Likely written in the second century BC in Palestine, Tobit is regarded by Protestants as apocryphal. Also, it has never been included within the Tanakh (also known as Old Testament) as canonical by ancient Judaism. However, it is found in the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint), and Aramaic and Hebrew fragments of the book were discovered in Cave IV at Qumran in 1952.
Tobit goes blind and feels hopeless, but recovers his sight through the advice of an Angel called Raphael. Also mentioned is Tobit's son called Tobias, who is traveling eastward to collect money, accompanied by the Angel, Raphael, who tells Tobit of a woman named Sarah who is looking to get married. Her earlier marriages were not completed because shortly beforehand the man would always die mysteriously, which saddens Sarah. This time, though, the man does not die and in the end Tobit and Sarah are happily married. The story of Tobit is important for its teaching about guardian angels and for the need to always remain loyal to God during difficult times.
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City, now known as the Palace Museum, is a large historical palace and an art museum in the historical center of Beijing, China. The site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is very important to the history and architecture of China. The Forbidden City was the palace of the Emperor of China from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. For almost 500 years, it was as the home of emperors and their houses, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.
The name "Forbidden City" is a translation of the Chinese name "Zijin Cheng" (). The name "Zijin Cheng" was used for the first time in 1576. Another English name for Zijin Cheng is "Forbidden Palace". The word "Zi" means "purple" in Chinese. It means the North Star. This is because in ancient China it was called the "Ziwei" Star. In Chinese astrology the North Star was the home of the Celestial Emperor. Because the Forbidden City was the home of the emperor on Earth, the Chinese thought that it was Earth's equivalent of the "Ziwei" Star. "Jin" means "Forbidden" in Chinese. This was because no one was allowed to go in or out of the palace without the emperor's permission. "Cheng" means city.
The Chinese don't call the Forbidden Palace "Zijin Cheng" anymore. They call it "Gùgōng" (故宫) now. This means the "Former Palace". The museum that is in the Forbidden City is called the "Palace Museum" ().
After Zhu Di became the Yongle Emperor, the capital of China was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. In 1406 construction began on the Forbidden City. The construction of the palace went on for over 14 years and more than a million workers had to work on building it. (1406-1420)
List of rivers of Pakistan
This is a list of rivers in Pakistan
The following rivers are tributaries of the Indus River:
Book of Zechariah
The Book of Zechariah is a book of the Bible found in the Old Testament and the Jewish Tanakh thought to be written by the prophet Zechariah. The name "Zechariah" means "God remembered." We don't know much about Zechariah. The book itself tells us only that his grandfather was Iddo, a priest who returned with Zerubbabel from Babylon.
Chapters 1 to 6, written in 520 BC, start by telling the nation's history as a warning to the people. Then come eight visions, which show more about the history of Israel. These are to give the people hope. We are then told about the crowning of Joshua the priest. This showed that their religion was being restored. Then Zechariah tells that the kingdoms of the world will someday become the kingdom of God's Messiah.
Chapters 7 and 8 were written two years later. The people were keeping days of sorrow to remind them of the loss of their city 70 years ago. They are told that now they can now have days to celebrate the return home and can be assured that now God is with them and will make them happy.
Chapters 9 to 11 tell of a future time when the nations around them would be destroyed by an army, but Jerusalem would be kept from destruction. This seems to have been talking about the coming of Alexander the Great with his army which happened in 332 BC. Tyre was taken by building a land bridge from the shore to the island city which was thought to be safe from capture. He also destroyed the city of Gaza. But Alexander did not destroy Jerusalem when he came there. Zechariah said that after these wars the Messiah would come.
Chapters 12 to 14 tell about the glories that await Israel in "the latter day", the final conflict and triumph of God's kingdom.
Most Christians read the predictions in chapters 7 to 14 as talking about Jesus, either directly or indirectly. These chapters helped the writers of the Gospels understand Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection, which they quoted as they wrote of Jesus’ final days. One of these quotes is from Chapter 9, verse 9, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes unto you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey." All four Gospels tell of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and two of them say that Zechariah told of this ahead of time.
Book of Zephaniah
The Book of Zephaniah is a book of the Bible and is thought to be written by “Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah”.
The book begins by telling of God's judgement on the Kingdom of Judah. Three times God says "I will sweep away" in Chapter 1 verses 1 and 2. This tells of total destruction. In the Bible repeating three times makes the warning stronger. The mention in Chapter 1 verse 2 of "humans and animals ... the birds ... the fish" reverses the creation order in Genesis Chapter 1 verse 28, showing the creation is being undone. "From the face of the earth" is a reference to the Genesis flood story in Genesis, where it also tells of an undoing of creation. This is very strong language of the coming destruction because of the sins of the people, corruption and injustice.
In chapter 2, Zephaniah also warns of punishment for many of the surrounding nations. These will also be destroyed. The nations mentioned include Philistia, Moab, Ammon,Cush and Assyria.
In Chapter 3, as is common in prophetic literature in the Bible, a "remnant" survives God's judgement in Zephaniah by humbly seeking refuge in God. The book ends in with hope and joy, as God "bursts forth in joyful divine celebration" over his people.
They will return and all the nations will rejoice over this.
Song of Songs
The Song of Songs is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and also in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It is one of the five "megillot" (scrolls). The Song of Songs is also known as the Song of Solomon or as Canticle of Canticles. It is known as "Aisma" in the Septuagint, which is short for ῏Αισμα ᾀσμάτων, "Aisma aismatôn", "Song of Songs" in Greek.
Verse 1 seems to show that the author is Solomon, since it says that it is "Solomon's Song of Songs", but this could also just mean a song "for" or "about" Solomon. So, who the author of Song of Songs was is still an often-discussed question.
If Solomon wrote it, it was probable that it was written in around the tenth century B.C. when Solomon was king. In fact, the mention of the cities of Tirzah and Jerusalem so close together (6:4) has been used to say that it was written before King Omri (885-874 B.C.), even though people still do not know exactly why Tirzah was talked about. However, many have also said that the language in the Song of Songs is proof of it being written much later.
Most people think that the similarity of language, style, tone (mood), perspective, and repeated words show that it was written by one author. But others who do not think the Song was written by one person, or even from one time or place, say that this was because all of the Song's parts came from the same literary tradition.
Book of Isaiah