When you enter my presence, do you actually think I want this -- animals trampling on my courtyards?

But Ahaz responded, "I don't want to ask; I don't want to put the Lord to a test."

The watchman replies, "Morning is coming, but then night. If you want to ask, ask; come back again."

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.

As for foreigners who become followers of the Lord and serve him, who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants -- all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it, and who are faithful to my covenant --

Each one says, 'Come on, I'll get some wine! Let's guzzle some beer! Tomorrow will be just like today! We'll have everything we want!'

They seek me day after day; they want to know my requirements, like a nation that does what is right and does not reject the law of their God. They ask me for just decrees; they want to be near God.

Is this really the kind of fasting I want? Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, bowing their heads like a reed and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes? Is this really what you call a fast, a day that is pleasing to the Lord?

No, this is the kind of fast I want. I want you to remove the sinful chains, to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke, to set free the oppressed, and to break every burdensome yoke.

I want you to share your food with the hungry and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. When you see someone naked, clothe him! Don't turn your back on your own flesh and blood!

You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent. You can use as much soap as you want. But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see," says the Lord God.

Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out and your throats become dry. But you say, 'It is useless for you to try and stop me because I love those foreign gods and want to pursue them!'

Come back to me, you wayward people. I want to cure your waywardness. Say, 'Here we are. We come to you because you are the Lord our God.

"If you, Israel, want to come back," says the Lord, "if you want to come back to me you must get those disgusting idols out of my sight and must no longer go astray.

And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction, you accomplish nothing by wearing a beautiful dress, decking yourself out in jewels of gold, and putting on eye shadow! You are making yourself beautiful for nothing. Your lovers spurn you. They want to kill you.

If people want to boast, they should boast about this: They should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire people to do these things," says the Lord.

So I said to the Lord, "O Lord who rules over all, you are a just judge! You examine people's hearts and minds. I want to see you pay them back for what they have done because I trust you to vindicate my cause."

But they just keep saying, 'We do not care what you say! We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly!'"

Then I, the Lord, promise that I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and any of the people who survive the war, starvation, and disease. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will slaughter them with the sword. He will not show them any mercy, compassion, or pity.'

I will hand you over to those who want to take your life and of whom you are afraid. I will hand you over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his Babylonian soldiers.

This man, Jeconiah, will be like a broken pot someone threw away. He will be like a clay vessel that no one wants. Why will he and his children be forced into exile? Why will they be thrown out into a country they know nothing about?

I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for their own good and the good of the children who descend from them.

I will hand them over to their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.

I will also hand King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials over to their enemies who want to kill them. I will hand them over to the army of the king of Babylon, even though they have temporarily withdrawn from attacking you.

King Zedekiah said to them, "Very well, you can do what you want with him. For I cannot do anything to stop you."

So King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah and sealed it with an oath. He promised, "As surely as the Lord lives who has given us life and breath, I promise you this: I will not kill you or hand you over to those men who want to kill you."

But now, Jeremiah, today I will set you free from the chains on your wrists. If you would like to come to Babylon with me, come along and I will take care of you. But if you prefer not to come to Babylon with me, you are not required to do so. You are free to go anywhere in the land you want to go. Go wherever you choose."

This day I have told you what he said. But you do not want to obey the Lord by doing what he sent me to tell you.

So now be very sure of this: You will die from war, starvation, or disease in the place where you want to go and live."

But Baruch son of Neriah is stirring you up against us. He wants to hand us over to the Babylonians so that they will kill us or carry us off into exile in Babylon."

I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar and his troops, who want to kill them. But later on, people will live in Egypt again as they did in former times. I, the Lord, affirm it!"

Babylonia will be plundered. Those who plunder it will take all they want," says the Lord.

Whenever I want to restore the fortunes of my people,

whenever I want to heal Israel, the sin of Ephraim is revealed, and the evil deeds of Samaria are exposed. For they do what is wrong; thieves break into houses, and gangs rob people out in the streets.

Woe to them! For they have fled from me! Destruction to them! For they have rebelled against me! I want to deliver them, but they have lied to me.

O Ephraim, I do not want to have anything to do with idols anymore! I will answer him and care for him. I am like a luxuriant cypress tree; your fruitfulness comes from me!

Woe to those who wish for the day of the Lord! Why do you want the Lord's day of judgment to come? It will bring darkness, not light.

Take away from me your noisy songs; I don't want to hear the music of your stringed instruments.

We're eager to trade silver for the poor, a pair of sandals for the needy! We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!"

They confiscate the fields they desire, and seize the houses they want. They defraud people of their homes, and deprive people of the land they have inherited.

He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord really wants from you: He wants you to promote justice, to be faithful, and to live obediently before your God.

and those who turn their backs on the Lord and do not want the Lord's help or guidance."

Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately.

"A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because they were gone."

And if someone wants to sue you and to take your tunic, give him your coat also.

Give to the one who asks you, and do not reject the one who wants to borrow from you.

In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets.

Go and learn what this saying means: 'I want mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

If you had known what this means: 'I want mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent.

Then some of the experts in the law along with some Pharisees answered him, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you."

He said, 'An enemy has done this.' So the slaves replied, 'Do you want us to go and gather them?'

Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you." And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Then Jesus called the disciples and said, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way."

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

So Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters -- one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

He said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."

Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this last man the same as I gave to you.

Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

He said to her, "What do you want?" She replied, "Permit these two sons of mine to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom."

It must not be this way among you! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,

and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave --

Jesus stopped, called them, and said, "What do you want me to do for you?"

Now on the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?"

So after they had assembled, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Christ?"

The governor asked them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas!"

He trusts in God -- let God, if he wants to, deliver him now because he said, 'I am God's Son'!"

When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you."

Immediately she hurried back to the king and made her request: "I want the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately."

Although it grieved the king deeply, he did not want to reject her request because of his oath and his guests.

After Jesus left there, he went to the region of Tyre. When he went into a house, he did not want anyone to know, but he was not able to escape notice.

Then Jesus called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.

They went out from there and passed through Galilee. But Jesus did not want anyone to know,

After he sat down, he called the twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all."

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask."

He said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?"

But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,

and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of all.

Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied, "Rabbi, let me see again."

For you will always have the poor with you, and you can do good for them whenever you want. But you will not always have me!

Now on the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus' disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?"

So Pilate asked them, "Do you want me to release the king of the Jews for you?"

So Pilate spoke to them again, "Then what do you want me to do with the one you call king of the Jews?"

No one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is good enough.'"

Treat others in the same way that you would want them to treat you.

Then he said to them all, "If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

Now when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to call fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"

At that time, some Pharisees came up and said to Jesus, "Get away from here, because Herod wants to kill you."

Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.'

"What do you want me to do for you?" He replied, "Lord, let me see again."

But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to be king over us!'

But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and slaughter them in front of me!'"

They said to him, "Where do you want us to prepare it?"

Jesus turned around and saw them following and said to them, "What do you want?" So they said to him, "Rabbi" (which is translated Teacher), "where are you staying?"

Now at that very moment his disciples came back. They were shocked because he was speaking with a woman. However, no one said, "What do you want?" or "Why are you speaking with her?"

When Jesus saw him lying there and when he realized that the man had been disabled a long time already, he said to him, "Do you want to become well?"

So Jesus said to the twelve, "You don't want to go away too, do you?"

If anyone wants to do God's will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.