Let your eyes always look toward this Temple day and night, toward the location where you have said you would place your name. Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction.

then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens, out of the settled place of thine abode, and do according to all for which the stranger shall cry unto thee, - to the end that all the peoples of the earth may know thy Name, so as to revere thee like thy people Israel, and know that, thy Name, hath been given unto this house, which I have built?

Now as for you, if you commune with me like your father did, doing everything that I have commanded you, including obeying my statutes and my legal decisions,

then I will make your royal throne secure, just as I agreed to do for your father David when I said, "You are to not lack a man to rule over Israel.'

And she gave unto the king, a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance and precious stones, - and there was none like that spice, which the queen of Sheba gave unto King Solomon.

And the king maketh the algum-trees staircases for the house of Jehovah, and for the house of the king, and harps and psalteries for singers; and there have been none seen like these before in the land of Judah.

And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom.

The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem and cedars like the sycamore-trees of the lowlands in number.

So all Israel [saw] that the king would not listen to them, and the people answered the king, saying, "What portion [is there] for us in David? [We have] no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each to your tents, O Israel! Now look to your own house, David!" And all Israel went to their own tents.

'Have ye not cast out the priests of Jehovah, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make to you priests like the peoples of the lands? every one who hath come to fill his hand with a bullock, a son of the herd, and seven rams, even he hath been a priest to No-gods!

And look, God [is] with us at the head, and his priests [have] the trumpets for sounding blasts against you, O sons of Israel. Do not fight against Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed."

When the army of Judah turned around to look, they were being attacked from both front and rear, so they cried out to the LORD while the priests sounded their trumpets.

"[There is] a covenant between me and you, [as there was] between my father and your father. Look, I am sending you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha, king of Israel, that he might withdraw from me."

For Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt thou go up with me to Ramoth-gilead? And he said unto him - So am I, even as thou, and, like thy people, are my people, and, with thee, in the war.

"There is still one man left by whom we could ask the LORD what to do," the king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, "but I hate him because he won't prophesy anything good about me. Instead, he always prophesies evil. He is Imla's son Micaiah." But Jehoshaphat rebuked Ahab, "Kings should never talk like that."

All the other prophets were saying similar things, like "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and you will be successful, because the LORD will hand it over to the king!"

And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent; let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good.

Then he said, "I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains like sheep that had no shepherd. And Yahweh said, 'These have no masters; let them return to his own house in peace.'"

So now, look, the Lord has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours; but the Lord has decreed disaster for you."

Micaiah replied, "Look, you will see in the day when you go into an inner room to hide."

Messengers arrived and reported to Jehoshaphat, "A huge army is attacking you from the other side of the Dead Sea, from the direction of Edom. Look, they are in Hazezon Tamar (that is, En Gedi)."

And now, look, the people of Moab and Ammon and Mount Seir whom you did not allow Israel to come against when they came from Egypt, from whom they turned aside and did not destroy,

Look how they repay us by coming to drive us out of Your possession that You gave us as an inheritance.

Our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast number that comes to fight against us. We do not know what to do, but we look to You.

And Judah hath come in unto the watch-tower, to the wilderness, and they look unto the multitude, and lo, they are carcases fallen to the earth, and there is none escaped,

And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD.

But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself:

Look what's going to happen! The LORD is going to strike your people, your children, your wives, and everything you own with a massive tragedy.

And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.

Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellers after the death of his father to his destruction.

"Look! The king's son is going to rule, just as the LORD promised David's descendants. So here's what you'll need to do: One third of you priests and descendants of Levi who are on duty during the Sabbath will serve as guards at the temple gates.

Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.

Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.

Come, we look one another in the face.' And Joash king of Israel sendeth unto Amaziah king of Judah, saying, 'The thorn that is in Lebanon hath sent unto the cedar that is in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son for a wife; and pass by doth a beast of the field that is in Lebanon, and treadeth down the thorn.

Look, you say [that] you have struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up to boast. Now remain at your home. Why stir up disaster that you fall, you and Judah with you?"

and go up doth Joash king of Israel, and they look one another in the face, he and Amaziah king of Judah, in Beth-Shemesh, that is Judah's,

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father:

Instead, he lived like the kings of Israel did. He cast metal images of Baal,

Now a prophet of Yahweh was there; Oded [was] his name. And he went out before the army that was coming to Samaria and said to them, "Look, [it is] on account of the anger of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, against Judah [that] he gave them into your hands, and you killed them in a rage reaching to the heavens.

because the LORD was humiliating Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel, since Ahaz had brought about a lack of restraint within Judah and had remained unfaithful to the LORD.

Now look! Our ancestors have been killed with swords and our sons, daughters, and wives are being held captive because of all of this.

and all the objects that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he sinned, we have prepared and sanctified. Look, they [are] before the altar of Yahweh."

And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.

'Now, harden not your neck like your fathers, give a hand to Jehovah, and come in to His sanctuary, that He hath sanctified to the age, and serve Jehovah your God, and the fierceness of His anger doth turn back from you;

Even though a large crowd of people from as far away as Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not completed consecrating themselves, they still ate the Passover in a manner not proscribed by the Law, because Hezekiah had prayed like this for them: "May the good LORD extend a pardon on behalf of

So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.

So now, don’t let Hezekiah deceive you, and don’t let him mislead you like this. Don’t believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my power or the power of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my power!’”

He also wrote letters to mock Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying against Him:

Just like the national gods of the lands that did not deliver their people from my power, so Hezekiah’s God will not deliver His people from my power.

They spoke against the God of Jerusalem like they had spoken against the gods of the peoples of the earth, which were made by human hands.

But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord, just like his father Manasseh had done. He offered sacrifices to all the idols his father Manasseh had made, and worshiped them.

and hath not been humbled before Jehovah, like the humbling of Manasseh his father, for Amon himself hath multiplied guilt.

Lo, I am gathering thee unto thy fathers, and thou hast been gathered unto thy graves in peace, and thine eyes do not look on all the evil that I am bringing upon this place, and upon its inhabitants;' and they bring the king back word.

Then they removed the ascending-sacrifice, that they might give them - by the divisions of each ancestral house - unto the sons of the people, to offer unto Yahweh, as it is written in the Book of Moses, - and, in like manner, with the bullocks.

And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And when the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people came together like one man to Jerusalem.

and they draw nigh unto Zerubbabel, and unto heads of the fathers, and say to them, 'Let us build with you; for, like you, we seek to your God, and we are not sacrificing since the days of Esar-Haddon king of Asshur, who brought us up hither.'

The letter sent to him was written like this: To: King Darius: Greetings!

And look: what it liketh thee and thy brethren to do with the remnant of the money, that do after the will of your God.

I king Artaxerxes have commanded all the treasurers beyond the water, that look: whatsoever Ezra, the priest and scribe in the law of the God of heaven, requireth of you; that ye fulfill the same diligently,

Blessed be Yahweh, God of our fathers, - who hath put the like of this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of Yahweh, which is in Jerusalem;

And I shall gather them together to the river going to Ahava, and there we shall encamp three days: and I shall look upon the people and upon the priests, and from the sons of Levi I found not these.

Guard and look after [them] until you weigh [them] before the chief priests, the Levites, and the heads of the {families} of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chamber of the house of Yahweh."

After these things had been done, the leaders approached me and said: “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the surrounding peoples whose detestable practices are like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.

'And after all that hath come upon us for our evil works, and for our great guilt (for Thou, O our God, hast kept back of the rod from our iniquities, and hast given to us an escape like this),

LORD God of Israel, you are just: As a result, we remain here today delivered. Look at us! Because of our sin, we cannot stand in your presence as a result of everything that has happened."

So the king said to me, “Why do you look sad when you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very frightened,

Nevertheless I was sore afraid and said unto the king, "God save the king's life forever, should I not look sadly? The city of my fathers' burial lieth waste and the gates thereof are consumed with fire."

Look in what place now ye hear the noise of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us. Our God shall fight for us,

Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our sons are like their sons. Look, we are subduing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and there are some from our daughters being molested. {We are powerless}, and our fields and vineyards [belong] to others."

So I called the priests and made them take an oath to fulfill this promise. I also shook my robes, and said, "May God shake out every man from his house and his possessions who does not keep this promise. May he be emptied out and shaken just like this." All the assembly said, "Amen!" and praised the LORD. And the people kept their promise.

And they sent a message to me four times like this, and I returned an answer like this to them.

Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand;

But I said, "Should a man like me run away? And would a man like me go into the temple so that he can save his life? I will not go in!"

Then I look and realized God had not sent him; rather, he had spoken the prophecy against me [because] Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

I said to them, "The gates of Jerusalem must not be opened in the early morning, until those who are standing guard close the doors and lock them. Position residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their guard stations and some near their homes."

And when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their towns. And all the people came together like one man into the wide place in front of the water-doorway; and they made a request to Ezra the scribe that he would put before them the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel.

The whole community that had returned from exile made booths and lived in them. They had not celebrated like this from the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day. And there was tremendous joy.

And you divided the sea before them, and they passed through the sea on dry ground, but their pursuers you threw into the depths like a stone into mighty waters.

You made their children numerous like the stars of the heavens and brought them to the land that you told their ancestors to enter in order to take possession.

"Look! Today we are your servants, along with the land that you gave to our ancestors, so they could enjoy its fruit and its value behold, in it we are your servants!

Isn't this the way your ancestors acted, causing our God to bring on them and on this city all this misfortune? And now you are causing even more wrath on Israel, profaning the Sabbath like this!"

Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.

Remember me for this also, my God, and look on me with compassion in keeping with Your abundant, faithful love.

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.

To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on.

For this deed of the queen {will be known} to all the women, causing them {to look with contempt on their husbands}, as they will say, 'King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him but she did not come!'

And this day will the princesses of Persia and Media who have heard of the deed of the queen say the like unto all the king's princes. So will there arise much contempt and wrath.

This seemed like a good idea to the king and his officials, so the king did what Memucan suggested.

Let the young woman whom the king finds most attractive become queen in place of Vashti." This seemed like a good idea to the king, so he acted accordingly.

The young woman then came to the king like this: whatever she desired was given her to go with her out of the women's house to the king's house.

Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.

but if thou keep entirely silent at this time, respite and deliverance remaineth to the Jews from another place, and thou and the house of thy fathers are destroyed; and who knoweth whether for a time like this thou hast come to the kingdom?'

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

Then the king asked her, "What would you like, queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you even to the half of the kingdom."

Haman's wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, "Have a gallows seventy-five feet high built, and in the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it. Then go with the king to the banquet contented." It seemed like a good idea to Haman, so he had the gallows built.

And the king's servants said to him, "Look! Haman [is] standing in the courtyard." And the king said, "Let him come."

And Habrona, one of the eunuchs in the presence of the king, said, "Look, the same gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai who spoke good [for the sake] of the king stands at Haman's house, fifty cubits high." And the king said, "Hang him on it."

For {how can I bear} to look on the disaster that will find my people, and {how can I bear} to look on the destruction of my family?"

And King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, "Look, I have given Haman's house to Esther, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he {plotted against} the Jews.

And Mordecai went out from before the king, dressed in king-like robes of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold and clothing of purple and the best linen: and all the town of Shushan gave loud cries of joy.