And Asa went out before him, and a battle was put in order in the valley of Zepah at Mareshah.

So the Lord routed the Cushites before Asa and before Judah, and the Cushites fled.

Then Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell until they had no survivors, for they were crushed before Yahweh and His army. So the people of Judah carried off a great supply of loot.

And he went out before Asa and said to him, "Hear me, O Asa and all of Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh [is] with you while you are with him. And if you will seek him he will be found by you. But if you forsake him he will forsake you.

And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities that he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of Jehovah, that was before the porch of Jehovah.

And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat each of them on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.

Micaiah came before the king and the king asked him, "Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?" He answered him, "Attack! You will succeed; they will be handed over to you."

Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him. And the LORD said unto him, By what means?

But the battle increased on that day, and, the king of Israel, was propping himself up in the chariot before the Syrians, until evening,-and died at the time of the going in of the sun.

Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, "Should you help the wicked, and love those who hate Yahweh? Because of this, wrath is on you from before Yahweh.

for every dispute that comes to you from your brothers who dwell in their cities—whether it regards differences of bloodguilt, law, commandment, statutes, or judgments—you are to warn them, so they will not incur guilt before the Lord and wrath will not come on you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not incur guilt.

And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king's matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and the LORD shall be with the good.

And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

and said, "LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven, and reignest not thou on all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thine hand is power and might, that no man can stand before thee.

Are not you our God, who did drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever?

If, when evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in your presence, (for your name is in this house,) and cry unto you in our affliction, then you will hear and help.

Our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast number that comes to fight against us. We do not know what to do, but we look to You.

And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

Then, before all the meeting, the spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite and one of the family of Asaph;

And he said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat, thus says Yahweh to you: 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed before this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

Tomorrow go you down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and you shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

[There will be] no [need] for you to fight in this [battle]. Take your stand! Stand and see the deliverance of Yahweh among you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out before them and Yahweh [will be] with you.'"

And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshiping the LORD.

And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endures forever.

But Jehosheba the daughter of the king took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and kidnapped him away from the sons of the king who were to be put to death. And she put him and his nurse in a private bedroom. So Jehosheba the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from before Athaliah so that she did not put him to death.

Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and broke it down, and broke its altars and its images in pieces, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, of which were made articles for the house of the LORD, even articles for ministering, and for offering, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.

Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and bowed before the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.

God's Spirit energized Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said to them, "This is what God says: 'Why are you violating the commands of the Lord? You will not be prosperous! Because you have rejected the Lord, he has rejected you!'"

But if you will go, do it, be strong for the battle: but God shall make you fall before the enemy: for God has power to help, and to cast down.

Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.

Judah was routed before Israel, and each fled to his own tent.

And they stepped to Uzziah the king and said to him, "It pertaineth not to thee, Uzziah, to burn cense unto the LORD; but to the priests the children of Aaron that are consecrated for to burn incense. Come out of the sanctuary, for thou hast trespassed, and it shall be no worship to thee before the LORD God."

Then Uzziah was angry, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was angry with the priests, leprosy even broke out in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.

So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God.

Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the nations which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was angry with Judah, he has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage that reaches up unto heaven.

Now you plan to reduce the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, to slavery. Are you not also guilty before Yahweh your God?

and said to them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither; because, for our guilt before Jehovah, ye think to increase our sins and our trespasses: for our trespass is great, and fierce wrath is upon Israel.

So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation.

Now -- with my heart -- to make a covenant before Jehovah, God of Israel, and the fierceness of His anger doth turn back from us.

My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that you should minister unto him, and burn incense.

Moreover all the utensils, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.

And they brought forth the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:

Do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who acted unfaithfully before Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them as a desolation, as you see.

For if you turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return unto him.

And the sons of Israel, those found in Jerusalem, make the feast of unleavened things seven days with great joy; and giving praise to Jehovah day by day are the Levites and the priests, with instruments of praise before Jehovah.

Then Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who performed skillfully before the Lord. They ate at the appointed festival for seven days, sacrificing fellowship offerings and giving thanks to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.

And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and did that which was good and right and true before the LORD his God.

Now after these things and this true-hearted work, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came into Judah, and put his army in position before the walled towns of Judah, designing to make his way into them by force.

“Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged before the king of Assyria or before the large army that is with him, for there are more with us than with him.

After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem (but he himself was before Lachish, and all his power with him), unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,

Has not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, You shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?

and many are bringing in an offering to Jehovah, to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, and he is lifted up before the eyes of all the nations after this.

But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the nations, which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever:

So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the nations, which the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.

And when he was in affliction, he sought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,

His prayer also, and how God received his entreaty, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places in which he built high places, and set up idol poles and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.

And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.

And he destroyed before him the altars for the Baals, and he cut down the incense stands above them. And the Asherahs, the idols, and the images he smashed. And he ground [them] to powder and sprinkled [the dust] over the burial sites of those who sacrificed to them.

Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:

Because your heart was tender, and you did humble yourself before God, when you heard his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbled yourself before me, and did tear your clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard you also, says the LORD.

And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.

Even though they feared the people in neighboring regions, they rebuilt the altar where it had stood before. They offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD burnt offerings both in the morning and in the evening.

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers' houses, who were old men, who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:

The letter which you sent unto us has been plainly read before me.

Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.

But the eye of their God came upon the Elders of the Jews, that they were not inhibited, till the matter was brought before Darius, and till there came a writing thereof again.

And thus they have returned us word, saying, We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are building the house that was built many years before this, that a great king of Israel built and finished:

Forasmuch as, from before the king and his seven counselors, thou art sent, to enquire concerning Judah and as to Jerusalem, - by the law of thy God which is in thy hand;

Before all of this, you shall diligently buy with this money, bulls, rams, lambs, with their food offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem.

The articles also that are given you for the service of the house of your God, those you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem.

And has extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel leading men to go up with me.

With the good hand of our God before us, they brought us a man of understanding from the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel--Sherebiah and his sons and brothers, eighteen [in total].

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our possessions.

Watch, and keep them, until you weigh them before the leaders of the priests and the Levites, and heads of the fathers' houses of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.

And at the evening offering, having made myself low before God, I got up, and with signs of grief, falling down on my knees, with my hands stretched out to the Lord my God,

For we are bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us before the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God and to repair the ruins thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

O LORD God of Israel, you are righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before you in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before you because of this.

Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept bitterly.

Let us therefore make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the law.

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came there, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

And that if anyone did not come before three days were past, as ordered by the rulers and the responsible men, all his goods would be put under the curse, and he himself would be cut off from the meeting of the people who had come back.

Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and because of the heavy rain.

So let's have our officials remain on behalf of the whole community. Then all who have married foreign wives are to come appear at specific times before the elders and judges of each city until the fierce anger of our God has been turned away from us in this matter."

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

Let your ear now be attentive, and your eyes open, that you may hear the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you now, day and night, for the children of Israel your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you: both I and my father's house have sinned.

O Lord, please let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight to revere in your name. Please, let your servant be successful this day and give him compassion before this man." I was cupbearer for the king.

And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had never been sad before in his presence.

I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”

And the king said unto me, the queen, also sitting beside him, For how long would be thy journey? and when wouldst thou return? So it seemed good before the king to send me, and I set him a time.

And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon-well, and to the dung-port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and their gates were consumed with fire.

And upon their hand held fast Jedaiah son of Harumaph, and before his house, and upon his hand, held fast Hattush son of Hashabniah.

And upon his hand held fast Ezer son of Joshua, chief of Mizpeh, the second measure from before the going up of the weapons of the corner.

After him held fast Benjamin and Hashub, before their house. After him held fast Azariah son of Maaseiah son of Ananiah, near his house.

Palal son of Uzai from before the corner, and from the tower coming forth from the king's house, the highest which was to the enclosure of the prison. After him Pedaiah son of Parosh.

After him held fast the Tekoites the second measure, from before the great tower coming forth and even to the walls of Ophel.