer 3:17 ] 4 “Lift up your eyes around you and see; They all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from far away, And your daughters will be looked after at their side. 5 “Then you will see and be radiant, And your heart will tremble [with joy] and rejoice Because the abundant wealth of the seas will a be brought to you, The wealth of the nations will come to you. [Ps 119:32 ] 6 “A multitude of camels [from the eastern trading tribes] will cover you [Jerusalem], The young camels of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba [who once came to trade] will come Bringing gold and frankincense And proclaiming the praises of the LORD . [Matt 2:11 ] 7 “All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you [as the eastern pastoral tribes join the trading tribes], The rams of Nebaioth will serve you; They will go up with acceptance [as sacrifices] on My altar, And I will glorify the house of My honor and splendor. 8 “Who are these who fly like a cloud And like doves to their windows? 9 “The islands and coastlands will confidently wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your sons from far away, Their silver and gold with them, For the name of the LORD your God, For the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you. 10 “Foreigners will build up your walls, And their kings will serve you; For in My [righteous] wrath I struck you, But in My favor and grace I have had compassion on you.

• From The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988)

  Suddenly he turned sad, sat on his bed, and hugged his knees, again as an actress might, this time for a meditative head shot staring into the setting sun beside a lake. His speech rhythms were unpredictable and snagged deep into my mind. “You see, we were dirt poor, real white trash. River rats—that’s what they call people who live so far down the hill they’re washed out every time it floods. We were river rats. William ... Everett ... Hunton, what a hoot ...” He buried his face between his knees for a second. “Some day when we’re sisters I’ll tell you my real name, but if you snitch on me I’ll pull your braids and dip them in the inkwell.” He was up and laughing again. “Champagne, I feel in the mood for champagne.” He twirled the two bottles ready and waiting in an ice bucket. “Where is that girl? Isn’t she fabulous! So glamorous! I can’t believe she likes me. I suppose you think it’s all frightfully lesbian, you horrid cynic!” And again he was back at my side, this time kissing me. His mouth was wet and sweet from the full red mouthwash he was always swigging. I felt a floral rapture springing up inside me, as though a huge sunflower were about to poke out of my mouth, my entrails about to turn into soft ropes of wisteria, my cock into a red-hot poker. Everything in me rose up to greet him, and Willy grabbed my pants and shook my erection as if it were a hand: “Average, as you say.” He bit my ear. “Sorry, doll, I don’t go for pencil meat. I’m a hopeless size queen.” He seemed delighted to have demonstrated his power over me. Buffeted by his own witticisms and sexual splashiness, he was smiling a really huge smile. I saw in him the wide-eyed boy I sometimes impersonated, which made me concede the field to him. He was so much better at it, so much more appealing. I could still feel in my palms the girth of his tight, muscled, turned waist as he’d wriggled out of my arms a minute ago, exactly as though he’d been a small but powerful fish, a rosy trout breaking through the ice with the thrust of his tail. Then Annie came in and she and William flattered each other about their appearance and kissed, standing, for a long time as I sat and looked on— crotch-height, child-height. They were certainly aware of me and were posing for me. I left the young lovers after they’d assured me how much they adored me. They had even laughingly asked me to be the best man. Outside, it was dark already although only four o’clock, and fresh snow was falling in the quadrangle. I could hear typewriters clattering and see genies of steam lifting off the heated shower windows in the dorms.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  And I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit and possess all these things. 13 ‘And as you have been a curse among the nations, O house of Judah (Southern Kingdom) and house of Israel (Northern Kingdom), so I will save you, that you may be a blessing. Fear not; let your hands be strong.’ [Jer 22:8 , 9 ] 14 “For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Just as I planned to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and I did not relent, 15 so I have again planned in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear! 16 ‘These are the things which you should do: speak the truth with one another; judge with truth and pronounce the judgment that brings peace in [the courts at] your gates. [Eph 4:25 ] 17 ‘And let none of you devise or even imagine evil in your heart against another, and do not love lying or half-truths; for all these things I hate,’ declares the LORD .” 18 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me (Zechariah), saying, 19 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘The fast of the fourth [month to mourn the breaching of Jerusalem’s walls], the fast of the fifth [month to mourn the temple’s destruction], the fast of the seventh [month to mourn Gedaliah’s assassination], and the fast of the tenth [month to mourn the siege of Jerusalem] will become times of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so [to bring this about] love truth and peace.’ [Jer 39:2 ; 2 Kin 25:1 , 2 , 8 , 25 ] 20 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘It will come to pass that peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will come [to Jerusalem]. 21 ‘The inhabitants of one [city] will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to ask the favor of the LORD and to seek the LORD of hosts. I will go also.” 22 ‘So many peoples and powerful nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to ask the LORD for His favor.’ 23 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘In those days ten men [as representatives] from all the nations will grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” ’ ” Zechariah 9 Prophecies against Neighboring Nations 1 T he a oracle (a burdensome message) of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach [in Syria], with Damascus as its resting place (for the eyes of men, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward the LORD ), [Nah 1:1 ] 2 And Hamath also, which borders on it (Damascus), Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  21 “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe [for the guest of honor] and put it on him; and give him a b ring for his hand, and sandals for his feet. [Gen 41:42 ; Zech 3:4 ] 23 ‘And bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let us [invite everyone and] feast and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was [as good as] dead and is alive again; he was lost and has been found.’ So they began to celebrate. 25 “Now his older son was in the field; and when he returned and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 “So he summoned one of the servants and began asking what this [celebration] meant. 27 “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 “But the elder brother became angry and deeply resentful and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. 29 “But he said to his father, ‘Look! These many years I have served you, and I have never neglected or disobeyed your command. Yet you have never given me [so much as] a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; 30 but when this [other] son of yours arrived, who has devoured your estate with immoral women, you slaughtered that fattened calf for him!’ 31 “The father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 ‘But it was fitting to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was [as good as] dead and has begun to live. He was lost and has been found.’ ” Luke 16 The Unjust Steward (Manager) 1 N OW JESUS was also saying to the disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager [of his estate], and accusations [against this man] were brought to him, that this man was squandering his [master’s] possessions. 2 “So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management [of my affairs], for you can no longer be [my] manager.’ 3 “The manager [of the estate] said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig [for a living], and I am ashamed to beg.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  20 ‘Their children too will be as in former times, And their congregation will be established before Me; And I will punish all their oppressors. 21 ‘Their prince will be one of them, And their ruler will come forward from among them. I will bring him near and he shall approach Me, For who is he who would have the boldness and would dare [on his own initiative] to risk his life to approach Me?’ says the LORD . 22 ‘Then you shall be My people, And I will be your God.’ ” [Jer 7:23 ] 23 Behold, the tempest of the LORD ! Wrath has gone forth, A sweeping and gathering tempest; It will burst on the head of the wicked. 24 The fierce (righteous) anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has fulfilled and until He has accomplished The intent of His heart (mind); In the latter days you will understand this. Jeremiah 31 Israel’s Mourning Turned to Joy 1 “A T THAT time,” says the LORD , “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.” 2 Thus says the LORD , “The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness [of exile]— Israel (the Northern Kingdom), when it went to find its rest.” 3 The LORD appeared to me (a Israel) from ages past, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you. [Deut 7:8 ] 4 “Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel! You will again be adorned with your tambourines and b timbrels And go out to the dances of those who celebrate. [Is 37:22 ; Jer 18:13 ] 5 “Again you will plant vineyards On the mountains of Samaria; The planters will plant And enjoy the [abundant] fruit [in peace]. 6 “For there will be a day when the watchmen On the hills of Ephraim cry out, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, To the LORD our God.’ ” 7 For thus says the LORD , “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, And shout for the first and foremost of the nations [the chosen people, Israel]; Proclaim, give praise and say, ‘O LORD save Your people, The remnant of Israel!’ 8 “Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, Among them [will be] the blind and the lame, The woman with child and she who labors in childbirth, together; A great company, they will return here [to Jerusalem].

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  8 “And other seed fell into good soil, and as the plants grew and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times [as much as had been sown].” 9 And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.” 10 As soon as He was alone, those who were around Him, together with the twelve [disciples], began asking Him about [the interpretation of] the parables. 11 He said to them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you [who have teachable hearts], but those who are outside [the unbelievers, the spiritually blind] get everything in parables, 12 so that THEY WILL CONTINUALLY LOOK BUT NOT SEE , AND THEY WILL CONTINUALLY HEAR BUT NOT UNDERSTAND , OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT TURN [from their rejection of the truth] AND BE FORGIVEN .” [Is 6:9 , 10 ; Matt 13:11–15 ] Explanation 13 Then He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand and grasp the meaning of all the parables? [Matt 13:18–23 ; Luke 8:11–15 ] 14 “The sower sows the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation]. 15 “These [in the first group] are the ones along the road where the word is sown; but when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 “In a similar way these [in the second group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy [but accept it only superficially]; 17 and they have no real root in themselves, so they endure only for a little while; then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they [are offended and displeased at being associated with Me and] stumble and fall away. 18 “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries and cares of the world [the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures], and the deceitfulness [and the false security or glamour] of wealth [or fame], and the passionate desires for all the other things creep in and choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 “And those [in the last group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation] and accept it and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much [as was sown].” 21 He said to them, “A lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Is it not [brought in] to be put on the lampstand?

• From Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women (2017)

  Ever the poised and eloquent speaker, Terrell began by thanking her audience for their commitment “to try to improve the conditions under which we live in the Capital of the United States of America, called the Greatest Democracy on Earth.” “We are trying,” she reminded them, “to devise ways and means of making this country a Democracy in fact as well as in name by injecting a little bit of Democracy here in Washington, D.C.” The recent ruling was a “indeed a great victory for a group to celebrate which has been humiliated, handicapped, and harassed [sic] by segregation and discrimination in the Capital of the United States for nearly 100 years!”90 She then turned her attention to the defiance of local officials. “Let us rejoice with an exceeding great joy in spite of the determined, diabolical efforts which have been made to snatch from us the fruits of that blessed victory which the law gives us the right to enjoy.”91 Invoking both Christian religious rhetoric and the rhetoric of liberal democracy, Terrell held forth their victory as both divine and legal right. Delivered in a local D.C. church, her liberal use of biblical phrases had the effect of letting her audience know that God was in fact on the side of the protesters, not on the side of the “diabolical” local officials. Even so, she reminded her audience about the kind of agitation that would be most effective: “We are not going to tear passion to tatters here tonight. We are not going to fuss and fume. But in a dignified, disgusted way we are going to say we are shocked beyond expression that Corporation Counsel West has used his power as a law-enforcement officer to encourage proprietors of hotels, restaurants, and other eating places deliberately, openly to violate the law by telling them he will not prosecute them if they do.”92 Terrell insisted on dignified, if disgusted, methods of registering collective racial protest. Despite her fiery rhetoric, her calls for dignified protest could be read as subdued. However, she had honed and articulated her theory of agitation over the course of nearly forty years. Where she had generally always insisted on a certain level of propriety with her agitation, by 1951 she had moved from proper and dignified, to dignified, disgusted, and defiant.

• From The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988)

  “He really does want to marry me, at least we’ve spent hours lingering in front of jewelry windows and he even sashayed into one and demanded to see the costliest diamonds.” I could hear an echo of William in the way she said “costliest.” “And now we both know everything about minks, how to let them out and match skins.” At my fraternity we celebrated founder’s night, a “bachelor evening” when we all dressed in black tie, ate shrimp cocktail and well-done steaks, then went to the party room in the cellar and drank ourselves into a blackout. The style of the house was hang-dog: seasoned, weary, alcoholic. Our president, the one who looked freshly peeled, would wake up at six in the evening, climb out of his hooded sweatsuit and two pairs of athletic socks, his costume for sleeping in the unheated “fresh air” dorm, spend an hour shaving and showering and emerge, flushed, in impeccable black tie and diamond studs, his debauches betrayed only by his red nose. He mixed potent cocktails, but he refused to serve them unless every detail was perfect—correct glass correctly frosted, the right kind of garnish, the right monogrammed paper napkin. The camaraderie of founder’s night seemed doubly warm because we were all decorous and idle in a new way. At dances everyone was naturally devoted to his date, and at the weekday dinners a third of the members were missing and another third critically hung over. The rest read magazines, staged lackluster burping or farting contests, or threw bread. The house had been built by the first dean of music, and the dining room, with its minstrel gallery, had been the university’s original concert hall—Caruso had stood up there, right there, and sung, “Oh Ginnie whisky late burn air.” The shiny, very dark, and turbulently ornate woodwork made one think of hobbyists who do sculptural things with their own body wastes and keep their successes in jars. After the white wine and the red, we sang our way downstairs, underground, arm in arm. I suppose for the others there was something sad about such a gala evening without women, and obviously men alone don’t work up that glitter on their canines or press with the same suave, competitive leaning into the circle—alone they don’t even have the right excuse for joshing with each other. But for me, the tuxedos (which depersonalize waiters and lend distinction to friends), the banquet, and the toasts all permitted me for two minutes at a stretch to imagine we were a club of lovers—not the freaks at the toilets or those zombies endlessly laundering their genitals under the showers, but regular guys at ease in their skin, carelessly reaching a meaty hand back in a giant arc to scratch a shoulder blade, big panda eyes taking in the world, voices too loud for indoors. If I elaborated this fantasy it fell apart, since I knew a man stopped being desirable the moment he desired another.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  4 Now it happened on the second day after the killing of Gedaliah, before anyone knew about it, 5 that eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria with their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and their bodies cut, carrying in their hands grain offerings and incense to present at the [site of the] house of the LORD [in Jerusalem]. 6 Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping [false tears] as he went. As he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” 7 Yet when they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern (underground water reservoir). 8 But ten men who were among them said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us! We have stores of wheat and barley and oil and honey hidden in the field.” So he stopped and did not kill them along with their companions. 9 Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the corpses of the men whom he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one which King Asa [of Judah] had made [about three hundred years earlier] on account of King Baasha of Israel [believing that Baasha would lay siege to Mizpah]. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with [the bodies of] those who were killed. 10 Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah—even the king’s daughters (ladies of the court) and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put under the charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and crossed over [the Jordan] to [meet his allies] the Ammonites. Johanan Rescues the People 11 But when Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him heard of the murderous behavior of Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, 12 they took all their men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and found him by the great pool in Gibeon. 13 Now when all the [captive] people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were glad. 14 So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and joined Johanan the son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to join the Ammonites. 16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah all the people whom he had rescued from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: the soldiers, the women, the children, and the high officials whom Johanan had brought back from Gibeon.