16 Bible Verses about Intercession

But they fell upon their faces. Then Moses told Aaron. "Take the censer, put fire on it from the altar, and burn some incense. Then walk quickly to the congregation and atone for them, because wrath has already come out from the LORD the plague has begun." So Aaron took the censer, just as Moses had spoken, and ran out to the center of the assembly, where a plague had begun among the people. He set the incense on fire and atoned for the people. He stood between the dead and the living and restrained the plague.

She fell at his feet and pleaded, "Your majesty, let the guilt be on me alone, and please let your servant speak to you. Listen to the words of your servant.

When Reuben heard about it, he tried to save Joseph from their plot. "Let's not do any killing,"

Then Judah suggested to his brothers, "Where's the profit in just killing our brother and shedding his blood?

Therefore, please allow your servant to remain as a slave to Your Excellency, instead of the young man, and let the young man go back home with his brothers.

Jonathan spoke to his father Saul favorably about David. "The king shouldn't wrong his servant David because he has not wronged you and because what he has done has been very beneficial for you.

Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to talk, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he healed them.

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to talk was brought to him. Jesus healed him so that the man could speak and see.

Suddenly, a Canaanite woman from that territory came near and began to shout, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed!"

when some people came and brought him a paralyzed man being carried by four men.

As they approached the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, knelt down in front of him, and said, "Sir, have mercy on my son, because he is an epileptic and suffers terribly. Often he falls into fire and often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn't heal him." read more.
Jesus replied, "You unbelieving and perverted generation! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me!" Then Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed that very hour.

Pray also for me, so that, when I begin to speak, the right words will come to me. Then I will boldly make known the secret of the gospel, for whose sake I am an ambassador in chains, desiring to declare the gospel as boldly as I should.

Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and by the love that the Spirit produces, to join me in my struggle, earnestly praying to God for me that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, and that if it's God's will, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you.

as you also help us by your prayers for us. Then many people will thank God on our behalf because of the favor shown us through the prayers of many.

Brothers, pray for us.

Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

"Sir, my servant is lying at home paralyzed and in terrible pain."

Then Jesus got up to leave the synagogue and went into Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, so they asked Jesus about her.

Some people brought him a deaf man who also had a speech impediment. They begged him to lay his hand on him.

When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him repeatedly to come down and heal his son, because he was about to die.

Suddenly, a man in the crowd shouted, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, because he is my only child.

But Moses implored the LORD his God: "LORD, why are you angry with your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a show of force? Why should the Egyptians say, "He brought them out with an evil intention to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your anger and change your mind about the calamity against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants to whom you swore by yourself as you told them, "I'll increase the number of your descendants like the stars of the heavens, I'll give your descendants all of this land about which I have spoken, and they are to possess it forever.'" read more.
So the LORD changed his mind about the calamity he had said he would bring on his people.

Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Please, LORD, this people committed a great sin by making a god of gold for themselves. Now, if you will, forgive their sin but if not, blot me out of your book which you have written." The LORD told Moses, "Whoever sins against me, I'll blot him out of my book. read more.
Now, go, and lead the people where I told you, and now my angel will go before you, but on the day when I do punish, I'll punish them for their sin."

I fell down in the LORD's presence, just as I had the first 40 days and nights. I did not eat food or drink water because of your sin. You had sinned by committing this evil in the sight of the LORD, thereby provoking him to anger. I feared the anger and wrath of the LORD against you, because he was irate enough to destroy you. But the LORD also listened to me at that time. It was as had been the case with Aaron, the LORD was very angry and about to destroy him, but I prayed for Aaron at that time. read more.
Now, when you made the calf that made you sin, I grabbed it, burned it with fire, crushed it, and ground it thoroughly until it was pulverized to powder. Then I threw the powder into the river that was flowing from the mountain." "You provoked the LORD again at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah. When the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea and told you, "Go possess the land that I gave you,' instead you disobeyed what the LORD your God said. You didn't trust him or listen to his voice. You have been rebelling against the LORD since the day I knew you. I fell down in the LORD's presence for 40 days and nights, because the LORD said he was ready to destroy you. So I prayed to the LORD and said, "Oh LORD my God, don't destroy your people and your inheritance whom you redeemed by your power. You brought them out from Egypt in a powerful way. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don't pay attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sinfulness of this people. Otherwise, the people of the land from which you brought us will say, "The LORD wasn't able to bring them out of the land that he had promised them. So he brought them out to kill them in the desert because he hated them." But they are your people and inheritance, whom you brought out by your mighty strength and awesome power.'"

When I stood on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights as I did the first time, the LORD listened to me once again. The LORD was not willing to destroy you.

He would have destroyed them but for Moses, his chosen one, who stood in the breach before him to avert his destructive wrath.

Then the people approached Moses and admitted, "We've sinned by speaking against the LORD and you. Pray to the LORD, that he'll remove the serpents from us." So Moses prayed in behalf of the people.

He would have destroyed them but for Moses, his chosen one, who stood in the breach before him to avert his destructive wrath.

Then the LORD told Moses and Aaron, "Separate yourselves from among this community, and I'll destroy them in a moment." Then they fell on their faces and said, "God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, will you be angry at the entire congregation on account of one man's sin?"

"May Reuben live and not die, though his numbers are few." He declared this about Judah: "Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah and return him to his people. With his own strength he fights for himself, and you will be of assistance against his enemies." About Levi he said: "Let your Thummim and Urim be with the man to whom you showed gracious love, whom you tested at Massah and with whom you struggled at the waters of Meribah, read more.
the one who told his mother and father, "I don't know them,' and who would neither acknowledge his brothers nor know his own children. For they kept your word and guarded your covenant. They will teach your ordinances to Jacob, and your Law to Israel. They will offer incense as a pleasant aroma to you and a whole burnt offering upon your altar. LORD, bless his substance and approve the work that he undertakes. Shatter the legs of those who oppose against him; may those who hate him stand no more." About Benjamin he said: "The beloved of the LORD will live confidently, the Most High protecting him all day long, and resting in his bosom." About Joseph he said: "May the blessing of the LORD be on his land: dew from the choicest of the heavens, and from the depths beneath; from the choicest products of the sun, the rich fruit of the harvest moon, the choicest portion of the eternal mountains, and the best of the everlasting hills; from the choicest of the earth and its fullness, and the favor of the one who lived in the burning bush. May blessing rest on Joseph's head, and on the crown of the head of the one set apart from his brothers. May the firstborn of his bull be honorable to him, and may his horns be those of a wild ox. With them may he push people all together, to the ends of the earth. These are the myriads of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh."

The LORD restored Job's prosperity after he prayed for his friends. The LORD doubled everything that Job had once possessed.

I never stop giving thanks for you as I mention you in my prayers.

He would have destroyed them but for Moses, his chosen one, who stood in the breach before him to avert his destructive wrath.

Then Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured out on the land.

Then Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh's presence, and Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs which he had sent on Pharaoh. The LORD did just as Moses asked, and the frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards, and in the fields.

Then Moses left Pharaoh's presence and prayed to the LORD. The LORD did what Moses asked, and the swarms of insects departed from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not one remained.

Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. Then the LORD brought a very strong west wind that took the locusts and drove them into the Reed Sea. Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt.

"Now, let the power of the LORD be magnified, just as you promised when you said,

So I prayed to the LORD and said, "Oh LORD my God, don't destroy your people and your inheritance whom you redeemed by your power. You brought them out from Egypt in a powerful way.

Take both your sheep and your cattle, just as you demanded and go! And bless me too!"

Then Pharaoh called to Moses and Aaron and said, "Plead with the LORD so that he may remove the frogs from me and my people. I'll let the people go so they can offer sacrifices to the LORD."

Then Pharaoh said, "I'll let you go so you can offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the desert. But you must not go very far away. Pray for me."

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."

Now, please forgive my sin only this time, and pray to the LORD your God that he would at least remove this from me."

Then Pharaoh's senior security advisor spoke up. "Maybe I should make a confession. When Pharaoh was angry with some of his servants, he incarcerated me in custody of the captain of the bodyguard, along with Pharaoh's head chef. We each had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning. read more.
There was a Hebrew young man incarcerated with us, who was also working as a servant to the captain of the bodyguard. "We each related our dreams, and then he interpreted them for us. He provided specific meanings for each of our dreams. And what he interpreted for each of us came true! Pharaoh restored me to my responsibilities, but he executed the other man."

But keep me in mind when things go well for you. Be sure to extend kindness to me by remembering me to Pharaoh. Bring me out of this prison,

and said, "Sir, have mercy on my son, because he is an epileptic and suffers terribly. Often he falls into fire and often into water.

A man in the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has a spirit that won't let him talk. Whenever it brings on a seizure, it throws him to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes stiff. So I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they didn't have the power." Jesus told them, "You unbelieving generation! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me!" read more.
So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions. He fell on the ground and kept rolling around and foaming at the mouth. Then Jesus asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" He said, "Since he was a child. The spirit has often thrown him into fire and into water to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us!" Jesus told him, ""If you are able?' Everything is possible for the person who believes!" With tears flowing, the child's father at once cried out, "I do believe! Help my unbelief!" When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You spirit that won't let him talk or hear I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!" The spirit screamed, shook the child violently, and came out. The boy was like a corpse, and many said that he was dead. But Jesus took his hand and helped him up, and he stood up.

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

David told God, "Wasn't I the one who ordered the census of the population? Wasn't it I who sinned and acted wickedly? Now as for these sheep, what have they done? LORD God, please let your hand be against me and my ancestral household, but don't let your people be ravaged by plague!"

From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work they had completed.

while Paul chose Silas and left after the brothers had entrusted him to the grace of the Lord.

So Moses prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, please heal her."

Therefore, because he always lives to intercede for them, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him.

Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong; because he poured out his life to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he carried the sins of many, and made intercession for their transgressions."

"Please!" the king begged the man of God, "Ask the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored for me!" So the man of God asked the LORD, and the king's hand was immediately and fully restored, just like it had been before.

Samuel said, "Bring all Israel together at Mizpah, and I'll pray to the LORD on your behalf."

Now, if you will, forgive their sin but if not, blot me out of your book which you have written."

When Abigail saw David, she quickly got down from the donkey and fell on her face before David, prostrating herself on the ground. She fell at his feet and pleaded, "Your majesty, let the guilt be on me alone, and please let your servant speak to you. Listen to the words of your servant. Please, your majesty, don't pay attention to this worthless man Nabal, for he's just like his name. Nabal is his name and folly is his constant companion. But I, your servant, didn't see your majesty's young men whom you sent. read more.
Now, your majesty, as the LORD lives and as you live, the LORD has kept you from shedding blood and from delivering yourself by your own actions. Now, may your enemies and those seeking to do evil to your majesty be like Nabal. Now let this present that your servant has brought to your majesty be given to the young men who follow your majesty. Please forgive the offense of your servant. For the LORD will certainly make a strong dynasty for your majesty, for your majesty is fighting the LORD's battles. May evil not be found in you for all of your life. If anyone should arise to pursue you and seek your life, may the life of your majesty be bound up with the LORD your God in a bundle of the living, and may he sling out the lives of your enemies from the pocket of a sling. When the LORD does for your majesty all the good that he promised concerning you and appoints you Commander-in-Chief over Israel, this shouldn't be an obstacle or stumbling block for your majesty's conscience, that he poured out blood without cause or that your majesty delivered himself. When the LORD does good things for your majesty, remember your servant." David told Abigail, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today. Blessed be your good judgment, and blessed be you, who today stopped me from shedding blood and delivering myself by my own actions. For as surely as the LORD God of Israel lives, the one who restrained me from harming you indeed, had you not quickly come to meet me, by dawn there wouldn't be a single male left to Nabal." David took from her what she had brought him and told her, "Go up to your house in peace. Look, I've heard your request and will grant it."

Then he called out to the LORD and asked him, "LORD my God, have you also brought evil to this dear widow with whom I am living as her guest? Have you caused the death of her son?" Then he stretched himself three times and cried out to the LORD, "LORD my God, please cause the soul of this little boy to return to him." The LORD listened to Elijah, and the soul of the little boy returned to him, and he revived. read more.
Then Elijah took the little boy downstairs from the upper chamber back into the main house and delivered him to his mother. "Look," Elijah told her, "your son is alive."

Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God.

LORD,even though our iniquities testify against us, do something for the sake of your name. Indeed, our apostasies are many, and we have sinned against you. Hope of Israel, its deliverer in time of trouble, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who sets up his tent for a night? Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a strong man who can't deliver? You are among us, LORD, and your name is the one by which we're called. Don't abandon us! read more.
This is what the LORD says to these people: "Yes, they do love to wander, and they haven't restrained their feet. So the LORD won't accept them now. He will remember their iniquity and punish their sin." Then the LORD told me, "Don't pray for the welfare of these people. Although they fast, I won't listen to their cry, and although they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them. Instead, I'll put an end to them with the sword, with famine, and with a plague." Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD, look! The prophets are saying to them, "You won't see the sword and you won't experience famine. Rather, I'll give you lasting peace in this place.'" Then the LORD told me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I didn't send them, I didn't command them, and I didn't speak to them. They're proclaiming to you false visions, worthless predictions, and the delusions of their own minds. Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the false prophets who prophesy in my name, "There will be no sword and famine in this land' (though I haven't sent them): "By the sword and by famine these prophets will be finished off! The people to whom they have prophesied will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters. I'll pour out on them the judgment they deserve.'" "And deliver this message to them: "Let tears run down my face, night and day, and don't let them stop, because my virgin daughter my people will be broken with a powerful blow, with a severe wound. If I go out into the field, I see those slain by the sword! If I go into the city, I see the ravages of the famine! Indeed, both prophet and priest ply their trade in the land, but they don't know anything.'" Have you completely rejected Judah? Do you despise Zion? Why have you struck us, so that there is no healing for us? We hoped for peace, but no good came, for a time of healing, but there was only terror. We acknowledge, LORD, our wickedness, the guilt of our ancestors. Indeed, we have sinned against you. For the sake of your name don't despise us. Don't dishonor your glorious throne. Remember, don't break your covenant with us! Can any of the worthless gods of the nations make it rain? Can the heavens themselves bring forth showers? Aren't you the one who does this, LORD our God? So we hope in you, for you are the one who does all these things.

Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said "My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive. "If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, read more.
then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness. "If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to their ancestors. "When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. "If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts for you alone know the hearts of all human beings so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors. "Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name (for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name. "When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause. "When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land of their captivity confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you. "Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. Do this so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people's prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD.

May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, for he often took care of me and was not ashamed that I was a prisoner.

May the Lord grant that he finds mercy on the day he comes again. You know very well how much he assisted me in Ephesus.

Abraham approached and asked, "Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? Far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won't he?" read more.
The LORD said, "If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I'll forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I've ventured to speak to my LORD. What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?" The LORD said, "I won't destroy it if I find 45 there." Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, "What if 40 are found there?" The LORD replied, "I won't do it for the sake of those 40." Abraham then asked, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?" The LORD answered, "I won't do it for the sake of those 30." "Look," Abraham said, "I've presumed to speak to my LORD" so what if 20 are found there?" "For the sake of those 20," the LORD responded, "I won't destroy it." Finally, Abraham inquired, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten I won't destroy it."

Then Abraham interceded with God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants so they could bear children, since the LORD had made all the women barren in Abimelech's household on account of Abraham's wife Sarah.

So Moses prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, please heal her." But the LORD told Moses, "If her father had merely spit in her face, wouldn't she be humiliated? She is to be placed in isolation for seven days. After that, she may be brought in." So Miriam was isolated outside the camp for seven days and the people didn't travel until Miriam was brought in.

Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch in the king's house, heard that Jeremiah had been put in the cistern. The king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, so Ebed-melech went out of the palace and spoke to the king: "Your majesty, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah by throwing him into the cistern. He will die where he is because of the famine since there is no more bread in the city." read more.
Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Ethiopian: "Thirty men are at your disposal. Take them with you and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies." So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the palace, underneath the storeroom. He took worn out rags and worn out clothes from there, and using ropes he lowered them down to Jeremiah in the cistern. Ebed-melech the Ethiopian told Jeremiah, "Put the worn out rags and clothes under your armpits under the ropes," and Jeremiah did as he said. They pulled Jeremiah with the ropes and brought him up from the cistern, but Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

When Reuben heard about it, he tried to save Joseph from their plot. "Let's not do any killing," Reuben told them. "And no blood shedding, either. Instead, let's toss him into this cistern that's way out here in the wilderness. But don't lay a hand on him." (Reuben intended to free Joseph and return him to his father.)

appeal to you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Once he was useless to you, but now he is very useful both to you and to me. As I send him back, it's like I'm coming along with him. read more.
I wanted to keep him with me so that he could serve me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel. forced, but voluntary. Yet I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your good deed might not be something 15Perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while, so that you could have him back forever, 16no longer as a slave but better than a slave as a dear brother, especially to me, but even more so to you, both as a person and as a believer. 17So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account.this favor from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Messiah! 19I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. (I will not mention to you that you owe me your very life.) 20Yes, brother, I desire this favor from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Messiah! 21Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you because I know that you will do even more than I ask.

Meanwhile, Zeruiah's son Joab knew that the king's attention was focused on Absalom, so he sent messengers to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, "Please play the role of a mourner, wear the clothes of a mourner, and refrain from using makeup. Act like a woman who's been in mourning for the dead for many days. Then go to the king and speak to him like this"" Then Joab told her what to say. read more.
When the woman from Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, prostrating herself to address him, "Help, your majesty!" The king asked her, "What's your problem?" "I've been a widowed woman ever since my husband died," she answered. "Your humble servant used to have two sons, but they got into a fight out in the field. Because there was no one to keep them apart, one of them attacked the other and killed him. Now please pay attention closely! My whole family is attacking your humble servant! They're saying, "Turn over the one who attacked his brother and we'll put him to death in retribution for his brother, whose life he took. That way, we'll kill the heir also!' They're going to extinguish the only light left in my family, leaving my late husband neither an ongoing name nor a survivor on the face of the earth!" Then the king replied to the woman, "Go home and I'll issue a special order just for you." But the woman from Tekoa told the king, "Your majesty, let any guilt for this be on me and on my ancestors' household, and not on my king or his throne!" The king replied, "Bring anyone who talks to you about this to me, and he certainly won't be bothering you anymore!" 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!" At this, the woman responded, "Would your majesty the king please allow your humble servant to say one more thing?" "Say it"" he replied. "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! After all, even though we all die, and we're all like water being spilled on the ground that cannot be recovered, nevertheless God doesn't take away life, but carries out his plans so as not to cast away permanently from him those who are presently estranged. "Now as to why I've come to speak with your majesty the king, it's because the people have made me afraid, so your humble servant told herself, "I'll go speak to the king, so perhaps the king will do what his humble servant has requested. Perhaps the king will listen and deliver his humble servant from the oppression of the man who intends to eliminate both me and my son from what God has apportioned to us!' "So your humble servant is saying, "Please, your majesty, let what the king has to say be of comfort, because just as the angel of God is, so also is your majesty the king to discern both good and evil. And may the LORD your God remain present with you.'" In reply, the king asked the woman, "Please don't conceal anything about which I'm going to be asking you now." So the woman replied, "Please, your majesty, let the king speak." Then the king asked, "Is Joab behind all of this with you?" "As your soul lives, your majesty, the king," the woman answered, "no one can divert anything left or right from what your majesty the king has spoken! As a matter of fact, it was your servant Joab! He was there, giving me precise orders about everything that your humble servant was to say. Your servant Joab did this, intending to change the outcome of this matter. Nevertheless, your majesty is wise, like the wisdom of the angel of God, to be aware of everything that's going on throughout the earth." Then the king addressed Joab, "Look! I'll do this thing that you've requested. Go bring back the young man Absalom." At this, Joab fell on his face to the ground, prostrating himself to bless the king, and then said, "Today your servant realizes that he's found favor with you, your majesty, in that the king has acted on the request of his servant." Then Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. Nevertheless, the king said, "Let him return to his own home and not show his face to me." So Absalom returned to his own home and did not show his face to the king.

Then Judah suggested to his brothers, "Where's the profit in just killing our brother and shedding his blood? Come on! Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites! That way, we won't have laid our hands on him. After all, he's our brother, our own flesh."

So Bathsheba went to the king in his private room. Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to him. Bathsheba knelt and bowed down to the king, and the king asked her, "What do you wish?" "Your majesty," she replied, "you promised your servant in the name of the LORD your God, "Your son Solomon will certainly become king after me and will sit on my throne.' read more.
Now look, Adonijah has become king, and your majesty is not aware of it. Adonijah has sacrificed myriads of oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep, and he has invited all of the king's sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited your servant Solomon. And as for you, your majesty, everyone in Israel is looking to you to tell them who will sit on your majesty's throne after you. Otherwise, as soon as your majesty is laid to rest with his ancestors, my son Solomon and I will be branded as traitors." While she was still talking to the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. They informed the king, "Nathan the prophet is here." When he had been ushered into the presence of the king, Nathan bowed low in front of the king with his face to the ground and asked, "Your majesty, did you say "Adonijah will be king after me and will sit on my throne'? Well now, he went down today and sacrificed lots of oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep, and has invited all the king's sons, the army commanders, and Abiathar the priest. They're having a party together and saying, "Long live King Adonijah!' Of course, he never invited me, Zadok the priest, Jehoiada's son Benaiah, nor your servant Solomon. Were you behind this, your majesty, without letting your servants know who would sit on your majesty's throne after him?" "Call Bathsheba for me," King David replied. So she came in and stood in front of the king. "As the LORD lives," the king said with an oath, "who has redeemed me from all sorts of troubles, I certainly did tell you in the name of the LORD God of Israel, "Your son Solomon will be king after me and will sit on my throne in my place.' I'm certainly going to make this happen today!" "King David," Bathsheba said as she bowed low in front of the king with her face to the ground, "your majesty, may you live forever."

Later, Haggith's son Adonijah approached Solomon's mother. "Are you here on a peaceful mission?" she asked. "Yes," he replied. "I have something to ask you about." "Talk," she told him. So he replied, "You know that the kingdom should have come to me, and that everyone in Israel intended to place me as the next king. However, the kingdom has turned around and now belongs to my brother, because it went to him from the LORD. read more.
So now I'm asking one thing from you. Don't refuse me." "Talk," she told him. Then he asked her, "Please talk to King Solomon for me, since he won't refuse you. Ask him to give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife." "Okay," Bathsheba replied. "I'll talk to the king for you." So Bathsheba went to talk to King Solomon for Adonijah. The king rose to meet her, bowed to her, and sat down on his throne. He ordered a throne be set in place for his mother. She sat on a throne to his right and told him, "I would like to make a minor request of you. Please don't refuse me." "What is your request, mother?" the king asked her. "I won't turn you down." So she asked him, "Give Abishag the Shunammite to your brother Adonijah as a wife." But King Solomon replied to his mother, "Why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Why not ask me to give up the kingdom for him, since he's my older brother, and why not ask for Abiathar the priest, and for Zeruiah's son Joab?" Then King Solomon took this oath in the name of the LORD: "May God do so to me, and more besides, if Adonijah hasn't endangered his life by bringing up this subject. Now therefore, as the LORD lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of my father David, and who has established a dynasty, just like he promised, Adonijah will surely be executed today." So King Solomon sent for Jehoiada's son Benaiah, who attacked and killed Adonijah.

So he entered, shut the door behind them both, and prayed to the LORD. Then he approached the child and lay down with his mouth near the child's, with his eyes near those of the child, and taking the child's hands in his. As Elisha stretched himself on the child, the child's flesh began to grow warm. Then he went downstairs, walked around back and forth inside the house once, went back up to his upper chamber, and stretched himself over the child again. The young man sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes. read more.
He called out to Gehazi, "Go get the Shunammite woman!" So he called her. When she came in to see Elisha, he told her, "Take back your son!"

Suddenly, the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all of the Israelis. "How long will this people keep on spurning me and refusing to trust me, despite all the miracles that I've done among them?" the LORD asked Moses. "That's why I'm going to attack them with pestilence and disinherit them. Instead, I'll make you a great nation even mightier than they are!" But Moses responded to the LORD, "When Egypt hears that you've brought this people out from among them with a mighty demonstration of power, read more.
they'll also proclaim to the inhabitants of this land that they've heard you're among this people, LORD, whom they've seen face to face, since your cloud stands guard over them. You've guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night. But if you slaughter this people all at the same time, then the nations who heard about your fame will say, "The LORD slaughtered this people in the wilderness because he wasn't able to bring them to the land that he promised them.' "Now, let the power of the LORD be magnified, just as you promised when you said, "The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in faithful love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he won't acquit the guilty. He recalls the iniquity of fathers to the third and fourth generation.' "Forgive, please, the iniquity of this people, according to your great, faithful love, in the same way that you've carried this people from Egypt to this place." The LORD responded, "I've forgiven them based on what you've said.

Then Moses told the LORD, "If your presence does not go with us, don't bring us up from here. Otherwise, how shall it be known that your people and I have received favor from you, unless you go with us and that we, your people and I, are distinguished from all the people on the surface of the earth?" The LORD told Moses, "I'll do the very thing that you have said, because you have found favor in my sight and I know you by name."

Pharaoh quickly called Moses and Aaron and said, "I've sinned against the LORD your God and against you. Now, please forgive my sin only this time, and pray to the LORD your God that he would at least remove this from me." Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. read more.
Then the LORD brought a very strong west wind that took the locusts and drove them into the Reed Sea. Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. But the LORD made Pharaoh's heart stubborn and he would not let the Israelis go.

Then the LORD told Moses, "Stretch your hand toward the sky and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that one can feel." So Moses stretched his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else, nor could anyone get up from his place for three days. But there was light for all the Israelis in their dwellings.

Whenever Moses raised his hand, the Israelis prevailed, but when his hand remained at his side, then the Amalekites prevailed. When Moses' hands became heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, and so his hands were steady until the sun went down. Joshua defeated Amalek and his army using swords. read more.
Then the LORD told Moses, "Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua: "I'll certainly wipe out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven.'"

I will ask the Father to give you another Helper, to be with you always.

but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail. When you have come back, you must strengthen your brothers."

Jesus kept saying, "Father, forgive them, because they don't know what they're doing." Then they divided his clothes among them by throwing dice.

Then Jesus got up to leave the synagogue and went into Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, so they asked Jesus about her. He bent over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began serving them.

At the time of the evening sacrifice, I arose from my discouragement. Still in my torn garment and robe, I fell to my knees with my hands outstretched to the LORD my God, and said, "My God, I am too ashamed and hurt to turn to you, because we're in our iniquities over our heads. Furthermore, my God, our sins have grown as high as the heavens. We have lived in great sin from the days of our ancestors even until today, and because of those iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered over to foreign kings, for execution, for captivity, for plunder, and for humiliation, as is the case today. read more.
Though now, for a moment, grace has been shown from the LORD our God, leaving a few survivors to escape, and providing us a secure hold in his Holy Place, so that our God might enlighten us and give us relief from our servitude. Even though we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our slavery. Instead, he has extended gracious love to us in the presence of the kings of Persia, to grant us revival, to set up the Temple of our God, to repair its damage, and to give us a protective wall for Judah and Jerusalem. Now, our God, what can we say besides this? Because we have abandoned your commandments that you gave in the writings of your servants, the prophets: "The land you are entering to possess is a morally unclean land due to the moral uncleanness of the nations of the lands along with their abominations that has filled it from one end to the other with their impurities. So, therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor marry their daughters to your sons, and under no circumstances are you to seek their well-being or their wealth, so that you may remain strong, enjoying the best things the land has to give, and so that you may establish an inheritance for your children forever.' "After all that has happened to us because of our evil behavior, and because of our great sin considering that you our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us this deliverance should we violate your commandments by intermarrying with the nations who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you had consumed us, with not even a remnant surviving to escape? 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."

Saul told his son Jonathan and all his officials to kill David, but Saul's son Jonathan was very fond of David. So Jonathan told David, "My father Saul is trying to kill you. In the morning be careful and stay hidden in a secret place. I'll go out and stand by my father in the field where you are. I'll speak to my father about you. If I find out what he intends to do, I'll tell you." read more.
Jonathan spoke to his father Saul favorably about David. "The king shouldn't wrong his servant David because he has not wronged you and because what he has done has been very beneficial for you. He risked his life and struck down the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a spectacular deliverance for all Israel. You saw that and rejoiced, so why would you do wrong and shed innocent blood by killing David without cause?" Saul listened to Jonathan, and swore by the life of the LORD that David would not be killed. Jonathan summoned David and told him all this. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and David served him as before.

Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about the king's command. Daniel was seeking mercy, in order to ask about this mystery in the presence of the God of heaven, so that Daniel and his friends might not be executed along with the rest of the advisors of Babylon.

When King Hezekiah heard Eliakim's report, he tore his clothes, put on a sackcloth covering, entered the LORD's Temple, and sent Eliakim the household supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests all of them covered in sackcloth to Amoz's son, the prophet Isaiah. They announced to him: read more.
"This is what Hezekiah says: "Today is a day of trouble, rebuke, and blasphemy, because children are about to be born, but there is no strength to bring them to birth. Perhaps the LORD your God will take note of everything that Rab-shakeh has said, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to taunt the living God, and then he will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore offer a prayer for the survivors who remain.'"

Then all the military leaders, Kareah's son Jonathan, Hoshaiah's son Jezaniah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah. They told Jeremiah the prophet, "Please listen to what we have to ask of you. Pray to the LORD your God for us and for all these survivors. Indeed, only a few of us remain out of many, as you can see. Pray that the LORD your God may inform us as to how we should live and what we should do." read more.
Jeremiah the prophet told them, "I've heard, and I'm going to pray to the LORD your God just as you have requested. Whatever the LORD answers, I'll tell you. I won't withhold anything from you." Then they told Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we don't do everything that the LORD your God tells us through you. Whether it seems good or bad, we will obey the LORD our God to whom we send you, so it may go well for us. Indeed, we will obey the LORD our God."

Right when Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn some incense, a man of God arrived in Bethel from Judah in obedience to a command from the LORD. He cursed the altar in this message from the LORD: "Hey altar! Hey altar! This is what the LORD says: "Pay attention to this! A son is going to be born in David's dynasty. His name will be Josiah. He will sacrifice the priests who burn incense on you in these high places. Human bones will be burned on you!'" Later that same day, he gave them a special display of power of what was to come when he said, "Here's proof that the LORD has decreed this: Look! This altar will be split apart and the ashes that are on it will spill out." read more.
When he heard the man of God curse the altar in Bethel, the king pointed at the man of God from where the king was standing at the altar. "Seize him!" he ordered. But all of a sudden his hand that he had stretched out dried up, and he could not bring it back to his side! Also, the altar broke apart and the ashes that were on it spilled out from the altar, providing just the proof that the man of God had predicted in his message from the LORD! "Please!" the king begged the man of God, "Ask the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored for me!" So the man of God asked the LORD, and the king's hand was immediately and fully restored, just like it had been before.

Samuel said, "Bring all Israel together at Mizpah, and I'll pray to the LORD on your behalf." So they came together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out in the LORD's presence. On that day they fasted there and said, "We have sinned against the LORD." Then Samuel judged the Israelis at Mizpah. When the Philistines heard that the Israelis had gathered at Mizpah, the Philistine lords came up against Israel. When the Israelis heard this, they were afraid of the Philistines. read more.
The Israelis told Samuel, "Don't stop crying out to the LORD our God for us that he may deliver us from the hand of the Philistines." Then Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. Samuel cried out to the LORD on behalf of Israel, and the LORD answered him. While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines approached to attack Israel. But that day the LORD thundered against the Philistines and threw them into panic, and they were defeated before Israel. The men of Israel went out from Mizpah, pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as a point below Beth-car. Then Samuel took a stone, placed it between Mizpah and Shen and named it Ebenezer. He said, "The LORD has helped us this far." The Philistines were subdued, and they did not continue to enter the territory of Israel. The LORD continued to oppose the Philistines all during Samuel's life time. The towns that the Philistines had taken from Israel were returned to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from Philistine control. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, just as the LORD had predicted.

Then Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh's presence, and Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs which he had sent on Pharaoh.

Pharaoh sent word and called for Moses and Aaron. "I've sinned this time," he told them. "The LORD is righteous, but I and my people are wicked. 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 him, "When I leave the city I'll spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease and the hail won't continue, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the LORD. read more.
But as for you and your officials, I know that you don't yet fear the LORD God." (Now the flax and the barley were ruined because the barley was in ear and the flax was in bud. The wheat and the wild grainwere not ruined because they were late crops.) Then Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured out on the land. When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he continued to sin. He, along with his officials,hardened his heart. Pharaoh's heart was stubborn, and he did not let the Israelis go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.

Then Moses left Pharaoh's presence and prayed to the LORD. The LORD did what Moses asked, and the swarms of insects departed from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not one remained. But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart, and he did not let the people go.

"I am asking on their behalf. I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you gave me, because they are yours.

LORD you have favored your land and restored the fortunes of Jacob. You took away the iniquity of your people, forgiving all their sins Interlude You withdrew all your wrath and turned away from your burning anger. read more.
Restore us, God of our salvation, and stop being angry with us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger from generation to generation? Will you restore our lives again so that your people may rejoice in you? LORD, show your gracious love and deliver us.

When David saw the angel who had been attacking the people, he told the LORD, "Look, I'm the one who has sinned! I did the evil. These are only sheep! What did they do? Please, let your hand fall on me and on my household!"

He also brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read as follows: ""and now as this letter finds its way to you, look! I've sent my servant Naaman to you so you may heal him of his leprosy." When the king of Israel read the letter, he ripped his clothes and cried out, "Am I God? Can I kill and give life? Is this man sending me a request to heal a man's leprosy? Let's think about this he's looking for a reason to start a fight with me!" When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king and asked, "Why did you tear your clothes? Please, let the man come visit me and he will learn that there is a prophet in Israel!"

Then all the people told Samuel, "Pray to the LORD your God for your servants, so that we don't die, because we made all our sins worse by asking for a king for ourselves."

After this, they traveled from Mount Hor along the caravan route by way of the Sea of Reeds and went around the land of Edom. But when the people got impatient because it was a long route, the people complained against the LORD and Moses. "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?" they asked. "There's no food and water, and we're tired of this worthless bread." In response, the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people to bite them. As a result, many people of Israel died. read more.
Then the people approached Moses and admitted, "We've sinned by speaking against the LORD and you. Pray to the LORD, that he'll remove the serpents from us." So Moses prayed in behalf of the people. Then the LORD instructed Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent out of brass and fasten it to a pole. Anyone who has been bitten and who looks at it will live." So Moses made a bronze serpent and fastened it to a pole. If a person who had been bitten by a poisonous serpent looked to the serpent, he lived.

Eventually, the people began complaining about their distress, and the LORD heard them. When the LORD heard, his anger flared up and the LORD's fire incinerated some of them within the outskirts of the camp. When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the LORD and the fire stopped.

Suddenly, a Canaanite woman from that territory came near and began to shout, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed!"

That's when he prayed, "LORD God of my master Abraham, help me to succeed today. Please show your gracious love to my master Abraham.

When I heard this, I sat down and cried, mourning for a number of days while I fasted and prayed in the presence of the God of Heaven. I said, "Please, LORD, God of Heaven, the great and fearsome God who keeps the covenant, showing gracious love to those who love you and keep your commands, please turn your attention to observe carefully and listen to the prayer of your servant today that I am presenting to you day and night on behalf of your servants, the Israelis. read more.
"I confess the sins that we Israelis have committed against you. Both I and my father's house have sinned. We have abandoned you by not keeping your commands, your ceremonies, and your judgments that you proscribed to your servant Moses. Please remember what you spoke in commanding your servant Moses. You said, "If you rebel, I will scatter you among the nations but if you return to me, keeping my commands and doing them, even if your exiled people are in the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to establish my Name.'

"I'm now entrusting you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and secure for you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

And so it came about that when the swarm had finished eating the grass of the land, I was saying, "Lord GOD, forgive please! How will Jacob stand, since he is small?" So the LORD relented from this. "This will not happen," said the LORD. This is what the Lord GOD showed me: Look! The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire, and it was drying up the great depths of the ocean and consuming the land. read more.
So I kept on saying, "Lord GOD, forgive please! How will Jacob stand, since he is so small?" So the LORD relented from this. "This will not happen, either," said the Lord GOD.

Elisha told him, "Ask her, "Look how you've gone to all this trouble to care for us! What can I do for you? Do you wish to be mentioned to the king or to the head of the army?'" She replied, "I'm at home living among my own people."

"Please!" the king begged the man of God, "Ask the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored for me!" So the man of God asked the LORD, and the king's hand was immediately and fully restored, just like it had been before.

King Zedekiah sent Shelemiah's son Jehucal and Maaseiah's son Zephaniah the priest to Jeremiah the prophet, asking him, "Please pray to the LORD our God for us."

so they may approach the God of Heaven with fragrant sacrifices and pray for the life of this king and his sons.

So Moses prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, please heal her."

If a person sins against another, God will mediate for him, but if a person sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?"

Simon answered, "Both of you pray to the Lord for me that none of the things you have said will happen to me."

Then the people approached Moses and admitted, "We've sinned by speaking against the LORD and you. Pray to the LORD, that he'll remove the serpents from us." So Moses prayed in behalf of the people.

It was as had been the case with Aaron, the LORD was very angry and about to destroy him, but I prayed for Aaron at that time.