By this time, the earth had become ruined in God's opinion and filled with violence.

God kept Noah in mind, along with all the wildlife and livestock that were with him in the ark. God's Spirit moved throughout the earth, causing the flood waters to subside.

when he had a dream! He saw a raised highway that had been built with its ending point on earth and its beginning point in heaven. God's angels were ascending and descending on it.

In mounting terror, he cried out, "How scary this place is! This is nothing less than God's house and the gateway to heaven!"

this stone that I've erected in the form of a pillar will be God's house, and I'll give you a tenth of everything that you give to me."

That made Jacob angry with Rachel, so he asked her, "Can I take God's place, who has not allowed you to conceive?"

As he was watching them, Jacob said, "This must be God's camp," so he named that place Mahanaim.

Three days later, Joseph told them, "I fear God, so do this and you'll live.

Also included were Gad's sons Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli;

"Don't be afraid," Joseph responded. "Am I sitting in God's place?

Meanwhile, Moses continued tending the sheep that belonged to his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the sheep to the western desert and came to Horeb, God's mountain, where

Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God so he does not strike us with pestilence or sword."

Pray to the LORD! There has been enough of God's thunder and hail! I'll let you go, and you need not stay any longer."

Moses told his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to seek God's will.

If you do this, and God so commands you, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will also go to their homes in peace."

The tablets were the work of God and the writing was God's writing, inscribed on the tablets.

They are to be holy to their God. They are not to defile the name of their God, because they're the ones who bring the offerings of the LORD made by fire the food of their God so they are to be holy.

He is not to go out of the sanctuary or defile the sanctuary of his God, because his God's consecrating oil of anointing rests on him. I am the LORD.

The genealogies of Gad's descendants were recorded individually, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army.

and from Gad's tribe, Machi's son Geuel.

When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she crouched down under Balaam. As a result, Balaam got so angry that he started to whip the donkey with his staff.

Furthermore, you are to purify every garment that is, everything made of leather, goat's hair, or containing wood."

For what great nation has a god so near like the LORD our God whenever we call on him?

Moses called all of Israel together and told them: "Listen, Israel! Today I'm going to announce God's laws and regulations so that you will learn them and take care to obey them.

Then the LORD commanded us to observe all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God for our own good, so that he may keep us alive as we are today.

Then Samson cried out to the LORD, "Lord GOD, please remember me. And please strengthen me this one time, God, so that I can repay the Philistines right now for my two eyes."

Micah's carved image, that he himself had crafted, was in place during the entire time that God's tent was set up at Shiloh.

As they were going down to the edge of the town, Samuel told Saul, "Tell your young man to go ahead of us and when he has gone ahead, stop for a while so I may declare God's word to you."

But they forgot the LORD their God, so he handed them over to the domination of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into domination by the Philistines and by the king of Moab, and Israel fought against them.

Then the army told Saul, "Shall Jonathan die, who brought about this great deliverance in Israel? As the LORD lives, not one hair of his head will fall to the ground, because today he did this with God's help."

Later on, David was informed, "The LORD has blessed the home of Obed-edom and everything he has since he's in possession of the Ark of God." So David went out joyfully and brought up the Ark of God to the City of David from Obed-edom's home.

At this the king asked, "Isn't there still someone left from Saul's household to whom I may show God's gracious love?" "There's Jonathan's son. He has maimed feet," Ziba answered.

if the king starts to get angry and asks you, "Why did you get so near the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot from the wall?

Then she said, "Your majesty, please remember the LORD your God, so that blood avengers don't do any more damage! Otherwise, they'll destroy my son!" So he promised, "As the LORD lives, not even a single hair from your son's head will fall to the ground!"

"Why, then," the woman asked, "are you planning to act just like this against God's people? Based on what your majesty has said, you're acting like one who is guilty himself, because you're not bringing back the one whom you've banished!

Now Ahithophel's advice that he provided at that time was being compared to one who inquired of God, so highly regarded was Ahithophel's counsel by both David and Absalom.

by slandering your servant to your majesty. But your majesty the king is like an angel from God: so do what you think is best.

Later, God's anger blazed forth against Israel, so he incited David to move against them by telling him, "Go take a census of Israel and Judah."

When this decision that the king had handed down was announced, everybody in Israel was amazed at the king, because they all saw that God's wisdom was in him, enabling him to administer justice.

Starting about noon, Elijah began to tease them: "Shout louder! "He's a god, so maybe he's busy. "Maybe he's relieving himself. "Maybe he's busy someplace. "Maybe he's taking a nap and somebody needs to wake him up."

So Elijah got up, ate and drank, and survived on that one meal for 40 days and nights as he set out on his journey to Horeb, God's mountain.

When they served the men, they began to eat the stew. But they cried out, "That pot of stew is deadly, you man of God!" So they couldn't eat the stew.

then Gadi's son Menahem approached Samaria from Tirzah and attacked Jabesh's son Shallum, executed him, and reigned in his place.

In the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Azariah, king of Judah, Gadi's son Menahem began a ten-year reign over Israel from Samaria.

Gad's descendants lived beside them in the land of Bashan as far as Salecah:

David said, "This is where the LORD God's Temple will be, along with the altar of burnt offerings for Israel."

So David went up, obeying Gad's directive that he had spoken in the name of the LORD.

So set your minds and hearts to seek the LORD your God, to get up, and to build the sanctuary of the LORD God, so the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD and the holy vessels of God may be stored in a temple built for the name of the LORD."

All of these were descendants of Heman the king's seer, according to God's promise to exalt him, since God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

King David rose to his feet and said, "My fellow citizens, may I have your attention. I intended to build a house of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, for a footstool of our God, so I began preparations for its construction.

Therefore, in the presence of all of Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and while our God is listening, observe and search through all of the commandments of the LORD your God, so that you may continue to possess this good land, leaving it for an inheritance forever to benefit your descendants who come after you."

Solomon, along with the whole assembly with him, met at the high place in Gibeon because that's where God's Tent of Meeting that the LORD's servant Moses had constructed in the wilderness was located.

These are the foundations that Solomon set in place for God's Temple. The length in terms of the former standard measurements: 60 cubits; its width: 20 cubits.

Solomon also made these items for God's Temple: the golden altar, the tables for the Bread of the Presence,

As soon as Solomon had completed the LORD's Temple, he installed the holy items that had belonged to his father David, including the silver, gold, and all the other items in the treasure rooms of God's Temple.

and the priests were unable to complete their duties because of the cloud, since the glory of the LORD had filled God's Temple.

King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, which is how the king and all of the people dedicated God's Temple.

The king would not listen to the people because the turn of events was from God, so that the LORD might fulfill his prediction that he spoke through Nebat's son Ahijah the Shilonite.

Asa brought into God's Temple the things that his father had dedicated, as well as his own dedicated gifts such as silver, gold, and temple service implements.

Joash remained with them for six years, hidden in God's Temple while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Everybody went to Jerusalem, and the whole group made a covenant with the king in God's Temple, where Jehoiada addressed them:

and Jehoiada the priest issued the spears and shields that King David had placed in storage in God's Temple to the officers in charge of the units of hundreds.

As a result, the workmen did their labor, and the repair work progressed steadily under their supervision, and they restored God's Temple back to what it should be, and strengthened it, too.

The Aramean army attacked with only a small force, but the LORD delivered a much larger army into their control because Judah had abandoned the LORD God of their ancestors. And so the Aramean army carried out God's judgment on Joash.

Records concerning his sons, the various prophetic statements rebuking him, and records of the reconstruction work on God's Temple are written in the Midrash of the Book of the Kings. Joash's son Amaziah reigned in his place.

He confiscated all the gold, silver, and utensils that he could find in the care of Obed-edom inside of God's Temple and inside the royal palace. Then he took some hostages and returned to Samaria.

Ahaz also collected the utensils of God's Temple, cut them all into pieces, and closed the doors of the LORD's Temple. Then he made altars to himself on every corner in Jerusalem

So don't be stiff-necked like your ancestors were. Instead, submit to the LORD, enter his sanctuary that he has sanctified forever, and serve the LORD your God so that he'll stop being angry with you.

Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah served as supervisors under Conaniah and his brother Shimei, who had been appointed by King Hezekiah. Azariah served as senior officer of God's Temple.

Everything that Hezekiah began in the service of God's Temple was done according to the Law and to the commandments as he sought his God, worked with all of his heart, and became successful.

Isn't this the very same Hezekiah who removed this god's high places and altars? Isn't this the same Hezekiah who issued this order to Judah and Jerusalem: "You are to worship in front of only one altar and burn your sacrifices only on it."?

He also placed an image that he had carved in God's Temple, the place about which God had told to David and to his son Solomon, "I will place my name in this Temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel,"

They approached Hilkiah the high priest and delivered to him the money that had been brought into God's Temple that the descendants of Levi and gatekeepers had collected from Manasseh, Ephraim, the surviving Israelis, Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

His officers contributed a voluntary offering to the people, the priests, and the descendants of Levi. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the officials who supervised God's Temple, gave 2,600 animals from their flocks to the priests for Passover offerings, along with 300 bulls.

but they mocked God's messengers, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until there was no remedy for the wrath of the LORD that arose to punish his people.

who took back to Babylon every article in God's Temple, whether large or small, including the treasuries of the LORD's Temple, the king's assets, and those of his officers.

After this, they set fire to God's Temple, demolished the wall around Jerusalem, burned all of its fortified buildings, and destroyed everything of value.

For Ezra had set his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, to obey it, and to teach God's statutes and judgments in Israel.

Then we left the Ahava River for Jerusalem on the twelfth day of the first month. Our God's protection was with us, and he delivered us from the enemy's power and from ambush along the way.

Then they delivered copies of the king's orders to the king's officers, and governors on this side of the Euphrates River. The orders were in support of the people and God's Temple.

So let's make a promise to our God by which we divorce all of these foreign wives as well as those born to them in accordance with the counsel of our Lord and of those who tremble at our God's command. Furthermore, let it be done according to the Law.

The king granted this for me, according to the good hand of my God. So I went to the Trans-Euphrates governors and gave them the king's letters of authorization. The king also sent army officers and cavalry to accompany me.

Then the people went out and found branches to make tents for themselves on the roofs of their houses, in their courtyards, and in the courts of God's Temple, in the plaza near the Water Gate, and in the plaza near the Gate of Ephraim.

joined with their relatives and their leaders. They entered into an oath enforced by a curse to walk in God's Law that was given through God's servant Moses, and to be careful to obey all of the commands of the LORD, our Lord, as well as his regulations and statutes:

"The arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit absorbs their poison; God's terrors have been arranged just for me!

"Indeed, this is the benefit of God's way: from the soil other plants will sprout.

You've said, "My teaching is flawless; I'm clean in God's sight.'

"Can you search through God's complex things? Can you uncover the limits of the Almighty?

Why do you speak falsely on God's behalf and speak deceitfully about him?

Will you show partiality to him? Will you plead God's case?

Have you listened in on God's secret council? Have you limited wisdom only to yourself?

Are God's encouragements inconsequential to you, even a word that has been spoken gently to you?

He won't escape darkness; a flame will wither his shoots; and he'll depart by the breath of God's mouth.

"Be gracious to me, be gracious to me, my friends, because God's hand has struck me.

Make sure that you remain wary of God's sword, for God's wrath brings with it the sword of punishment, by which you'll know there's a judgment."

Their houses are safe from fear, and God's chastisement never visits them.

As long as I can breathe; as long as God's breath is in my nostrils,

"Be patient with me a moment longer, and I'll show you that there's more to say on God's behalf.

"Should the one who is fighting the Almighty find fault with him? Let God's accuser answer."

He is the grandest of God's undertakings, yet his creator is approaching him with his sword.