Abner said again to Asahel, "Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then should I hold up my face to Joab your brother?"

The king lamented for Abner, and said, "Should Abner die as a fool dies?

Now therefore you shall tell my servant David this, 'Thus says Yahweh of Armies, "I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people, over Israel.

He did obeisance, and said, "What is your servant, that you should look on such a dead dog as I am?"

But now he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."

Then Absalom said, "If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us." The king said to him, "Why should he go with you?"

Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate. It was so, that when any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, "What city are you from?" He said, "Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel."

Whereas you came but yesterday, should I this day make you go up and down with us, since I go where I may? Return, and take back your brothers. Mercy and truth be with you."

Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over and take off his head."

Again, whom should I serve? Shouldn't I serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father's presence, so will I be in your presence."

The man said to Joab, "Though I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I still wouldn't put forth my hand against the king's son; for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, 'Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.'

He said to the king, "Don't let my lord impute iniquity to me, neither do you remember that which your servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.

David said, "What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be adversaries to me? Shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? For don't I know that I am this day king over Israel?"

For all my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king; yet you set your servant among those who ate at your own table. What right therefore have I yet that I should cry any more to the king?"

Barzillai said to the king, "How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

I am this day eighty years old. Can I discern between good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?

Your servant would but just go over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward?

The men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, "We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more claim to David than you. Why then did you despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king?" The words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

Joab answered, "Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.

They said to the king, "The man who consumed us, and who devised against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the borders of Israel,

He said, "Be it far from me, Yahweh, that I should do this! Isn't it the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?" Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.

You, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

Is this thing done by my lord the king, and you haven't shown to your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?"

Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he commanded Solomon his son, saying,

He said, "You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign. However the kingdom is turned around, and has become my brother's; for it was his from Yahweh.

The nethermost story was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad; for on the outside he made offsets [in the wall] of the house all around, that [the beams] should not have hold in the walls of the house.

then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.

and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he didn't keep that which Yahweh commanded.

Jeroboam said to his wife, "Please get up and disguise yourself, that you won't be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Go to Shiloh. Behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who spoke concerning me that I should be king over this people.

Naboth said to Ahab, "May Yahweh forbid me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!"

His servant said, "What, should I set this before a hundred men?" But he said, "Give the people, that they may eat; for thus says Yahweh, 'They will eat, and will have some left over.'"

While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, "Behold, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?"

and that captain answered the man of God, and said, "Now, behold, if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?" and he said, "Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it."

Hazael said, "But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?" Elisha answered, "Yahweh has shown me that you will be king over Syria."

Jehoiada made a covenant between Yahweh and the king and the people, that they should be Yahweh's people; between the king also and the people.

The priests consented that they should take no [more] money from the people, neither repair the breaches of the house.

The man of God was angry with him, and said, "You should have struck five or six times. Then you would have struck Syria until you had consumed it, whereas now you shall strike Syria just three times."

You have indeed struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Enjoy the glory of it, and stay at home; for why should you meddle to your harm, that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?'"

They rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified to them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and [went] after the nations that were around them, concerning whom Yahweh had commanded them that they should not do like them.

So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear Yahweh.

Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that Yahweh should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'"

Haven't you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now have I brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before Yahweh, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and have torn your clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard you,' says Yahweh.

and said, "My God forbid it me, that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy?" For they risked their lives to bring it. Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.

and with them Heman and Jeduthun [with] trumpets and cymbals for those that should sound aloud, and [with] instruments for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun to be at the gate.

"Now therefore, you shall tell my servant David, 'Thus says Yahweh of Armies, "I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.

David said to God, "Isn't it I who commanded the people to be numbered? It is even I who have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Yahweh my God, be against me, and against my father's house; but not against your people, that they should be plagued."

Then the angel of Yahweh commanded Gad to tell David that David should go up, and raise an altar to Yahweh in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons, forever, to burn incense before Yahweh, to minister to him, and to bless in his name, forever.

and that they should keep the duty of the Tent of Meeting, and the duty of the holy place, and the duty of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the service of the house of Yahweh.

Moreover, David and the captains of the army set apart for the service certain of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with stringed instruments, and with cymbals: and the number of those who did the work according to their service was:

But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.

But who is able to build him a house, since heaven and the heaven of heavens can't contain him? who am I then, that I should build him a house, except just to burn incense before him?

Huram continued, "Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, that should build a house for Yahweh, and a house for his kingdom.

then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.

For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest's office to Yahweh;

and that whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

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.

When he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who should sing to Yahweh, and give praise in holy array, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks to Yahweh; for his loving kindness endures forever.

Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, and all the people, and the king, that they should be Yahweh's people.

He set the porters at the gates of the house of Yahweh, that no one who was unclean in anything should enter in.

But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell on the cities of Judah, from Samaria even to Beth Horon, and struck of them three thousand, and took much spoil.

It happened, as he talked with him, that [the king] said to him, "Have we made you one of the king's counselors? Stop! Why should you be struck down?" Then the prophet stopped, and said, "I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not listened to my counsel."

You say to yourself that you have struck Edom; and your heart lifts you up to boast. Now stay at home. Why should you meddle with trouble, that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?'"

My sons, don't be negligent now; for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him, to minister to him, and that you should be his ministers, and burn incense."

and the priests killed them, and they made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel; for the king commanded [that] the burnt offering and the sin offering [should be made] for all Israel.

Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel.

So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem: for they had not kept it in great numbers in such sort as it is written.

So many people gathered together, and they stopped all the springs, and the brook that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?"

Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand?

The governor said to them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, until there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.

Take heed that you not be slack herein: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?

But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not make them cease, until the matter should come to Darius, and then answer should be returned by letter concerning it.

Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?

I sent them forth to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should tell Iddo, [and] his brothers the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God.

shall we again break your commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples that do these abominations? Wouldn't you be angry with us until you had consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?

They made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together to Jerusalem;

and that whoever didn't come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the assembly of the captivity.

I said to the king, "Let the king live forever! Why shouldn't my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?"

I said to them, "We, after our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Jews that were sold to the nations; and would you even sell your brothers, and should they be sold to us?" Then they held their peace, and found never a word.

I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work, so that I can't come down. Why should the work cease, while I leave it, and come down to you?"

I said, "Should such a man as I flee? Who is there that, being such as I, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in."

The governor said to them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, until there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.

They found written in the law, how that Yahweh had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month;

and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the mountain, and get olive branches, and branches of wild olive, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written."

Moreover, in a pillar of cloud you led them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way in which they should go.

and gave them bread from the sky for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and commanded them that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them.

yet you in your manifold mercies didn't forsake them in the wilderness: the pillar of cloud didn't depart from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go.

You also multiplied their children as the stars of the sky, and brought them into the land concerning which you said to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

and that we should bring the first fruits of our dough, and our wave offerings, and the fruit of all kinds of trees, the new wine and the oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.

On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that an Ammonite and a Moabite should not enter into the assembly of God forever,

It came to pass that, when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. I set some of my servants over the gates, that no burden should be brought in on the Sabbath day.

I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember to me, my God, this also, and spare me according to the greatness of your loving kindness.

In accordance with the law, the drinking was not compulsory; for so the king had instructed all the officials of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.

for he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, that every man should rule his own house, speaking in the language of his own people.

Esther had not made known her people nor her relatives, because Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make it known.

A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day.

A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that the Jews should be ready for that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly,

as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy.