“If not,” Absalom said, “please let my brother Amnon go with us.”

The king asked him, “Why should he go with you?”

Besides, you only arrived yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I go wherever I can? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the Lord show you kindness and faithfulness.”

However, if He should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am—He can do with me whatever pleases Him.”

Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut his head off!”

Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give me your advice. What should we do?”

So Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom told him: “Ahithophel offered this proposal. Should we carry out his proposal? If not, what do you say?”

King David sent word to the priests, Zadok and Abiathar: “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to restore the king to his palace? The talk of all Israel has reached the king at his house.

You are my brothers, my flesh and blood. So why should you be the last to restore the king?’

Abishai son of Zeruiah asked, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord’s anointed?”

David answered, “Sons of Zeruiah, do we agree on anything? Have you become my adversary today? Should any man be killed in Israel today? Am I not aware that today I’m king over Israel?”

Barzillai replied to the king, “How many years of my life are left that I should go up to Jerusalem with the king?

I’m now 80 years old. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or drinks? Can I still hear the voice of male and female singers? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?

Since your servant is only going with the king a little way across the Jordan, why should the king repay me with such a reward?

He asked the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? How can I make atonement so that you will bring a blessing on the Lord’s inheritance?”

So Gad went to David, told him the choices, and asked him, “Do you want three years of famine to come on your land, to flee from your foes three months while they pursue you, or to have a plague in your land three days? Now, think it over and decide what answer I should take back to the One who sent me.”

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask. What should I give you?”

may You hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of Your servants
and Your people Israel,
so that You may teach them the good way
they should walk in.
May You send rain on Your land
that You gave Your people for an inheritance.

Then the young men who had grown up with him told him, “This is what you should say to these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us!’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins!

The prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, “Go and strengthen yourself, then consider what you should do, for in the spring the king of Aram will march against you.”

Now the king of Aram’s servants said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hill country. That’s why they were stronger than we were. Instead, we should fight with them on the plain; then we will certainly be stronger than they will be.

So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, about 400 men, and asked them, “Should I go against Ramoth-gilead for war or should I refrain?”

They replied, “March up, and the Lord will hand it over to the king.”

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man who can ask Yahweh, but I hate him because he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

“The king shouldn’t say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.

So he went to the king, and the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to Ramoth-gilead for war, or should we refrain?”

Micaiah told him, “March up and succeed. Yahweh will hand it over to the king.”

Then he asked, “Which route should we take?”

Joram replied, “The route of the Wilderness of Edom.”

So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?”

Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.”

But his servants approached and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more should you do it when he tells you, ‘Wash and be clean’?”

When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, should I kill them? I will kill them.”

While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”

The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have struck down Aram until you had put an end to them, but now you will only strike down Aram three times.”

You have indeed defeated Edom, and you have become overconfident. Enjoy your glory and stay at home. Why should you stir up such trouble that you fall—you and Judah with you?”

So one of the priests they had deported came and lived in Bethel, and he began to teach them how they should fear Yahweh.

Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the Lord that He will do what He has promised: Should the shadow go ahead 10 steps or go back 10 steps?”

From the Issacharites, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do: 200 chiefs with all their relatives under their command.

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.

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.”

Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply the number of His people a hundred times over! My lord the king, aren’t they all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”

three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes with the sword of your enemy overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the Lord—a plague on the land, the angel of the Lord bringing destruction to the whole territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I should take back to the One who sent me.”

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your own hand.

That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him: “Ask. What should I give you?”

But who is able to build a temple for Him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Him? Who am I then that I should build a temple for Him except as a place to burn incense before Him?

may You hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of Your servants
and Your people Israel,
so that You may teach them the good way
they should walk in.
May You send rain on Your land
that You gave Your people for an inheritance.

Then the young men who had grown up with him told him, “This is what you should say to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us!’ This is what you should say to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins.

So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, 400 men, and asked them, “Should we go to Ramoth-gilead for war or should I refrain?”

They replied, “March up, and God will hand it over to the king.”

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man who can ask Yahweh, but I hate him because he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

“The king shouldn’t say that,” Jehoshaphat replied.

So he went to the king, and the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to Ramoth-gilead for war, or should I refrain?”

Micaiah said, “March up and succeed, for they will be handed over to you.”

Then Amaziah said to the man of God, “What should I do about the 7,500 pounds of silver I gave to Israel’s division?”

The man of God replied, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.”

While he was still speaking to him, the king asked, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Stop, why should you lose your life?”

So the prophet stopped, but he said, “I know that God intends to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my advice.”

Many people gathered and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land; they said, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?”

Who among all the gods of these nations that my predecessors completely destroyed was able to deliver his people from my power, that your God should be able to do the same for you?

that a search should be made in your fathers’ record books. In these record books you will discover and verify that the city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces. There have been revolts in it since ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed.

I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia, with a message for him and his brothers, the temple servants at Casiphia, that they should bring us ministers for the house of our God.

should we break Your commands again and intermarry with the peoples who commit these detestable practices? Wouldn’t You become so angry with us that You would destroy us, leaving no survivors?

They circulated a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles should gather at Jerusalem.

and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

Then I said, “What you are doing isn’t right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God and not invite the reproach of our foreign enemies?

So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

But I said, “Should a man like me run away? How can I enter the temple and live? I will not go.”

They found written in the law how the Lord had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should dwell in booths during the festival of the seventh month.

You led them with a pillar of cloud by day,
and with a pillar of fire by night,
to illuminate the way they should go.

You did not abandon them in the wilderness
because of Your great compassion.
During the day the pillar of cloud
never turned away from them,
guiding them on their journey.
And during the night the pillar of fire
illuminated the way they should go.

At that time the book of Moses was read publicly to the people. The command was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,

Why then should we hear about you doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”

The king asked, “According to the law, what should be done with Queen Vashti, since she refused to obey King Ahasuerus’s command that was delivered by the eunuchs?”

“If it meets the king’s approval, he should personally issue a royal decree. Let it be recorded in the laws of Persia and Media, so that it cannot be revoked: Vashti is not to enter King Ahasuerus’s presence, and her royal position is to be given to another woman who is more worthy than she.

He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to each province in its own script and to each ethnic group in its own language, that every man should be master of his own house and speak in the language of his own people.

Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king wants to honor?”

Haman thought to himself, “Who is it the king would want to honor more than me?”

But when the matter was brought before the king, he commanded by letter that the evil plan Haman had devised against the Jews return on his own head and that he should be hanged with his sons on the gallows.

“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.

Should anyone try to speak with you
when you are exhausted?
Yet who can keep from speaking?

What strength do I have that I should continue to hope?
What is my future, that I should be patient?

A despairing man should receive loyalty from his friends,
even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty.

Since I will be found guilty,
why should I labor in vain?

“Why did You bring me out of the womb?
I should have died and never been seen.

Should this stream of words go unanswered
and such a talker be acquitted?

Should your babbling put others to silence,
so that you can keep on ridiculing
with no one to humiliate you?

Should he argue with useless talk
or with words that serve no good purpose?

What is man, that he should be pure,
or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

You who tear yourself in anger—
should the earth be abandoned on your account,
or a rock be removed from its place?

As for me, is my complaint against a man?
Then why shouldn’t I be impatient?

Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
and what will we gain by pleading with Him?”

what could I do when God stands up to judge?
How should I answer Him when He calls me to account?

I thought that age should speak
and maturity should teach wisdom.

Should I continue to wait now that they are silent,
now that they stand there and no longer answer?

Fear of me should not terrify you;
the pressure I exert against you will be light.

God does not need to examine a person further,
that one should approach Him in court.

so that godless men should not rule
or ensnare the people.

Should God repay you on your terms
when you have rejected His?
You must choose, not I!
So declare what you know.

Remember that you should praise His work,
which people have sung about.

Teach us what we should say to Him;
we cannot prepare our case because of our darkness.

Should He be told that I want to speak?
Can a man speak when he is confused?

Who confronted Me, that I should repay him?
Everything under heaven belongs to Me.

Who is the man who fears the Lord?
He will show him the way he should choose.

Davidic.The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom should I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom should I be afraid?

Why should I fear in times of trouble?
The iniquity of my foes surrounds me.

since the price of redeeming him is too costly,
one should forever stop trying—

He rules forever by His might;
He keeps His eye on the nations.
The rebellious should not exalt themselves.Selah

Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
Before our eyes,
let vengeance for the shed blood of Your servants
be known among the nations.

Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”

Jerusalem, built as a city should be,
solidly joined together,

Let me experience
Your faithful love in the morning,
for I trust in You.
Reveal to me the way I should go
because I long for You.