'God' in the Bible

Jabez called out to the God of Israel: “If only You would bless me, extend my border, let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm, so that I will not cause any pain.” And God granted his request.

They received help against these enemies because they cried out to God in battle, and the Hagrites and all their allies were handed over to them. He granted their request because they trusted in Him.

But they were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors. They prostituted themselves with the gods of the nations God had destroyed before them.

So the God of Israel put it into the mind of Pul (that is, Tiglath-pileser) king of Assyria to take the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh into exile. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and Gozan’s river, where they are until today.

But Aaron and his sons did all the work of the most holy place. They presented the offerings on the altar of burnt offerings and on the altar of incense to make atonement for Israel according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.

Even when Saul was king, you led us out to battle and brought us back. The Lord your God also said to you, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel and be ruler over My people Israel.’”

David said, “I would never do such a thing in the presence of God! How can I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?” For they brought it at the risk of their lives. So he would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three warriors.

David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you, but if you have come to betray me to my enemies even though my hands have done no wrong, may the God of our ancestors look on it and judge.”

Then the Spirit took control of Amasai, chief of the Thirty, and he said:We are yours, David,we are with you, son of Jesse!Peace, peace to you,and peace to him who helps you,for your God helps you.So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.

At that time, men came day after day to help David until there was a great army, like an army of God.

Then he said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if this is from the Lord our God, let us spread out and send the message to the rest of our relatives in all the districts of Israel, including the priests and Levites in their cities with pasturelands, that they should gather together with us.

Then let us bring back the ark of our God, for we did not inquire of Him in Saul’s days.”

So David assembled all Israel, from the Shihor of Egypt to the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.

David and all Israel went to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah) to take the ark of God from there, which is called by the name of the Lord who dwells between the cherubim.

At Abinadab’s house they set the ark of God on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio were guiding the cart.

David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before God with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.

Then the Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and He struck him dead because he had reached out to the ark. So he died there in the presence of God.

David feared God that day and said, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?”

So David did not move the ark of God home to the city of David; instead, he took it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

The ark of God remained with Obed-edom’s family in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his family and all that he had.

so David inquired of God, “Should I go to war against the Philistines? Will You hand them over to me?”The Lord replied, “Go, and I will hand them over to you.”

So the Israelites went up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated the Philistines there. Then David said, “Like a bursting flood, God has used me to burst out against my enemies.” Therefore, they named that place the Lord Bursts Out.

So David again inquired of God, and God answered him, “Do not pursue them directly. Circle around them and attack them opposite the balsam trees.

When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then march out to battle, for God will have marched out ahead of you to attack the camp of the Philistines.”

So David did exactly as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer.

David built houses for himself in the city of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before Him forever.”

He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levite families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it.

For the Lord our God burst out in anger against us because you Levites were not with us the first time, for we didn’t inquire of Him about the proper procedures.”

So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.

Then the Levites carried the ark of God the way Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord: on their shoulders with the poles.

The priests, Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, were to blow trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were also to be gatekeepers for the ark.

While the Levites were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, with God’s help, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

They brought the ark of God and placed it inside the tent David had pitched for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in God’s presence.

David appointed some of the Levites to be ministers before the ark of the Lord, to celebrate the Lord God of Israel, and to give thanks and praise to Him.

and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel blew the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.

He is the Lord our God;His judgments govern the whole earth.

And say: “Save us, God of our salvation;gather us and rescue us from the nationsso that we may give thanks to Your holy nameand rejoice in Your praise.

May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praisedfrom everlasting to everlasting.”Then all the people said, “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”

Heman and Jeduthun had with them trumpets and cymbals to play and musical instruments of God. Jeduthun’s sons were at the gate.

So Nathan told David, “Do all that is on your heart, for God is with you.”

But that night the word of God came to Nathan:

Then King David went in, sat in the Lord’s presence, and said,Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far?

This was a little thing to You, God, for You have spoken about Your servant’s house in the distant future. You regard me as a man of distinction, Lord God.

Lord, there is no one like You, and there is no God besides You, as all we have heard confirms.

And who is like Your people Israel? God, You came to one nation on earth to redeem a people for Yourself, to make a name for Yourself through great and awesome works by driving out nations before Your people You redeemed from Egypt.

You made Your people Israel Your own people forever, and You, Lord, have become their God.

Let Your name be confirmed and magnified forever in the saying, “Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, is God over Israel.” May the house of Your servant David be established before You.

Since You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house, Your servant has found courage to pray in Your presence.

Yahweh, You indeed are God, and You have promised this good thing to Your servant.

Be strong! We must prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.”

David said to God, “I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. Now, please take away Your servant’s guilt, for I’ve been very foolish.”

Then God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but when the angel was about to destroy the city, the Lord looked, relented concerning the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough, withdraw your hand now!” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

David said to God, “Wasn’t I the one who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted very wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? My Lord God, please let Your hand be against me and against my father’s family, but don’t let the plague be against Your people.”

but David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was terrified of the sword of the Lord’s angel. >

Then David said, “This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

Then he summoned his son Solomon and instructed him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel.

“My son,” David said to Solomon, “It was in my heart to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God,

“Now, my son, may the Lord be with you, and may you succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as He said about you.

Above all, may the Lord give you insight and understanding when He puts you in charge of Israel so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.

“The Lord your God is with you, isn’t He? And hasn’t He given you rest on every side? For He has handed the land’s inhabitants over to me, and the land has been subdued before the Lord and His people.

Now determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Get started building the Lord God’s sanctuary so that you may bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy articles of God to the temple that is to be built for the name of Yahweh.”

As for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.

For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given rest to His people, and He has come to stay in Jerusalem forever.

They were assigned by lot, for there were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God among both Eleazar’s and Ithamar’s descendants.

These had their assigned duties for service when they entered the Lord’s temple, according to their regulations, which they received from their ancestor Aaron, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

All these sons of Heman, the king’s seer, were given by the promises of God to exalt him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

Ammiel the sixth,Issachar the seventh, and Peullethai the eighth,for God blessed him.

There were among Jerijah’s relatives, 2,700 capable men who were heads of families. King David appointed them over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh as overseers in every matter relating to God and the king.

Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of the Lord’s covenant and as a footstool for our God. I had made preparations to build,

but God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood.’

“Yet the Lord God of Israel chose me out of all my father’s household to be king over Israel forever. For He chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah, my father’s household, and from my father’s sons, He was pleased to make me king over all Israel.

“So now in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and follow all the commands of the Lord your God so that you may possess this good land and leave it as an inheritance to your descendants forever.

“As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands the intention of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He won’t leave you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the Lord’s house is finished.

Then King David said to all the assembly, “My son Solomon—God has chosen him alone—is young and inexperienced. The task is great because the temple will not be for man but for the Lord God.

So to the best of my ability I’ve made provision for the house of my God: gold for the gold articles, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for the wood, as well as onyx, stones for mounting, antimony, stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and a great quantity of marble.

Moreover, because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the house of my God over and above all that I’ve provided for the holy house:

Then David praised the Lord in the sight of all the assembly. David said,May You be praised, Lord God of our father Israel, from eternity to eternity.

Now therefore, our God, we give You thanks and praise Your glorious name.

Yahweh our God, all this wealth that we’ve provided for building You a house for Your holy name comes from Your hand; everything belongs to You.

I know, my God, that You test the heart and that You are pleased with what is right. I have willingly given all these things with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You.

Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our ancestors, keep this desire forever in the thoughts of the hearts of Your people, and confirm their hearts toward You.

Then David said to the whole assembly, “Praise the Lord your God.” So the whole assembly praised the Lord God of their ancestors. They bowed down and paid homage to the Lord and the king.