#another 364(+1) days done and dusted

[palaugranetes]

⚽💙❤️🏀 weekend

Last of 2022... what a 🤐 year

Have a wonderful one my lovelies ✨💖🪷

[askauradonprep]

About That Super Long Playlist

Long information post behind the cut! It’s pretty much the songs in the stages of the crew’s relationship.

First Round of Recruiting

1 What About Us 2 At the End of the Day 3 How Far I’ll Go 4 Brave 5 Anthem of a Runaway 6 Come Back (Ella Eyre) 7 She Got the Best of Me 8 Glad You Came 9 You Walked In 10 You’re Beautiful 11 You Don’t Know Me 12 Enchanted 13 Felt Good On My Lips 14 Girl Crush 15 Crashed 16 Do It For Her 17 Who Are You When I’m Not Looking 18 Wildest Dreams 19 Started With a Song

Rise to Power

20 You and Me 21 Bad Reputation 22 Playing With the Big Boys 23 I Bring the Darkness (End of Days) 24 Warrior 25 Let It Go

Descendants 2

26 What’s My Name 27 Here Comes the Thunder 28 One Way or Another 29 Greatest Show on Earth 30 The Edge of Glory 31 One Day More 32 Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad 33 You’re Going Down 34 Hit Me With Your Best Shot 35 Look Down 36 King of Anything 37 Rich 38 Fly 39 It’s Goin’ Down

Uma Leaving

40 Evermore 41 If Only 42 The Winner Takes It All 43 It’s Over Isn’t It

Rough Mental Health Period

44 Supergirl 45 Ring of Fire 46 Monster 47 Little Toy Guns 48 Mayday 49 Cry 50 Bad Day 51 Because of You 52 Burning House 53 Stilettos 54 Out of the Woods 55 Ask Me How I Know 56 Tomorrow 57 Landslide 58 Better Man 59 Done You Wrong 60 Stupid Boy 61 Chasing Pavements

Uma’s Return

62 Girl on Fire 63 Keep Holding On 64 Umbrella 65 Make You Feel My Love 66 If You’re Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows You’re There) 67 I’ll Stand By You 68 Safe & Sound 69 Dancing On My Own 70 Wanted 71 Innocent 72 Invisible 73 It’s Okay To Cry 74 Break On Me 75 Let It Out 76 Here Comes A Thought 77 She Will Be Loved 78 Everytime

Recovery

79 The Good Stuff 80 My Life Would Suck Without You 81 Just Give Me A Reason 82 For The Long Run 83 Shake It Out 84 I Ain’t Giving Up On You 85 True Colors 86 Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain) 87 Warrior 88 Here’s To Us 89 Little Girl 90 Mine 91 Fly 92 War Paint  93 I Won’t Let Go 94 Clean

Comeback

95 Royals 96 So What 97 Still Not Giving Up 98 Back in Black 99 Bad Blood 100 Angel With a Shotgun 101 Payback 102 Another One Bites the Dust

Second Recruiting Period

103 We’re Going to Be Friends 104 Worth a Shot 105 Enchanted (Owl City)* 106 Break Up In The End 107 I Would’ve Loved You Anyway 108 Replace Your Heart* 109 Come Back Song 110 Let’s Be Us Again 111 All Together Now 112 Jessie’s Girl 113 I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You 114 Both Of You 115 Bury the Hatchet 116 Team 117 Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now 118 I Will Follow You Into the Dark 119 I've Got Your Back* 120 Ain’t No Stopping Us Now

Hooking Up

121 Play It Again 122 Love Will Do That 123 Ready to Run 124 I Don’t Dance 125 Hold My Beer 126 As She’s Walking Away 127 Make You Mine 128 See About A Girl 129 Merry Go ‘Round 130 Johnny & June 131 Somebody to Love 132 She Won’t Be Lonely Long 133 Friday Night

Getting Together Officially

134 History in the Making 135 How to Love 136 Complicated 137 Heart Attack 138 Give Your Heart a Break 139 Strong Enough 140 Good to You 141 What Ifs 142 Yours If You Want It 143 Waterloo 144 Bring It On 145 Best Shot 146 Begin Again

Early Relationship

147 Love Me Like You Mean It 148 Cool With That 149 Just a Kiss 150 (Kissed You) Good Night 151 Feels Like That 152 My Girl 153 You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away 154 Dress 155 We Danced 156 Secret Love Song 157 The Fighter 158 I Like The Sound of That

Getting in Trouble on the Isle

159 Super Villain 160 Good Girls Go Bad 161 Came Here to Forget 162 Home Alone Tonight 163 Good Together 164 I’ll Be The Singer, You Be The Song 165 Bounty 166 Run 167 Bad Boys 168 Bad Girls

Partying

169 Fix A Drink 170 We’re All Right 171 What Was I Thinkin’? 172 Bonnie and Clyde 173 She’s My Kind of Crazy 174 Toxic 175 It Ain’t My Fault 176 Wild Things 177 Downtown Kids 178 Let’s Get Rowdy 179 Fastest Girl in Town 180 Somethin’ Bad 181 Me Against the Music 182 Somethin’ We Shouldn’t Do 183 Exstacy 184 Criminal 185 Like You Do 186 We Are Young 187 Setting the World On Fire 188 Die Young 189 Anthem 190 Kiss Me Quiet 191 Up All Night 192 Hurricane 193 Perfect Storm

Getting Closer

194 Quiet 195 Easy Silence 196 Soak Up The Sun 197 I Like Me Better 198 I Won’t Say (I’m In Love) 199 If I Ain’t Got You 200 You Are In Love 201 Clarity 202 Count Me In 203 Good Time 204 Halo 205 Just The Way You Are 206 Ours

Descendants 3

207 Not Ready to Make Nice 208 My Lullaby 209 Stronger (Under the Sea)

Getting Invited to Auradon

210 Long Live 211 Hall Of Fame 212 Peter Pan 213 That’s When You Know It’s Over 214 Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) 215 Just Like You 216 Wasting All These Tears 217 Since U Been Gone 218 I Wonder 219 Praying 220 If I Die Young 221 A Little Bit Stronger 222 Survivor 223 Be Wherever You Are 224 Anywhere With You 225 We Are the Champions 226 Let It Go (Demi Lovato) 227 Fight Song 228 Eyes Open 229 Change

Dating In Auradon 

230 Kiss The Girl 231 Somewhere Only We Know 232 Always the Love Songs 233 They Don’t Know About Us 234 Blank Space 235 Womanizer

Going Public

236 She’s With Me 237 A Guy With A Girl 238 A Place In This World 239 Unforgettable 240 Fearless 241 Skydiving 242 Sparks Fly 243 Dirt Roads Scholar 244 Sunshine On the Line 245 Jumped Right In 246 This Is How We Roll 247 Cruise 248 Wastin’ Gas 249 Fast Cars and Freedom 250 Old Alabama 251 Shotgun Rider 252 400 Lux 253 Parking Lot Party 254 Beat Of the Music 255 L.A. Boyz

Auradon Partying

256 Here For The Party 257 Up All Night 258 Raise Your Glass 259 Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) 260 Middle of a Memory 261 Cop Car 262 Crash My Party

Getting to the First ‘I Love You’

263 I’m Only Me When I’m With You 264 Can’t Say No 265 I See The Light 266 I Think I Love You 267 The Only Exception 268 A Thousand Years 269 Criminal 270 You Love Who You Love 271 Girlfriend 272 Hooked 273 I Hope You’re the End of My Story

Being Split Up By Auradon Prep

274 Stay Beautiful 275 One Number Away 276 Thinking ‘Bout You 277 I Hope You Dance 278 Sleepin’ Around 279 Think of You 280 More Than A Memory 281 Picture 282 Hung Up 283 Need You Now 284 I’m Comin’ Over 285 Just To Get To You 286 Hell Bent For Buffalo 287 Warm Safe Place

Feeling Hopeless

288 Like A Cowboy 289 Remind Me 290 Long Live The Night 291 Don’t You Wanna Stay 292 Runnin’ Outta Moonlight 293 Secret Love 294 Carrying Your Love With Me 295 Wherever Love Goes 296 I Could Use A Love Song 297 Colder Weather 298 Red 299 True Love 300 Highway Don’t Care 301 Say You Do

Fixing Things and Reuniting

302 Man in the Mirror 303 Die of a Broken Heart 304 Let’s Not Let It 305 I Won’t Give Up 306 Hey There Delilah 307 Mamma Mia 308 Where We Left Off 309 Stuck Like Glue 310 Style

Post-Reunification Relationship At Auradon Prep

311 Young Forever 312 Somewhere On A Beach 313 Cheap Seats 314 Firecracker 315 Somethin’ Stupid 316 My Best Friend 317 Lucky 318 You Won’t Ever Be Lonely 319 Do It With You 320 I Wanna Dance With Somebody 321 Somebody Like You 322 My Baby Loves Me 323 The Way You Love Me 324 Love Me Like That 325 Love Like You 326 H.O.L.Y.

Post-Graduation Adult Relationship

327 Next Stop, Anywhere* 328 I Hate Love Songs 329 One In A Million 330 Now That I Found You 331 Because You Love Me 332 For You 333 Good Kinda Love 334 Loving You Easy 335 We Found Love 336 We Weren’t Crazy 337 Because You Loved Me 338 Mean To Me 339 The World 340 Alright 341 Doin’ What She Likes 342 Somebody Wrote Love 343 Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow 344 Yours 345 Hard To Love 346 That Kind of Beautiful 347 Jealous of the Sun 348 Never Comin’ Down 349 This Love 350 I Run To You 351 God Gave Me You 352 All About Her

Proposal and Engagement

353 That’s When You Know 354 Baby, I Love You 355 She’s In Love With the Boy 356 Amazed 357 The Rest of Our Lives 358 Lost In This Moment 359 It’s Your Love 360 Livin’ Our Love Song

Wedding and Honeymoon

361 For Just One Day Let’s Only Think About (Love) 362 Marry Me 363 Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not? 364 A Thousand Years Part 2 365 I Do 366 It’s A Beautiful Thing 367 I Got the Boy 368 Hold It Against Me 369 Black 370 I’ll Name The Dogs

Married, Childless Life

371 Your Man 372 No Such Thing As A Broken Heart 373 Come A Little Closer 374 Sky Stays This Blue 375 Dear Life

Kids Being Born

376 It Takes A Man 377 Life Changes 378 You’re Having My Baby 379 Isn’t She Lovely 380 You’re Gonna Be 381 Chasin’ Girls 382 Laughed Until We Cried 383 Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me 384 Hey Pretty Girl 385 Who Would You Be

Post-Kids Life

386 Superman 387 I’m Already There 388 Home 389 Woman, Amen 390 Good Morning Beautiful 391 A Woman Like You 392 All of Me 393 She’s Good For Me 394 Forever Love 395 I Walk The Line 396 Forever and Ever, Amen 397 You Make It Easy 398 My Wish 399 In Case You Didn’t Know 400 You’re Still The One 401 Just To See You Smile 402 I’ll Still Love You More 403 If You Ever Stop Loving Me 404 I’ll Always Love You 405 Die A Happy Man 406 Love Like Crazy 407 Remember When

Older Adults, Post Kids Growing Up

408 Moments 409 I Go Back 410 Then 411 I’d Love You All Over Again 412 Still Into You 413 In Color 414 Bless the Broken Road 415 Greatest Love Story

Legacy

416 For Good 417 I Was Here 418 Don’t Blink 419 Forever Rebels 420 Legends

* = Not on Spotify

[lumiereswig]

How is each character's birthday celebrated?

garderobe

fucking blow-out bash. the scene: night. the setting: the ballroom. the windows: swathed in diamond-studded velvet. the theme: ‘midnight romance.’

it’s fucking extra as fuck. did i even need to say

everyone is in masks—masquarade, obvs—and there are glittering diamond chandeliers, and about 2000 invited guests from across the known world, and more dignitaries and emperors and admiring fans than Adam thought possible.

the palace is STUFFED, jesus christ, people have come from all over to pay worship to Madame de Garderobe

but garderobe’s favorite part? besides the presents, and the vanilla-whipped lemon cake, and the caroling? when cadenza takes her aside and proposes to her, all over again, like he does every single year. my wife. mi amore. all the kisses no one sees.

cadenza

cadenza gets little cupcakes, and more tuning-forks than anybody could possibly need, and decorated spoon-handles (he likes them), and new lace handkerchiefs, and he cries a lot cuz cadenza’s an emotional man.

he also makes everybody sit around and listen to a 7+ hour concert.

cadenza’s birthday is not everyone’s favorite birthday.

lumiere

a. fucking. party.

a lot of people get stressed about party-planning, but this man has done it so much it’s almost a party trick in and of itself: he flicks his cuffs and out pop streamers and musicians and piles of food and illegally downloaded jams and at least one rampant excess that nobody asked for but everyone loves. ever wanted to crowdsurf in a human hamster ball during a blacklight rave? your local maître d’ has your back

cogsworth takes care of all the practicalities (”you need chairs! chairs! where is everyone going to sit !!”), but lumiere makes sure that it is Fucking Lit™.  the party runs until 3 am and chip is especially loaded up with party drinks so he can stay awake for all of it

besides making sure the music never dies, though, lumiere is an exceptional host. you know this. i know this. you will never sit in the corner at a lumiere party. the birthday boy himself will sit next to you and discuss your particularly boring special interest of mating blue-nosed pheasants until he feels you’re comfortable. party be damned!! we’re here to have  A FUCKING GOOD TIME, LADS and if that involves pheasants ok lets do this

at the climax of the party everybody has to get up and toast everybody else. lumiere always pretends to forget to toast himself, but cogsworth always leads that charge

basically cogsworth roasts lumiere for two hours and everyone gets smashed

it’s honestly the greatest thing ever

plumette

ok so her birthday bash is actually classy

she always keeps it a surprise from lumiere, so he spends the three months in front of it wondering “is the theme hawaii?? is it venician carnival??? is it that one daiquiri we drank once that was great” 

it’s always something vaguely tasteful, and he’s always shook all over again at how brilliant his darling is 

once belle comes, belle helps plumette plan it, and it’s all feathers and girl-talks and ordering in her favorite sugar-dusted macarons and arguing with retailers over the phone over how big an ice swan they can possibly fit into their wagons

despite all her planning, lums always finds an in. She can try to lock him out of her room; he’ll sprint over the balcony, so her first sight when she wakes up is him holding out a slightly battered tray of chocolate croissants.

true love knows no boundaries. what it does know is that its beloved likes being woken up by a good chocolate croissant and a kiss on the lips.

cogsworth

‘is it my birthday?’ he always pretends to forget. maybe he truly does. no one knows for sure how a clock loses track of such a date.

it is his birthday. are you kidding? lumiere’s been planning this for 364 days

and, weirdly, he’s been considerate. it’s actually perfect for cogsworth. there is a very english breakfast—kippers and sausages and other things no one else can choke down—and then it’s a constitutional around the gardens. then everybody leaves him alone for two hours to sleep in his study. then it’s a dismal english lunch ( “ u u g h “ whisper every local frenchperson), and then they play chess, and then a stately presentation of presents, and then he gets another hour to introvert however he wants, and then when he’s nice and lulled and just really, genuinely pleased about what a good day he’s having—

lumiere turns on all the stereo systems to full power and blasts skrillex.

(the entertainer’s heart can only hold itself in for so long.)

after being thrown into a swimming pool by cogsworth for being “a bloody and deceitful cretin,” the two relax on the balcony, sipping gin and tonics, while everyone else parties below. cogsworth allows himself one (1) hawaiian t-shirt. the sun sets as lumiere and cogs clink their glasses and toast the tacky plastic sunglasses they’ve both adopted

chapeau

HE WON’T TELL ANYONE WHEN HIS BIRTHDAY IS

WHAT AN ASSHOLE

IT’S LIKE HE DOESN’T WANT A PARTY OR SOMETHING

FUCKING IDIOT

LUMIERE IS GONNA FIND HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE IF IT KILLS HIM

[dfroza]

to kill the Author of Life

is what people chose to do with Love when He arrived in the flesh here on earth. and knowing so, He chose to lay it down as an offering for our sins, to fully cleanse us, to baptize our hearts in the Spirit when we welcome the entrance of Light.

and we clearly see this in Today’s reading of the New Testament from chapter 3 of the book of Acts that has been conserved to illuminate its eternal truth.

chapter 3 in 26 verses:

One day at three o’clock in the afternoon, Peter and John were on their way into the Temple for prayer meeting. At the same time there was a man crippled from birth being carried up. Every day he was set down at the Temple gate, the one named Beautiful, to beg from those going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter the Temple, he asked for a handout. Peter, with John at his side, looked him straight in the eye and said, “Look here.” He looked up, expecting to get something from them.

Peter said, “I don’t have a nickel to my name, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” He grabbed him by the right hand and pulled him up. In an instant his feet and ankles became firm. He jumped to his feet and walked.

The man went into the Temple with them, walking back and forth, dancing and praising God. Everybody there saw him walking around and praising God. They recognized him as the one who sat begging at the Temple’s Gate Beautiful and rubbed their eyes, astonished, scarcely believing what they were seeing.

The man threw his arms around Peter and John, ecstatic. All the people ran up to where they were at Solomon’s Porch to see it for themselves.

[Turn to Face God]

When Peter saw he had a congregation, he addressed the people:

“Oh, Israelites, why does this take you by such complete surprise, and why stare at us as if our power or piety made him walk? The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his Son Jesus. The very One that Pilate called innocent, you repudiated. You repudiated the Holy One, the Just One, and asked for a murderer in his place. You no sooner killed the Author of Life than God raised him from the dead—and we’re the witnesses. Faith in Jesus’ name put this man, whose condition you know so well, on his feet—yes, faith and nothing but faith put this man healed and whole right before your eyes.

“And now, friends, I know you had no idea what you were doing when you killed Jesus, and neither did your leaders. But God, who through the preaching of all the prophets had said all along that his Messiah would be killed, knew exactly what you were doing and used it to fulfill his plans.

“Now it’s time to change your ways! Turn to face God so he can wipe away your sins, pour out showers of blessing to refresh you, and send you the Messiah he prepared for you, namely, Jesus. For the time being he must remain out of sight in heaven until everything is restored to order again just the way God, through the preaching of his holy prophets of old, said it would be. Moses, for instance, said, ‘Your God will raise up for you a prophet just like me from your family. Listen to every word he speaks to you. Every last living soul who refuses to listen to that prophet will be wiped out from the people.’

“All the prophets from Samuel on down said the same thing, said most emphatically that these days would come. These prophets, along with the covenant God made with your ancestors, are your family tree. God’s covenant-word to Abraham provides the text: ‘By your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ But you are first in line: God, having raised up his Son, sent him to bless you as you turn, one by one, from your evil ways.”

The Book of Acts, Chapter 3 (The Message)

and paired with this is the first chapter of the writing of Nahum that should inspire the fear of God (reverence) in our lives toward our Creator who is gentle and patient and kind, but who also will bring about Judgment for all the wrong done on the face of beautiful earth to make things right again. all is promised to be fully cleansed at some point, which includes every lie.

and only grace paves the way of our escape as children of Light.

the first chapter of Nahum:

[God Is Serious Business]

A report on the problem of Nineveh, the way God gave Nahum of Elkosh to see it:

God is serious business.

He won’t be trifled with.

He avenges his foes.

He stands up against his enemies, fierce and raging.

But God doesn’t lose his temper.

He’s powerful, but it’s a patient power.

Still, no one gets by with anything.

Sooner or later, everyone pays.

Tornadoes and hurricanes

are the wake of his passage,

Storm clouds are the dust

he shakes off his feet.

He yells at the sea: It dries up.

All the rivers run dry.

The Bashan and Carmel mountains shrivel,

the Lebanon orchards shrivel.

Mountains quake in their roots,

hills dissolve into mud flats.

Earth shakes in fear of God.

The whole world’s in a panic.

Who can face such towering anger?

Who can stand up to this fierce rage?

His anger spills out like a river of lava,

his fury shatters boulders.

God is good,

a hiding place in tough times.

He recognizes and welcomes

anyone looking for help,

No matter how desperate the trouble.

But cozy islands of escape

He wipes right off the map.

No one gets away from God.

Why waste time conniving against God?

He’s putting an end to all such scheming.

For troublemakers, no second chances.

Like a pile of dry brush,

Soaked in oil,

they’ll go up in flames.

[A Think Tank for Lies]

Nineveh’s an anthill

of evil plots against God,

A think tank for lies

that seduce and betray.

And God has something to say about all this:

“Even though you’re on top of the world,

With all the applause and all the votes,

you’ll be mowed down flat.

“I’ve afflicted you, Judah, true,

but I won’t afflict you again.

From now on I’m taking the yoke from your neck

and splitting it up for kindling.

I’m cutting you free

from the ropes of your bondage.”

God’s orders on Nineveh:

“You’re the end of the line.

It’s all over with Nineveh.

I’m gutting your temple.

Your gods and goddesses go in the trash.

I’m digging your grave. It’s an unmarked grave.

You’re nothing—no, you’re less than nothing!”

Look! Striding across the mountains—

a messenger bringing the latest good news: peace!

A holiday, Judah! Celebrate!

Worship and recommit to God!

No more worries about this enemy.

This one is history. Close the books.

The Book of Nahum, Chapter 1 (The Message)

to be concluded by Today’s reading of the Psalms and Proverbs for december 30 (Psalm 30 and Proverbs 30), the 10th day of Winter (Psalm 10) and day 364 of the year (Psalm 64)

[Psalm 30]

A David Psalm

I give you all the credit, God—

you got me out of that mess,

you didn’t let my foes gloat.

God, my God, I yelled for help

and you put me together.

God, you pulled me out of the grave,

gave me another chance at life

when I was down-and-out.

All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God!

Thank him to his face!

He gets angry once in a while, but across

a lifetime there is only love.

The nights of crying your eyes out

give way to days of laughter.

When things were going great

I crowed, “I’ve got it made.

I’m God’s favorite.

He made me king of the mountain.”

Then you looked the other way

and I fell to pieces.

I called out to you, God;

I laid my case before you:

“Can you sell me for a profit when I’m dead?

auction me off at a cemetery yard sale?

When I’m ‘dust to dust’ my songs

and stories of you won’t sell.

So listen! and be kind!

Help me out of this!”

You did it: you changed wild lament

into whirling dance;

You ripped off my black mourning band

and decked me with wildflowers.

I’m about to burst with song;

I can’t keep quiet about you.

God, my God,

I can’t thank you enough.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 30 (The Message)

[Psalm 10]

God, are you avoiding me?

Where are you when I need you?

Full of hot air, the wicked

are hot on the trail of the poor.

Trip them up, tangle them up

in their fine-tuned plots.

The wicked are windbags,

the swindlers have foul breath.

The wicked snub God,

their noses stuck high in the air.

Their graffiti are scrawled on the walls:

“Catch us if you can!” “God is dead.”

They care nothing for what you think;

if you get in their way, they blow you off.

They live (they think) a charmed life:

“We can’t go wrong. This is our lucky year!”

They carry a mouthful of hexes,

their tongues spit venom like adders.

They hide behind ordinary people,

then pounce on their victims.

They mark the luckless,

then wait like a hunter in a blind;

When the poor wretch wanders too close,

they stab him in the back.

The hapless fool is kicked to the ground,

the unlucky victim is brutally axed.

He thinks God has dumped him,

he’s sure that God is indifferent to his plight.

Time to get up, God—get moving.

The luckless think they’re Godforsaken.

They wonder why the wicked scorn God

and get away with it,

Why the wicked are so cocksure

they’ll never come up for audit.

But you know all about it—

the contempt, the abuse.

I dare to believe that the luckless

will get lucky someday in you.

You won’t let them down:

orphans won’t be orphans forever.

Break the wicked right arms,

break all the evil left arms.

Search and destroy

every sign of crime.

God’s grace and order wins;

godlessness loses.

The victim’s faint pulse picks up;

the hearts of the hopeless pump red blood

as you put your ear to their lips.

Orphans get parents,

the homeless get homes.

The reign of terror is over,

the rule of the gang lords is ended.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 10 (The Message)

[Psalm 64]

A David Psalm

Listen and help, O God.

I’m reduced to a whine

And a whimper, obsessed

with feelings of doomsday.

Don’t let them find me—

the conspirators out to get me,

Using their tongues as weapons,

flinging poison words,

poison-tipped arrow-words.

They shoot from ambush,

shoot without warning,

not caring who they hit.

They keep fit doing calisthenics

of evil purpose,

They keep lists of the traps

they’ve secretly set.

They say to each other,

“No one can catch us,

no one can detect our perfect crime.”

The Detective detects the mystery

in the dark of the cellar heart.

The God of the Arrow shoots!

They double up in pain,

Fall flat on their faces

in full view of the grinning crowd.

Everyone sees it. God’s

work is the talk of the town.

Be glad, good people! Fly to God!

Good-hearted people, make praise your habit.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 64 (The Message)

[Proverbs 30]

The Words of Agur Ben Yakeh

God? Who Needs Him?

The skeptic swore, “There is no God! No God!—I can do anything I want! I’m more animal than human; so-called human intelligence escapes me.

“I flunked ‘wisdom.’ I see no evidence of a holy God. Has anyone ever seen Anyone climb into Heaven and take charge? grab the winds and control them? gather the rains in his bucket? stake out the ends of the earth? Just tell me his name, tell me the names of his sons. Come on now—tell me!”

The believer replied, “Every promise of God proves true; he protects everyone who runs to him for help. So don’t second-guess him; he might take you to task and show up your lies.”

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 30:1-6 (The Message)

to be joined by these lines in The Passion Translation:

These are the collected sayings of the prophet Agur, Jakeh’s son—the amazing revelation he imparted to Ithiel and Ukal.

God, I’m so weary and worn out, I feel more like a beast than a man. I was made in your image, but I lack understanding. I’ve yet to learn the wisdom that comes from the full and intimate knowledge of you, the Holy One.

[Six Questions]

Who is it that travels back and forth from the heavenly realm to the earth? Who controls the wind as it blows and holds it in his fists? Who tucks the rain into the cloak of his clouds? Who stretches out the skyline from one vista to the other? What is his name? And what is the name of his Son? Who can tell me?

[A Pure Heart Is Filled with God’s Word]

Every promise from the faithful God is pure and proves to be true. He is a wrap-around shield of protection for all his lovers who run to hide in him. Never add to his words, or he will have to rebuke you and prove that you’re a liar.

God, there are two things I’m asking you for before I die, only two:

Empty out of my heart everything that is false—every lie, and every crooked thing. And give me neither undue poverty nor undue wealth—but rather, feed my soul with the measure of prosperity that pleases you. May my satisfaction be found in you. Don’t let me be so rich that I don’t need you or so poor that I have to resort to dishonesty just to make ends meet. Then my life will never detract from bringing glory to your name.

Never defame a servant before his master, for you will be the guilty one and a curse will come upon you.

There is a generation rising that curses their fathers and speaks evil of their mothers. There is a generation rising that considers themselves to be pure in their own eyes, yet they are morally filthy, unwashed, and unclean. There is a generation rising that is so filled with pride they think they are superior and look down on others. There is a generation rising that uses their words like swords to cut and slash those who are different. They would devour the poor, the needy, and the afflicted from off the face of the earth!

There are three words to describe the greedy: “Give me more!”

There are some things that are never satisfied. Forever craving more, they’re unable to say, “That’s enough!”

Here are four:

The grave, yawning for another victim, the barren womb, ever wanting a child, thirsty soil, ever longing for rain, and a raging fire, devouring its fuel. They’re all insatiable.

The eye that mocks his father and dishonors his elderly mother deserves to be plucked out by the ravens of the valley and fed to the young vultures!

[Four Mysteries]

There are four marvelous mysteries that are too amazing to unravel—who could fully explain them?

The way an eagle flies in the sky, the way a snake glides on a boulder, the path of a ship as it passes through the sea, and the way a bridegroom falls in love with his bride.

Here is the deceptive way of the adulterous woman: she takes what she wants and then says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

[Four Intolerable Things]

There are four intolerable events that are simply unbearable to observe: when an unfaithful servant becomes a ruler, when a scoundrel comes into great wealth, when an unfaithful woman marries a good man, and when a mistress replaces a faithful wife.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 30:1-23 (The Passion Translation)