And he said, Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this; how may I take as my drink the life-blood of men who have put their lives in danger? So he would not take it. These things did the three great men of war.

And he said, You saw how the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had the idea that I would be their king; but now the kingdom is turned about, and has become my brother's, for it was given to him by the Lord.

And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in the place of David my father; and I am only a young boy, with no knowledge of how to go out or come in.

But is it truly possible that God may be housed on earth? see, heaven and the heaven of heavens are not wide enough to be your resting-place; how much less this house which I have made!

Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he became king, are recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

Has my lord not had word of what I did when Jezebel was putting the Lord's prophets to death? how I kept a hundred of them in a secret hole in the rock, fifty at a time, and gave them bread and water?

And Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you go on balancing between two opinions? if the Lord is God, then give worship to him; but if Baal, give worship to him. And the people said not a word in answer.

Ahab gave Jezebel news of all Elijah had done, and how he had put all the prophets to death with the sword.

Do you see how Ahab has made himself low before me? because he has made himself low before me, I will not send the evil in his life-time, but in his son's time I will send the evil on his family.

And the Lord said, How may Ahab be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another.

And the Lord said, How? And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his great power, and how he went to war, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

But his servant said, How am I to put this before a hundred men? But he said, Give it to the people for food; for the Lord says, There will be food for them and some over.

Then his servants came to him and said, If the prophet had given you orders to do some great thing, would you not have done it? how much more then, when he says to you, Be washed and become clean?

But Elisha was in his house, and the responsible men were seated there with him; and before the king got there, Elisha said to those who were with him, Do you see how this cruel and violent man has sent to take away my life?

And while he was giving the king the story of how Elisha had given life to the dead, the woman whose son had come back to life came to the king with a request for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, My lord king, this is the woman and this is her son, whose life Elisha gave back to him.

And Hazael said, How is it possible that your servant, who is only a dog, will do this great thing? And Elisha said, The Lord has made it clear to me that you will be king over Aram.

But they were full of fear, and said, The two kings have gone down before him: how may we keep our place?

And he said, Come with me and see how I am on fire for the Lord's cause. So he made him go with him in his carriage.

Then Jehoahaz made prayer to the Lord, and the Lord gave ear to him, for he saw how cruelly Israel was crushed by the king of Aram.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash, and his power, and how he went to war with Amaziah, king of Judah, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

For the Lord saw how bitter was the trouble of Israel, and that everyone was cut off, he who was shut up and he who went free, and that Israel had no helper.

Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all he did, and his power, and how he went to war with Damascus, causing the wrath of the Lord to be turned away from Israel, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

How then may you put to shame the least of my master's servants? and you have put your hope in Egypt for war-carriages and horsemen:

Has it not come to your ears how I did it long before, purposing it in times long past? Now I have given effect to my design, so that by you strong towns might be turned into masses of broken walls.

O Lord, keep in mind how I have been true to you with all my heart, and have done what is good in your eyes. And Hezekiah gave way to bitter weeping.

Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his power, and how he made the pool and the stream, to take water into the town, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

Saying, By my God, far be it from me to do this! How may I take as drink the life-blood of these men who have put their lives in danger? so he did not take it. These things did the three great men of war.

And so great was David's fear of God that day, that he said, How may I let the ark of God come to me?

And there were more chiefs among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar; and this is how they were grouped: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen, all heads of families; and of the sons of Ithamar, heads of families, there were eight.

But is it truly possible that God may be housed with men on earth? see, heaven and the heaven of heavens are not wide enough to be your resting-place: how much less this house which I have made:

But still they will become his servants, so that they may see how different my yoke is from the yoke of the kingdoms of the lands.

And the Lord said, How may Ahab, king of Israel, be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another.

Then a spirit came forward and took his place before the Lord and said, I will get him to do it by a trick. And the Lord said to him, How?

See now, how as our reward they have come to send us out of your land which you have given us as our heritage.

And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the lands, when they had news of how the Lord made war on those who came against Israel.

So King Joash did not keep in mind how good Jehoiada his father had been to him, but put his son to death. And in the hour of his death he said, May the Lord see it and take payment!

So do not be tricked by Hezekiah or let him get you to do this, and do not put any faith in what he says: for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to keep his people safe from my hands, or the hands of my fathers: how much less will your God keep you safe from my hands!

And the prayer which he made to God, and how God gave him an answer, and all his sin and his wrongdoing, and the places where he made high places and put up pillars of wood and images, before he put away his pride, are recorded in the history of the seers.

And the king said to me (the queen being seated by his side), How long will your journey take, and when will you come back? So the king was pleased to send me, and I gave him a fixed time.

Then I said to them, You see what a bad condition we are in; how Jerusalem is a waste, and its doorways burned with fire: come, let us get to work, building up the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer be put to shame.

Then I gave them an account of how the hand of my God was on me, helping me; and of the king's words which he had said to me. And they said, Let us get to work on the building. So they made their hands strong for the good work.

And you did signs and wonders on Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land; for you saw how cruel they were to them. So you got yourself a name as it is today.

And every day Mordecai took his walk before the square of the women's house, to see how Esther was and what would be done to her.

And he gave them an account of the glories of his wealth, and the number of children he had, and the ways in which he had been honoured by the king, and how he had put him over the captains and servants of the king.

It came out that it was recorded in the book how Mordecai had given word of the designs of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's servants, keepers of the door, by whom an attack on the king had been designed.

For how is it possible for me to see the evil which is to overtake my nation? how may I see the destruction of my people?

How much more those living in houses of earth, whose bases are in the dust! They are crushed more quickly than an insect;

How pleasing are upright words! but what force is there in your arguments?

How long will it be before your eyes are turned away from me, so that I may have a minute's breathing-space?

How long will you say these things, and how long will the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?

Truly, I see that it is so: and how is it possible for a man to get his right before God?

How much less may I give an answer to him, using the right words in argument with him?

What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright?

How much less one who is disgusting and unclean, a man who takes in evil like water!

If I say what is in my mind, my pain becomes no less: and if I keep quiet, how much of it goes from me?

How long will it be before you have done talking? Get wisdom, and then we will say what is in our minds.

How long will you make my life bitter, crushing me with words?

If you say, How cruel we will be to him! because the root of sin is clearly in him:

How frequently is the light of the evil-doers put out, or does trouble come on them? how frequently does his wrath take them with cords?

How frequently are they as dry stems before the wind, or as grass taken away by the storm-wind?

How the evil man goes free in the day of trouble, and has salvation in the day of wrath?

Is not God as high as heaven? and see the stars, how high they are!

How then is it possible for man to be upright before God? or how may he be clean who is a son of woman?

How much less man who is an insect, and the son of man who is a worm!

How have you given help to him who has no power! how have you been the salvation of the arm which has no strength!

How have you given teaching to him who has no wisdom, and fully made clear true knowledge!

See, these are only the outskirts of his ways; and how small is that which comes to our ears about him! But the thunder of his acts of power is outside all knowledge.

I made an agreement with my eyes; how then might my eyes be looking on a virgin?

How may a hater of right be a ruler? and will you say that the upright Ruler of all is evil?

What profit is it to me, and how am I better off than if I had done wrong?

How much less when you say that you do not see him; that the cause is before him, and you are waiting for him.

And who has knowledge of how the clouds are stretched out, or of the thunders of his tent?

Have you knowledge of God's ordering of his works, how he makes the light of his cloud to be seen?

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

Lord, how greatly are they increased who make attacks on me! in great numbers they come against me.

O you sons of men, how long will you go on turning my glory into shame? how long will you give your love to foolish things, going after what is false? (Selah.)

See how the Lord has made great his mercy for me; the Lord will give ear to my cry.

My soul is in bitter trouble; and you, O Lord, how long?

O Lord, our Lord, whose glory is higher than the heavens, how noble is your name in all the earth!

O Lord, our Lord, how noble is your name in all the earth!

Have mercy on me, O Lord, and see how I am troubled by my haters; let me be lifted up from the doors of death;

In the Lord put I my faith; how will you say to my soul, Go in flight like a bird to the mountain?

How long is my soul to be in doubt, with sorrow in my heart all the day? how long will he who is against me be given power over me?

The king will be glad in your strength, O Lord; how great will be his delight in your salvation!

See how those who are against me are increased, for bitter is their hate of me.

O how great is your grace, which you have put in store for your worshippers, and which you have made clear to those who had faith in you, before the sons of men!

Lord, how long will you be looking on? take my soul from their destruction, my life from the lions.

How good is your loving mercy, O God! the children of men take cover under the shade of your wings.

Lord, give me knowledge of my end, and of the measure of my days, so that I may see how feeble I am.

Let my soul be overflowing with grief when these things come back to my mind, how I went in company to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with the song of those who were keeping the feast.

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

How long will you go on designing evil against a man? running against him as against a broken wall, which is on the point of falling?

Say to God, How greatly to be feared are your works! because of your great power your haters are forced to put themselves under your feet.

O God, you see how foolish I am; and my wrongdoing is clear to you.

You have seen my shame, how I was laughed at and made low; my haters are all before you.

And they say, How will the Lord see this? is there knowledge in the Most High?

How suddenly are they wasted! fears are the cause of their destruction.

We do not see our signs: there is no longer any prophet, or anyone among us to say how long.

O God, how long will those who are against us say cruel things? will the hater go on looking down on your name for ever?