He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five.

• 1 Kings 4:31

David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets.

• 1 Chronicles 13:8

Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate.

• 1 Chronicles 16:42

The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and also Mattaniah, who, together with his associates, was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving.

• Nehemiah 12:8

Four weeks ago, I started this quiz journey through the Bible.  It all pertains to poems found in each book of the Bible, at least those that have them.  This confirms the first thirty books of the Bible have them, although two of the books were sparse.

This quiz will be simple.  I will quote between a fraction of one verse up to four verses in one case, from what is formatted in the Bible as poetry.  Note: Two of these poems were not formatted as poetry in the NIV but were in the CSB.  Since they are hopefully recognizable, I added them.  The primary question is what book of the Bible did this verse or two come from.  But then the bonus is twofold: Who said the poetry (if known)?  And what are the circumstances?

Since much of these ten books are poetry, I tried to pick verses that might be memorable.  Yes, some people will lament over how the verse might be memorable but have no clue which book.  Hopefully by process of elimination, the verses can fall into place.  One is a dead giveaway if you read the verse carefully.  I was not trying to set up a “trick question” there.  And remember that one of these books is Lamentations, how sad… (Hint there)

The verses are in alphabetical order and all from the Old Testament.  In fact, there is one poem in this quiz from all the books of the Bible from Ecclesiastes through Amos.

Since the primary answers are the Bible References, there will be no Bible Reference Section this week.

The Questions:

	Poetry	Book	who? And circumstances?
1	“And afterward,     I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,     your old men will dream dreams,     your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women,     I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens     and on the earth,     blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness     and the moon to blood     before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
2	Away with the noise of your songs!     I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river,     righteousness like a never-failing stream!
3	“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,     before you were born I set you apart;     I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
4	Bitterly she weeps at night,     tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers     there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her;     they have become her enemies. After affliction and harsh labor,     Judah has gone into exile. She dwells among the nations;     she finds no resting place. All who pursue her have overtaken her     in the midst of her distress.
5	“For he is the living God     and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed,     his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves;     he performs signs and wonders     in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel     from the power of the lions.”
6	For to us a child is born,     to us a son is given,     and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called     Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,     Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace     there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne     and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it     with justice and righteousness     from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty     will accomplish this.
7	“Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”
8	Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—     for your love is more delightful than wine. Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;     your name is like perfume poured out.     No wonder the young women love you! Take me away with you—let us hurry!     Let the king bring me into his chambers.
9	“‘Put on the cooking pot; put it on     and pour water into it. Put into it the pieces of meat,     all the choice pieces—the leg and the shoulder. Fill it with the best of these bones;     take the pick of the flock. Pile wood beneath it for the bones;     bring it to a boil     and cook the bones in it.
10	There is a time for everything,     and a season for every activity under the heavens:     a time to be born and a time to die,     a time to plant and a time to uproot,     a time to kill and a time to heal,     a time to tear down and a time to build,

As of yet, I have not checked every book in the Bible, but I have the thirdd ten books accounted for here.  Many of the prophets use poetry.  And many books in the New Testament quote Old Testament poetry.  So, I am secure in my statement of most books having a bit of poetry.

But then again, what is biblical poetry?

Biblical poetry rarely rhymes, even in its original language.  While there are lines, meter is rarely considered.  But there are some things that are keys to look for, other than many translations format them differently.

Parallelism (grouped in two or three verses usually): lines saying the same thing, but using different words.  Or lines of contrast. Or lines building on a theme.

Other identifiers can be Figurative Language, Figurative Imagery, Repetition, Compression, and Emotional Expression.

Our present pastor preached a sermon some time ago about the transitions from prose to poetry.  He said that when that happens, you need to pay close attention.  God is trying to make a strong statement.  That is why I included the bonus about what the circumstances were when that poetry was inserted into the story.

Note that in one of these poems, Aaron remained silent when the poem was first uttered.  That may not be a great hint, but it points to the importance of the poem and the emotions involved.

Editor’s Note:  The Bible References in the answers below often use the letter “b” in that the first part of the verse gives away the person who said it.

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The Answers:

	Poetry	Book	who? And circumstances?
1	“And afterward,     I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,     your old men will dream dreams,     your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women,     I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens     and on the earth,     blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness     and the moon to blood     before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.	Joel 2:28-31	The Lord through the prophet Joel Most likely in post-exilic Judah due to the second temple being mentioned and no king mentioned.  Peter quoted these verses, in part, Joel’s promise of the Spirit and those who heard the prophecy had seen the sun turn dark and the moon to blood (blood moon) on the day of Christ’s death.
2	Away with the noise of your songs!     I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river,     righteousness like a never-failing stream!	Amos 5:23-24	The Lord through the prophet Amos During king Uzziah’s reign in Judah, Amos went to Israel to give this prophecy.  Verse 24 is especially memorable for Amos’ prophecy about the Day of the Lord.
3	“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,     before you were born I set you apart;     I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”	Jeremiah 1:5	The Lord spoke to Jeremiah This message came to Jeremiah during the reign of Josiah (Jer. 1:2).  Josiah was a good king, but all his sons failed to follow their father’s footsteps.
4	Bitterly she weeps at night,     tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers     there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her;     they have become her enemies. After affliction and harsh labor,     Judah has gone into exile. She dwells among the nations;     she finds no resting place. All who pursue her have overtaken her     in the midst of her distress.	Lamentations 1:2-3	Possibly Jeremiah After Jerusalem is destroyed
5	“For he is the living God     and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed,     his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves;     he performs signs and wonders     in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel     from the power of the lions.”	Daniel 6:26b-27	King Darius the Mede When Daniel survived a night in the lion’s den, Darius made this proclamation to the entire Medo-Persian empire.
6	For to us a child is born,     to us a son is given,     and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called     Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,     Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace     there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne     and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it     with justice and righteousness     from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty     will accomplish this.	Isaiah 9:6-7	The Lord through his prophet Isaiah Isaiah speaks of the virgin birth in Isaiah 7, before bad King Ahaz.  Here Isaiah continues this Messianic prophecy with the coming of the Prince of Peace.  Of course, this is famous as being part of Handel’s Messiah (For Unto Us a Child is Born)
7	“Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”	Hosea 1:2b	The Lord to Hosea Hosea will have three children from Gomer, each with prophetic names.  Later Hosea will buy Gomer back after she strayed, also a prophetic image.
8	Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—     for your love is more delightful than wine. Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;     your name is like perfume poured out.     No wonder the young women love you! Take me away with you—let us hurry!     Let the king bring me into his chambers.	Song of Songs 1:2-3	Solomon In Solomon’s love poetry, often not read until the child is old enough to understand the imagery.  This is the Shulammite’s first words in the song, awaiting her time to be in the king’s presence.
9	“‘Put on the cooking pot; put it on     and pour water into it. Put into it the pieces of meat,     all the choice pieces—the leg and the shoulder. Fill it with the best of these bones;     take the pick of the flock. Pile wood beneath it for the bones;     bring it to a boil     and cook the bones in it.	Ezekiel 24:3b-6	The Lord through the prophet Ezekiel Ezekiel’s prophecy comes from Ezekiel, a priest in captivity in Babylon.  This is the beginning of his parable of the boiling pot to illustrate the rebellion of Judah.  And this is just before Ezekiel’s wife passed away.
10	There is a time for everything,     and a season for every activity under the heavens:     a time to be born and a time to die,     a time to plant and a time to uproot,     a time to kill and a time to heal,     a time to tear down and a time to build,	Ecclesiastes 3:1-3	Solomon, Wisdom by means of making mistakes, trying to find meaning in a meaningless world.  This is when he studies the mystery of time itself.  It takes him a while but he finds the only true meaning of life in God.

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, for the first video, here are Planetshakers singing Prophesy.

Here is Bryan and Katie Torwalt singing Prophesy Your Promise.

Here is Hearts Praise singing He Will Restore All.

We cannot fix the ills of this world.  The world has taken a destructive course of action.  We cannot trust our government.  Only God can save us.  But we can individually turn to Jesus.  For only He sets the captives free.

If you like these Saturday morning Bible quizzes, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Saturday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.