Three days later, they assembled together in the Beracah Valley, where they blessed the LORD, which is why the name of that place is called Beracah Valley to this day.

so the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and asked him, "Why haven't you required the descendants of Levi to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the LORD's servant, and the assembly of Israel for the Tent of Testimony?"

Then Jehoiada the priest's son Zechariah was clothed by the Spirit of God, and he stood above the people and told them, "This is what God has to say: "Why are you breaking the LORD's commandments. You'll never be successful! Because you have abandoned the LORD, he has abandoned you.'"

As a result, the Lord became angry with Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who asked him, "Why did you seek the gods of a people who were unable to deliver their own nation from you?"

But even while the prophet was speaking, the king asked him, "Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?" So the prophet stopped speaking, but he also said, "I know God has determined to destroy you, because you've done all this and ignored my counsel."

You claim you've defeated Edom, but you're really only puffed up with arrogant boasting. So stay home. Why stir up trouble so you die, and the rest of Judah with you?"

That's why the LORD was angry with Judah and Jerusalem and made them an object of terror, horror, and derision, as you've seen with your own eyes.

Many people gathered together and plugged up all the springs, along with the stream that flowed through the region. They were thinking to themselves, "Why should the Assyrian kings invade and discover an abundant water supply?"

Be diligent and take precautions so that you do not neglect your responsibility in this matter. Why should the kingdom sustain any more damage?

The king asked me, "Why do you look so troubled, since you're not ill? This cannot be anything else but troubles of the heart."

Then I was filled with fear. I replied to the king, "May the king live forever. Why shouldn't I be troubled, since the city where my ancestral sepulchers are located lies waste, with its gates burned by fire?"

In reply to them, I said, "The God of Heaven will prosper us. That's why we're preparing to build. But as far as you're concerned, there exists no ancestral heritage, no legal right, nor any historic claim in Jerusalem.

So I sent messengers to them, replying "I am involved in a great endeavor, so I can't leave. Why should the work stop while I leave it to come down to you?"

So I confronted the officials and asked, "Why is the Temple of God neglected?" Then I gathered them together and put them back in their places.

I argued with them, "Why are you staying outside the wall? If you do this again, I'll arrest you." From that time on, they didn't come anymore on the Sabbath.

The king's ministers who were in the king's gate asked Mordecai, "Why are you disobeying the king's command?"

Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, whom he had assigned to her, and she ordered him to go to Mordecai to find out what was happening and why it was happening.

Why didn't I die while I was still in the womb, or die while I was being born?

Why was there a lap to hold me, and why were there breasts to nurse me?

"Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child, like babies who never saw the light?

"Why does God give light to the sufferer or life to the bitter person:

It would weigh more than the sand on the seashore! Here's why I've talked so rashly:

"Do I have the strength to wait? And why should I be patient?

Why won't you look away from me? Why don't you leave me alone so I can swallow my saliva?

So what if I sin? What have I done against you, you observer of humankind? Why have you made me your target? Why burden yourself with me?

Why haven't you pardoned my transgression and taken away my iniquity? Now I'm about to lie down in the dust. You will seek me diligently, but I won't be around!"

I will be condemned, so why should I wear myself out with this futility?

I'll say to God, "Don't condemn me! Let me know why you are fighting me.

So why did you bring me out from the womb? I wish I had died, before anyone had seen me,

Why do you speak falsely on God's behalf and speak deceitfully about him?

Why shouldn't I bite my flesh or take my life in my hands?

Why do you hide your face and regard me as your enemy?

Why have your emotions carried you away? And why do your eyes flash

Why do you think we're like dumb animals? Do you think we're stupid?

Why are you chasing me, as God has been doing? Aren't you satisfied that I'm sick?

After all, isn't my complaint against a human being? If so, why shouldn't I be impatient?

"Why do the wicked live to reach old age and increase in power and wealth, too?

That's why disaster surrounds you, terror suddenly overwhelms you,

That's why I'm terrified at his presence! When I think about it, I'm afraid of him.

Why doesn't the Almighty reserve time for judgment? And why don't those who know him perceive his days?

Look! All of you have been watching, so why have you become so completely worthless?

Why are you arguing with him? He doesn't have to give explanations for what he does to you!

Why are the nations in an uproar, and their people involved in a vain plot?

Why do you stand far away, LORD? Why do you hide in times of distress?

Why do the wicked despise God and say to themselves, "God will not seek justice."?

My God! My God! Why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from delivering me from my groaning words?

Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for once again I will praise him, since his presence saves me.

I will ask God, my Rock, "Why have you forsaken me? Why do I go around mourning under the enemy's oppression?"

Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for once again I will praise him, since his presence saves me and he is my God.

Since you are the God who strengthens me, why have you forsaken me? Why do I go around mourning under the enemy's oppression?"

Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, because I will praise him once again, since his presence saves me and he is my God. To the Director: An instruction of the Sons of Korah.

Wake up! Why are you asleep, Lord? Get up! Don't cast us off forever!

Why are you hiding your face? Why are you ignoring our affliction and oppression?

You love justice and hate wickedness. That is why God, even your God, has anointed you rather than your companions with the oil of gladness.

Why should I be afraid when evil days come my way, when the wickedness of those who deceive me surrounds me

Why should I eat the flesh of oxen or drink the blood of goats?

Why do you make evil the foundation of your boasting, mighty one? God's gracious love never ceases.

You mountains of many peaks, why do you watch with envy the mountain in which God has chosen to dwell? Indeed, the LORD will live there forever.

Why, God? Have you rejected us forever? Your anger is burning against the sheep of your pasture.

Why do you not withdraw your hand your right hand from your bosom and destroy them?

Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let vengeance for the blood of your servants be meted out before our eyes and among the nations.

Why did you break down its walls so that those who pass by pluck its fruits?

Why, LORD, have you rejected me? Why have you hidden your face from me?

Why should the nations ask "Where now is their God?"

Your decrees are wonderful that's why I observe them.

Why should you be intoxicated by an adulteress, my son, and embrace the bosom of a foreign woman?

As a result, your trust will be in the LORD, that's why I'm teaching you today, even you.

If you don't have the ability to pay, why should your very bed be taken from under you?

Never let your mouth cause you to sin and don't proclaim in the presence of the angel, "My promise was a mistake," for why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy what you've undertaken?

Never ask "Why does the past seem so much better than now?" because this question does not come from wisdom.

Do not be overly righteous, nor be overly wise. Why be self-destructive?

Do not excel at wickedness, nor be a fool. Why die before your time?

Tell me, you whom I love, where do you graze your flock? Where do you make your flock lie down at noon? Why should I be considered a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions?

Return, return, Shulammite, return, return, so we may look at you! Why should you look at the Shulammite, like you watch the dance of the two camps?

"Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? Your whole head is sick, and your whole heart is faint.

What more could I do in my vineyard, that I haven't already done? When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield wild ones?

When its branches are dry, they are broken off, and women come and kindle fires with them, since this is a people who show no consideration. That is why the One who made them shows them no compassion; the One who created them shows them no mercy.

That's why King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah.

"Jacob, why do you say and Israel, why do you complain "My predicament is hidden from the LORD, and my cause is ignored by my God.'?

Why is it that when I came, no one was there? Why was there no answer when I called? Was my arm too short to redeem you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? Look! By my mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert. Their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst.

Why spend your money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in rich food.

"Why have we fasted,' they ask, "but you do not see? "Why have we humbled ourselves,' they ask, "but you take no notice?'" "Look! On your fast day you serve your own interest and oppress all your workers.

"Why is your clothing red, and your garments like those worn by the ones who tread in the winepress?

Why, LORD, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts, so that we do not fear you? Turn back for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage.

"Is Israel a slave, or was he born a servant? Why then has he become plunder?

Why do you contend with me? You have rebelled against me," declares the LORD.

"You, generation, pay attention to this message from the LORD! Am I the desert to Israel, or a land of gloom? Why do my people say, "We're free to roam? We won't come to you anymore.'

Why do you go about changing your mind so much? You will also be disappointed by Egypt, just as you were disappointed by Assyria.

This is why the rain has been withheld and there are no spring showers. Yet you have a harlot's look and you refuse to be ashamed.

Why should I forgive you? Your sons have forsaken me, and you have sworn by those who aren't gods. When I gave them enough food to satisfy them, they committed adultery and marched to the prostitute's house.

When the people ask, "Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' you are to say to them, "Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'"

Why has this people turned away? Why does Jerusalem continue in apostasy? They hold on to deceit and refuse to repent.

Why are we sitting here? Join together! Let's go to the fortified cities and perish there! For the LORD our God has condemned us to perish and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against him.

Listen! My people cry from a distant land: "Is the LORD no longer in Zion? Is her king no longer there?" "Why did they provoke me to anger with their images, with their worthless foreign gods?"

Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? So why is there no healing for my people?

Who is the wise person who understands this, and to whom has the LORD spoken so that he may declare it? Why is the land destroyed, ruined like the desert, without anyone passing through it?

You are righteous, LORD, even when I bring a complaint to you. But I want to discuss justice with you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper, while all who are treacherous are at ease?

When you say to yourselves, "Why have all these things happened to me?' It's because of the extent of your iniquity that your skirt has been lifted up, and your heels have suffered violence.

Hope of Israel, its deliverer in time of trouble, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who sets up his tent for a night?

Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a strong man who can't deliver? You are among us, LORD, and your name is the one by which we're called. Don't abandon us!