'Desire' in the Bible

To the woman he said, Great will be your pain in childbirth; in sorrow will your children come to birth; still your desire will be for your husband, but he will be your master.

And now, it seems, you are going because your heart's desire is for your father's house; but why have you taken my gods?

But Hamor said to them, Shechem, my son, is full of desire for your daughter: will you then give her to him for a wife?

It is the desire of these men to be at peace with us; let them then go on living in this country and doing trade here, for the country is wide open before them; let us take their daughters as wives and let us give them our daughters.

And after a time, his master's wife, looking on Joseph with desire, said to him, Be my lover.

Not so; but let your males go and give worship to the Lord, as your desire is. This he said, driving them out from before him.

And if a man from another country is living with you, and has a desire to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all the males of his family undergo circumcision, and then let him come near and keep it; for he will then be as one of your people; but no one without circumcision may keep it.

Egypt said, I will go after them, I will overtake, I will make division of their goods: my desire will have its way with them; my sword will be uncovered, my hand will send destruction on them.

Let not your desire be turned to your neighbour's house, or his wife or his man-servant or his woman-servant or his ox or his ass or anything which is his.

But if the servant says clearly, My master and my wife and children are dear to me; I have no desire to be free:

If you see the ass of one who has no love for you bent down to the earth under the weight which is put on it, you are to come to its help, even against your desire.

But if he has a desire to get it back for himself, let him give a fifth more than your value.

And if the owner has a desire to get back his house, let him give a fifth more than your value, and it will be his.

And if the man who has given the field has a desire to get it back, let him give a fifth more than the price at which it was valued and it will be his.

But if he has no desire to get it back, or if he has given it for a price to another man, it may not be got back again.

And if a man has a desire to get back any of the tenth part which he has given, let him give a fifth more.

And if a man from another country is among you and has a desire to keep the Passover to the Lord, let him do as is ordered in the law of the Passover: there is to be the same rule for the man from another nation and for him who had his birth in the land.

And the mixed band of people who went with them were overcome by desire: and the children of Israel, weeping again, said, Who will give us flesh for our food?

And if a man from another country or any other person living among you, through all your generations, has the desire to give an offering made by fire of a sweet smell to the Lord, let him do as you do.

Why would you take from the children of Israel the desire to go over into the land which the Lord has given them?

For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they took from the children of Israel the desire to go into the land which the Lord had given them.

Or has given him a blow with a stone, without seeing him, so causing his death, though he had nothing against him and no desire to do him evil:

Or let your desire be turned to your neighbour's wife, or his house or his field or his man-servant or his woman-servant or his ox or his ass or anything which is your neighbour's.

The images of their gods are to be burned with fire: have no desire for the gold and silver on them, and do not take it for yourselves, for it will be a danger to you: it is a thing disgusting to the Lord your God:

Only you may put to death animals, such as the gazelle or the roe, for your food in any of your towns, at the desire of your soul, in keeping with the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you: the unclean and the clean may take of it.

When the Lord your God makes wide the limit of your land, as he has said, and you say, I will take flesh for my food, because you have a desire for it; then you may take whatever flesh you have a desire for.

And with the money get whatever you have a desire for, oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your soul's desire may be: and make a feast there before the Lord your God, and be glad, you and all your house;

But if he says to you, I have no desire to go away from you; because you and your family are dear to him and he is happy with you;

When you have come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and have taken it for a heritage and are living in it, if it is your desire to have a king over you, like the other nations round about you;

And if a Levite, moved by a strong desire, comes from any town in all Israel where he is living to the place marked out by the Lord;

If among the prisoners you see a beautiful woman and it is your desire to make her your wife;

And as for you, keep yourselves from the cursed thing, for fear that you may get a desire for it and take some of it for yourselves, and so be the cause of a curse and great trouble on the tents of Israel.

When I saw among their goods a fair robe of Babylon and two hundred shekels of silver, and a mass of gold, fifty shekels in weight, I was overcome by desire and took them; and they are put away in the earth in my tent, and the silver is under it.

I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to make a search through the land; and the account which I gave him was in keeping with his desire.

And the thorn said to the trees, If it is truly your desire to make me your king, then come and put your faith in my shade; and if not, may fire come out of the thorn, burning up the cedars of Lebanon.

And Saul said, Then say to David, The king has no desire for any bride-price, but only for the private parts of a hundred Philistines so that the king may get the better of his haters. But it was in Saul's mind that David might come to his end by the hands of the Philistines.

Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever your desire is, I will do it for you.

So now, O king, have your soul's desire and come down, and we, for our part, will give him up into the king's hands.

And David said to Saul, Why do you give any attention to those who say that it is my desire to do you wrong?

But he would not, saying, I have no desire for food. But his servants, together with the woman, made him take food, and he gave way to them. So he got up from the earth, and took his seat on the bed.

Then Abner had a talk with the chief men of Israel, saying, In the past it was your desire to make David your king: so now, do it:

And Abner said to David, Now I will go, and make all Israel come to my lord the king, so that they may make an agreement with you, and your kingdom may be as wide as your heart's desire. Then David sent Abner away and he went in peace.

And the heart of David was wasted with desire for Absalom: for he was comforted for the death of Amnon.

Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said to Joab again, Whatever may come of it, let me go after the Cushite. And Joab said, Why have you a desire to go, my son, seeing that you will get no reward for your news?

Your servant's desire was only to take the king over Jordan; why is the king to give me such a reward?

And the king said in answer, Let Chimham go over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you: and whatever your desire is, I will do it for you.

For is not my house so with God? For he has made with me an eternal agreement, ordered in all things and certain: as for all my salvation and all my desire, will he not give it increase?

And David, moved by a strong desire, said, If only someone would give me a drink of water from the water-hole of Beth-lehem, by the doorway into the town!

And Bath-sheba went down on her face on the earth before the king giving him honour. And he said, What is your desire?

Then Hiram sent to Solomon, saying; The words you sent have been given to me: I will do all your desire in the question of cedar-wood and cypress-wood.

But the Lord said to David my father, You did well to have in your heart the desire to make a house for my name;

Give ear in heaven your living-place, and give him his desire, whatever it may be; so that all the peoples of the earth may have knowledge of your name, worshipping you as do your people Israel, and that they may see that this house which I have put up is truly named by your name.

And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she made request for, in addition to what he gave her freely from the impulse of his heart. So she went back to her country, she and her servants.

And you I will take, and you will be king over Israel, ruling over whatever is the desire of your soul.

But Jezebel, his wife, came to him and said, Why is your spirit so bitter that you have no desire for food?

And he said, You have made a hard request: still, if you see me when I am taken from you, you will get your desire; but if not, it will not be so.

And Jabez made a prayer to the God of Israel, saying, If only you would truly give me a blessing, and make wider the limits of my land, and let your hand be with me, and keep me from evil, so that I may not be troubled by it! And God gave him his desire.

And David, moved by a strong desire, said, If only someone would give me a drink of the water from the water-hole of Beth-lehem by the doorway into the town!

All these men of war, expert in ordering the fight, came to Hebron with the full purpose of making David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were united in their desire to make David king.

And David said to Solomon, My son, it was my desire to put up a house for the name of the Lord my God.

Then David the king got up and said, Give ear to me, my brothers and my people; it was my desire to put up a house, a resting-place for the ark of the Lord's agreement, and for the foot-rest of our God; and I had got material ready for the building of it.

And you, Solomon my son, get knowledge of the God of your father, and be his servant with a true heart and with a strong desire, for the Lord is the searcher of all hearts, and has knowledge of all the designs of men's thoughts; if you make search for him, he will be near you; but if you are turned away from him, he will give you up for ever.

But the Lord said to David my father, You did well to have in your heart the desire to make a house for my name:

Then give ear from heaven your living-place, and give him his desire, whatever it may be; so that all the peoples of the earth may have knowledge of your name, worshipping you as do your people Israel, and may see that this house which I have made is truly named by your name.

And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she made request for, in addition to what she had taken to the king. So she went back to her country with her servants.

And he came face to face with Asa and said to him, Give ear to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you while you are with him; if your heart's desire is for him, he will be near you, but if you give him up, he will give you up.

And all Judah was glad because of the oath, for they had taken it with all their heart, turning to the Lord with all their desire; and he was with them and gave them rest on every side.

Now after this Joash had a desire to put the house of the Lord into good order again;

And by the desire of all the people, the feast went on for another seven days, and they kept the seven days with joy.

And now it is my order that all those of the people of Israel, and their priests and Levites in my kingdom, who are ready and have a desire to go to Jerusalem, are to go with you.

Then the king said to me, What is your desire? So I made prayer to the God of heaven.

And in this way the girl went in to the king; whatever she had a desire for was given to her to take with her from the women's house into the house of the king.

Then the king said, What is your desire, Queen Esther, and what is your request? I will give it to you, even to the half of my kingdom.

So the Jews overcame all their attackers with the sword and with death and destruction, and did to their haters whatever they had a desire to do.

To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth;

My soul has no desire for such things, they are as disease in my food.

If only I might have an answer to my prayer, and God would give me my desire!

I have no desire for life, I would not be living for ever! Keep away from me, for my days are as a breath.

I have done no wrong; I give no thought to what becomes of me; I have no desire for life.

But I would have talk with the Ruler of all, and my desire is to have an argument with God.

At the sound of your voice I would give an answer, and you would have a desire for the work of your hands.

Where then is my hope? and who will see my desire?

Whom I will see on my side, and not as one strange to me. My heart is broken with desire.

He had never enough for his desire; for this cause his well-being will quickly come to an end.

God gives him his desire, and sends the heat of his wrath on him, making it come down on him like rain.

Though they said to God, Go away from us, for we have no desire for the knowledge of your ways.

But his purpose is fixed and there is no changing it; and he gives effect to the desire of his soul.

And the man whose desire is for the wife of another is waiting for the evening, saying, No eye will see me; and he puts a cover on his face. And in the night the thief goes about;

If I kept back the desire of the poor; if the widow's eye was looking for help to no purpose;

He has no desire for food, and his soul is turned away from delicate meat;

If you have anything to say, give me an answer; for it is my desire that you may be judged free from sin.

How may he have knowledge of my desire for talk with him? or did any man ever say, May destruction come on me?

May he give you your heart's desire, and put all your purposes into effect.

You have given him his heart's desire, and have not kept back the request of his lips. (Selah.)

One prayer have I made to the Lord, and this is my heart's desire; that I may have a place in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, looking on his glory, and getting wisdom in his Temple.

What man has a love of life, and a desire that his days may be increased so that he may see good?

You had no desire for offerings of beasts or fruits of the earth; ears you made for me: for burned offerings and sin offerings you made no request.

Like the desire of the roe for the water-streams, so is my soul's desire for you, O God.

So will the king have a great desire for you, seeing how beautiful you are; because he is your lord, give him honour.

Your desire is for what is true in the inner parts: in the secrets of my soul you will give me knowledge of wisdom.