Your land is devastated, your cities burned with fire. Right before your eyes your crops are being destroyed by foreign invaders. They leave behind devastation and destruction.

It was reported to the family of David, "Syria has allied with Ephraim." They and their people were emotionally shaken, just as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

Here is why this will be so: Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose what is right, the land whose two kings you fear will be desolate.

for before the child knows how to cry out, 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria."

Their children will be smashed to pieces before their very eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives raped.

Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, when he shouts at them, they will flee to a distant land, driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills, or like dead thistles before a strong gale.

For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted, and the ripening fruit appears, he will cut off the unproductive shoots with pruning knives; he will prune the tendrils.

Here is a message about Egypt: Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud and approaches Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him; the Egyptians lose their courage.

The withering flower, its beautiful splendor, situated at the head of a rich valley, will be like an early fig before harvest -- as soon as someone notices it, he grabs it and swallows it.

I will threaten Ariel, and she will mourn intensely and become like an altar hearth before me.

Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord's temple and spread it out before the Lord.

Hezekiah prayed before the Lord:

Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; his military power establishes his rule. Look, his reward is with him; his prize goes before him.

All the nations are insignificant before him; they are regarded as absolutely nothing.

He is the one who sits on the earth's horizon; its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, and spreads it out like a pitched tent.

He will not grow dim or be crushed before establishing justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait in anticipation for his decrees."

Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; now I announce new events. Before they begin to occur, I reveal them to you."

You are my witnesses," says the Lord, "my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe in me, and understand that I am he. No god was formed before me, and none will outlive me.

This is what the Lord says to his chosen one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold in order to subdue nations before him, and disarm kings, to open doors before him, so gates remain unclosed:

"I will go before you and level mountains. Bronze doors I will shatter and iron bars I will hack through.

they will say about me, "Yes, the Lord is a powerful deliverer."'" All who are angry at him will cower before him.

Disaster will overtake you; you will not know how to charm it away. Destruction will fall on you; you will not be able to appease it. Calamity will strike you suddenly, before you recognize it.

I announced them to you beforehand; before they happened, I predicted them for you, so you could never say, 'My image did these things, my idol, my cast image, decreed them.'

Now they come into being, not in the past; before today you did not hear about them, so you could not say, 'Yes, I know about them.'

Look, I have inscribed your name on my palms; your walls are constantly before me.

Yet do not depart quickly or leave in a panic. For the Lord goes before you; the God of Israel is your rear guard.

He sprouted up like a twig before God, like a root out of parched soil; he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him.

He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block, like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not even open his mouth.

Indeed you will go out with joy; you will be led along in peace; the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you, and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.

For I will not be hostile forever or perpetually angry, for then man's spirit would grow faint before me, the life-giving breath I created.

Then your light will shine like the sunrise; your restoration will quickly arrive; your godly behavior will go before you, and the Lord's splendor will be your rear guard.

Look, the Lord announces to the entire earth: "Say to Daughter Zion, 'Look, your deliverer comes! Look, his reward is with him and his reward goes before him!'"

the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, who divided the water before them, gaining for himself a lasting reputation,

If only you would tear apart the sky and come down! The mountains would tremble before you!

When you performed awesome deeds that took us by surprise, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.

I predestine you to die by the sword, all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, because I called to you, and you did not respond, I spoke and you did not listen. You did evil before me; you chose to do what displeases me."

Never again will one of her infants live just a few days or an old man die before his time. Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred, anyone who fails to reach the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.

Before they even call out, I will respond; while they are still speaking, I will hear.

So I will choose severe punishment for them; I will bring on them what they dread, because I called, and no one responded, I spoke and they did not listen. They did evil before me; they chose to do what displeases me."

Before she goes into labor, she gives birth! Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!

"For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me," says the Lord, "so your descendants and your name will remain.