16 Bible Verses about Intercession

And Moses said to Aaron, Take your vessel and put in it fire from the altar, and sweet spices, and take it quickly into the meeting of the people, and make them free from sin: for wrath has gone out from the Lord, and the disease is starting. And at the words of Moses, Aaron took his vessel, and went running among the people; and even then the disease had made a start among them; and he put spices in his vessel to take away the sin of the people. And he took his place between the dead and the living: and the disease was stopped.

And falling at his feet she said, May the wrong be on me, my lord, on me: let your servant say a word to you, and give ear to the words of your servant.

But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life.

And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood?

So now let me be my lord's servant here in place of the boy, and let him go back with his brothers.

And Jonathan gave his father Saul a good account of David, and said to him, Let not the king do wrong against his servant, against David; because he has done you no wrong, and all his acts have had a good outcome for you:

And there came to him great numbers of people having with them those who were broken in body, or blind, or without voice, or wounded, or ill in any way, and a number of others; they put them down at his feet and he made them well:

Then they took to him one with an evil spirit, who was blind and had no power of talking: and he made him well so that he had the power of talking and seeing.

And a woman of Canaan came out from those parts, crying and saying, Have pity on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is greatly troubled with an unclean spirit.

And four men came to him with one on a bed who had no power of moving.

And when they came to the people, a man went down on his knees to him, saying, Lord have mercy on my son: for he is off his head, and is in great pain; and frequently he goes falling into the fire, and frequently into the water. And I took him to your disciples, and they were not able to make him well. read more.
And Jesus, answering, said, O false and foolish generation, how long will I be with you? how long will I put up with you? let him come here to me. And Jesus gave orders to the unclean spirit, and it went out of him: and the boy was made well from that hour.

And for me, that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make clear without fear the secret of the good news, For which I am a representative in chains, and that I may say without fear the things which it is right for me to say.

Now I make request to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that you will be working together with me in your prayers to God for me; So that I may be kept safe from those in Judaea who have not put themselves under the rule of God, and that the help which I am taking for Jerusalem may be pleasing to the saints; So that I may come to you in joy by the good pleasure of God, and have rest with you.

You at the same time helping together by your prayer for us; so that for what has been given to us through a number of persons, praise may go up to God for us from all of them.

Brothers, keep us in mind in your prayers.

Make prayers for us, for we are certain that our hearts are free from the sense of sin, desiring the right way of life in all things.

Saying, Lord, my servant is ill in bed at the house, with no power in his body, and in great pain.

And he got up and went out of the Synagogue and went into the house of Simon. And Simon's wife's mother was very ill with a burning heat; and in answer to their prayers for her

And they came to him with one who had no power of hearing and had trouble in talking; and they made a request to him to put his hands on him.

When it came to his ears that Jesus had come from Judaea into Galilee, he went to him and made a request that he would come down to his son, who was near to death, and make him well.

And a man from among them, crying out, said, Master, I make a request to you, give a thought to my son, for he is my only child:

But Moses made prayer to God, saying, Lord, why is your wrath burning against your people whom you took out of the land of Egypt, with great power and with the strength of your hand? Why let the Egyptians say, He took them out to an evil fate, to put them to death on the mountains, cutting them off from the earth? Let your wrath be turned away from them, and send not this evil on your people. Have in mind Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you gave your oath, saying, I will make your seed like the stars of heaven in number, and all this land will I give to your seed, as I said, to be their heritage for ever. read more.
So the Lord let himself be turned from his purpose of sending punishment on his people.

Then Moses went back to the Lord and said, This people has done a great sin, making themselves a god of gold; But now, if you will give them forgiveness--but if not, let my name be taken out of your book. And the Lord said to Moses, Whoever has done evil against me will be taken out of my book. read more.
But now, go, take the people into that place of which I have given you word; see, my angel will go before you: but when the time of my judging has come, I will send punishment on them for their sin.

And I went down on my face before the Lord, as at the first, for forty days and forty nights, without taking food or drinking water, because of all your sin, in doing evil in the eyes of the Lord and moving him to wrath. For I was full of fear because of the wrath of the Lord which was burning against you, with your destruction in view. But again the Lord's ear was open to my prayer. And the Lord, in his wrath, would have put Aaron to death: and I made prayer for Aaron at the same time. read more.
And I took your sin, the image which you had made, and put it in the fire and had it hammered and crushed very small till it was only dust: and the dust I put in the stream flowing down from the mountain. Again at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you made the Lord angry. And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and take the land which I have given you; you went against the orders of the Lord your God, and had no faith in him, and would not give ear to his voice. From the day when I first had knowledge of you, you have gone against the word of the Lord. So I went down on my face in prayer before the Lord for forty days and forty nights as I did at first; because the Lord had said that he would put an end to you. And I made prayer to the Lord and said, O Lord God, do not send destruction on your people and your heritage, to whom, by your great power, you have given salvation, whom you have taken out of Egypt by the strength of your hand. Keep in mind your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not looking at the hard heart of this people, or their evil-doing and their sin: Or it may be said in the land from which you have taken them, Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land which he said he would give them, and because of his hate for them, he has taken them out to put them to death in the waste land. But still they are your people and your heritage, whom you took out by your great power and by your stretched-out arm.

And I was in the mountain, as at the first time, for forty days and forty nights; and again the ears of the Lord were open to my prayer, and he did not send destruction on you.

And he was purposing to put an end to them if Moses, his special servant, had not gone up before him, between him and his people, turning back his wrath, to keep them from destruction.

Then the people came to Moses and said, We have done wrong in crying out against the Lord and against you: make prayer to the Lord to take away the snakes from us. So Moses made prayer for the people.

And he was purposing to put an end to them if Moses, his special servant, had not gone up before him, between him and his people, turning back his wrath, to keep them from destruction.

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them. Then falling down on their faces they said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, because of one man's sin will your wrath be moved against all the people?

Let life not death be Reuben's, let not the number of his men be small. And this is the blessing of Judah: he said, Give ear, O Lord, to the voice of Judah and make him one with his people: let your hands take up his cause, and be his help against his attackers. And of Levi he said, Give your Thummim to Levi and let the Urim be with your loved one, whom you put to the test at Massah, with whom you were angry at the waters of Meribah; read more.
Who said of his father, Who is he? and of his mother, I have not seen her; he kept himself separate from his brothers and had no knowledge of his children: for they have given ear to your word and kept your agreement. They will be the teachers of your decisions to Jacob and of your law to Israel: the burning of perfumes before you will be their right, and the ordering of burned offerings on your altar. Let your blessing, O Lord, be on his substance, may the work of his hands be pleasing to you: may those who take up arms against him and all who have hate for him, be wounded through the heart, never to be lifted up again. And of Benjamin he said, Benjamin is the loved one of the Lord, he will be kept safe at all times; he will be covered by the Most High, resting between his arms. And of Joseph he said, Let the blessing of the Lord be on his land; for the good things of heaven on high, and the deep waters flowing under the earth, And the good things of the fruits of the sun, and the good things of the growth of the moons, And the chief things of the oldest mountains, and the good things of the eternal hills, The good things of the earth and all its wealth, the good pleasure of him who was seen in the burning tree: may they come on the head of Joseph, on the head of him who was prince among his brothers. He is a young ox, glory is his; his horns are the horns of the mountain ox, with which all peoples will be wounded, even to the ends of the earth: they are the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh.

And the Lord made up to Job for all his losses, after he had made prayer for his friends: and all Job had before was increased by the Lord twice as much.

Give praise without end for you, keeping you in mind in my prayers;

And he was purposing to put an end to them if Moses, his special servant, had not gone up before him, between him and his people, turning back his wrath, to keep them from destruction.

So Moses went out of the town, and stretching out his hands made prayer to God: and the thunders and the ice-storm came to an end; and the fall of rain was stopped.

Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses made prayer to the Lord about the frogs which he had sent on Pharaoh. And the Lord did as Moses said; and there was an end of all the frogs in the houses and in the open spaces and in the fields.

Then Moses went out from Pharaoh and made prayer to the Lord. And the Lord did as Moses said, and took away the cloud of flies from Pharaoh and from his servants and from his people; not one was to be seen.

So he went out from Pharaoh and made prayer to the Lord. And the Lord sent a very strong west wind, which took up the locusts, driving them into the Red Sea; not one locust was to be seen in any part of Egypt.

So now, may my prayer come before you, and let the power of the Lord be great, as you said:

And I made prayer to the Lord and said, O Lord God, do not send destruction on your people and your heritage, to whom, by your great power, you have given salvation, whom you have taken out of Egypt by the strength of your hand.

And take your flocks and your herds as you have said, and be gone; and give me your blessing.

Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, Make prayer to the Lord that he will take away these frogs from me and my people; and I will let the people go and make their offering to the Lord.

Then Pharaoh said, I will let you go to make an offering to the Lord your God in the waste land; but do not go very far away, and make prayer for me.

Make prayer to the Lord; for there has been enough of these thunderings of God and this ice-storm; and I will let you go and will keep you no longer.

Let me now have forgiveness for my sin this time only, and make prayer to the Lord your God that he will take away from me this death only.

Then the chief wine-servant said to Pharaoh, The memory of my sin comes back to me now; Pharaoh had been angry with his servants, and had put me in prison in the house of the captain of the army, together with the chief bread-maker; And we had a dream on the same night, the two of us, and the dreams had a special sense. read more.
And there was with us a young Hebrew, the captain's servant, and when we put our dreams before him, he gave us the sense of them. And it came about as he said: I was put back in my place, and the bread-maker was put to death by hanging.

But keep me in mind when things go well for you, and be good to me and say a good word for me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison:

Lord have mercy on my son: for he is off his head, and is in great pain; and frequently he goes falling into the fire, and frequently into the water.

And one of the number said to him in answer, Master, I came to you with my son, who has in him a spirit which takes away his power of talking; And wherever it takes him, it puts him down violently, streaming at the lips and twisted with pain; and his strength goes from him; and I made a request to your disciples to send it out, and they were not able. And he said to them in answer, O generation without faith, how long will I have to be with you? how long will I put up with you? let him come to me. read more.
And they took him to him: and when he saw him, the spirit in him straight away became violent; and he went down on the earth, rolling about and streaming at the lips. And Jesus questioning the father said, How long has he been like this? And he said, From a child. And frequently it has sent him into the fire and into the water, for his destruction; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us, and give us help. And Jesus said to him, If you are able! All things are possible to him who has faith. Straight away the father of the child gave a cry, saying, I have faith; make my feeble faith stronger. And when Jesus saw that the people came running together, he gave orders to the unclean spirit, saying to him, You, spirit, who are the cause of his loss of voice and hearing, I say to you, come out of him, and never again go into him. And after crying out and shaking him violently, it came out: and the child became like one dead; so that most of them said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, lifting him up; and he got up.

For a great number of the people from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not made themselves clean, but they took the Passover meal, though not in the right way. For Hezekiah had made prayer for them, saying, May the good Lord have mercy on everyone

And David said to God, Was it not I who gave the order for the people to be numbered? It is I who have done the sin and the great wrong; but these are only sheep; what have they done? let your hand, O Lord God, be lifted up against me and against my family, but not against your people to send disease on them.

And from there they went by ship to Antioch, where they had been handed over to the grace of God for the work which they had not done.

But Paul took Silas and went away with the blessing of the brothers.

And Moses, crying to the Lord, said, Let my prayer come before you, O God, and make her well.

So that he is fully able to be the saviour of all who come to God through him, because he is ever living to make prayer to God for them.

For this cause he will have a heritage with the great, and he will have a part in the goods of war with the strong, because he gave up his life, and was numbered with the evil-doers; taking on himself the sins of the people, and making prayer for the wrongdoers.

Then the king made answer and said to the man of God, Make a prayer now for the grace of the Lord your God, and for me, that my hand may be made well. And in answer to the prayer of the man of God, the king's hand was made well again, as it was before.

Then Samuel said, Let all Israel come to Mizpah and I will make prayer to the Lord for you.

But now, if you will give them forgiveness--but if not, let my name be taken out of your book.

And when Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her ass, falling down on her face before him. And falling at his feet she said, May the wrong be on me, my lord, on me: let your servant say a word to you, and give ear to the words of your servant. Let my lord give no attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing: for as his name is, so is he, a man without sense: but I, your servant, did not see the young men whom my lord sent. read more.
So now, my lord, by the living God and by your living soul, seeing that the Lord has kept you from the crime of blood and from taking into your hands the punishment for your wrongs, may all your haters, and those who would do evil to my lord, be like Nabal. And let this offering, which your servant gives to my lord, be given to the young men who are with my lord. And may the sin of your servant have forgiveness: for the Lord will certainly make your family strong, because my lord is fighting in the Lord's war; and no evil will be seen in you all your days. And though a man has taken up arms against you, putting your life in danger, still the soul of my lord will be kept safe among the band of the living with the Lord your God; and the souls of those who are against you he will send violently away from him, like stones from a bag. And when the Lord has done for my lord all those good things which he has said he will do for you, and has made you a ruler over Israel; Then you will have no cause for grief, and my lord's heart will not be troubled because you have taken life without cause and have yourself given punishment for your wrongs: and when the Lord has been good to you, then give a thought to your servant. And David said to Abigail, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be praised, who sent you to me today: A blessing on your good sense and on you, who have kept me today from the crime of blood and from taking into my hands the punishment for my wrongs. For truly, by the living Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept me from doing you evil, if you had not been so quick in coming to me and meeting me, by dawn there would not have been in Nabal's house so much as one male living. Then David took from her hands her offering: and he said to her, Go back to your house in peace; see, I have given ear to your voice, and taken your offering with respect.

And crying to the Lord he said, O Lord my God, have you sent evil even on the widow whose guest I am, by causing her son's death? And stretching herself out on the child three times, he made his prayer to the Lord, saying, O Lord my God, be pleased to let this child's life come back to him again. And the Lord gave ear to the voice of Elijah, and the child's spirit came into him again, and he came back to life. read more.
And Elijah took the child down from his room into the house and gave him to his mother and said to her, See, your son is living.

Who will give a decision against us? It is Christ Jesus who not only was put to death, but came again from the dead, who is now at the right hand of God, taking our part.

Though our sins give witness against us, do something, O Lord, for the honour of your name: for again and again we have been turned away from you, we have done evil against you. O you hope of Israel, its saviour in time of trouble, why are you like one who is strange in the land, and like a traveller putting up his tent for a night? Why are you like a man surprised, like a man of war who is not able to give help? but you, O Lord, are with us, and we are named by your name; do not go away from us. read more.
This is what the Lord has said about this people: Even so they have been glad to go from the right way; they have not kept their feet from wandering, so the Lord has no pleasure in them; now he will keep their wrongdoing in mind and send punishment for their sins. And the Lord said to me, Make no prayer for this people for their good. When they go without food, I will not give ear to their cry; when they give burned offerings and meal offerings, I will not take pleasure in them: but I will put an end to them by the sword and by need of food and by disease. Then I said, Ah, Lord God! see, the prophets say to them, You will not see the sword or be short of food; but I will give you certain peace in this place. Then the Lord said to me, The prophets say false words in my name, and I gave them no orders, and I said nothing to them: what they say to you is a false vision and wonder-working words without substance, the deceit of their hearts. So this is what the Lord has said about the prophets who make use of my name, though I sent them not, and say, The sword and need of food will not be in this land: the sword and need of food will put an end to those prophets. And the people to whom they are prophets will be pushed out dead into the streets of Jerusalem, because there is no food, and because of the sword; and they will have no one to put their bodies into the earth, them or their wives or their sons or their daughters: for I will let loose their evil-doing on them. And you are to say this word to them, Let my eyes be streaming with water night and day, and let it not be stopped; for the virgin daughter of my people is wounded with a great wound, with a very bitter blow. If I go out into the open country, there are those put to death by the sword! and if I go into the town, there are those who are diseased from need of food! for the prophet and the priest go about in the land and have no knowledge. Have you completely given up Judah? is your soul turned in disgust from Zion? why have you given us blows from which there is no one to make us well? we were looking for peace, but no good came; and for a time of well-being, but there was only a great fear. We are conscious, O Lord, of our sin and of the wrongdoing of our fathers: we have done evil against you. Do not be turned from us in disgust, because of your name; do not put shame on the seat of your glory: keep us in mind, let not your agreement with us be broken. Are any of the false gods of the nations able to make rain come? are the heavens able to give showers? are you not he, O Lord our God? so we will go on waiting for you, for you have done all these things.

That your eyes may be open to this house night and day, to this place of which you have said, My name will be there; hearing the prayer which your servant may make, turning to this place. Give ear to the prayers of your servant, and the prayers of your people Israel, when they make their prayers, turning to this place; give ear in heaven your living-place, and hearing, have mercy. If a man does wrong to his neighbour, and has to take an oath, and comes before your altar to take his oath in this house: read more.
Then let your ear be open in heaven, and be the judge of your servants, giving your decision against the wrongdoer, so that punishment for his sins may come on his head; and, by your decision, keeping from evil him who has done no wrong. When your people Israel are overcome in war, because of their sin against you; if they are turned to you again, honouring your name, making prayers to you and requesting your grace in this house: Then give ear in heaven, and let the sin of your people Israel have forgiveness, and take them back again into the land which you gave to their fathers. When heaven is shut up and there is no rain, because of their sin against you; if they make prayers with their faces turned to this place, honouring your name and turning away from their sin when you send trouble on them: Then give ear in heaven, so that the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, may have forgiveness, when you make clear to them the good way in which they are to go; and send rain on your land which you have given to your people for their heritage. If there is no food in the land, or if there is disease, or if the fruits of the earth are damaged through heat or water, locust or worm; if their towns are shut in by their attackers; whatever trouble, whatever disease there may be: Whatever prayer or request for your grace is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, whatever his trouble may be, whose hands are stretched out to this house: Give ear in heaven your living-place, acting in mercy; and give to every man whose secret heart is open to you, the reward of all his ways; for you, and you only, have knowledge of the hearts of all the children of men: So that they may give you worship all the days of their life in the land which you gave to our fathers. And as for the man from a strange land, who is not of your people Israel; when he comes from a far country because of the glory of your name: (For they will have news of your great name and your strong hand and your out-stretched arm;) when he comes to make his prayer, turning to this house: Give ear in heaven your living-place, and give him his desire, whatever it may be; so that all the peoples of the earth may have knowledge of your name, worshipping you as do your people Israel, and that they may see that this house which I have put up is truly named by your name. If your people go out to war against their attackers, by whatever way you may send them, if they make their prayer to the Lord, turning their faces to this town of yours and to this house which I have made for your name: Give ear in heaven to their prayer and their cry for grace, and see right done to them. If they do wrong against you, (for no man is without sin,) and you are angry with them and give them up into the power of those who are fighting against them, so that they take them away as prisoners into a strange land, far off or near; And if they take thought, in the land where they are prisoners, and are turned again to you, crying out in prayer to you in that land, and saying, We are sinners, we have done wrong, we have done evil; And with all their heart and soul are turned again to you, in the land of those who took them prisoners, and make their prayer to you, turning their eyes to this land which you gave to their fathers, and to the town which you took for yourself, and the house which I made for your name: Then give ear to their prayer and to their cry in heaven your living-place, and see right done to them; Answering with forgiveness the people who have done wrong against you, and overlooking the evil which they have done against you; let those who made them prisoners be moved with pity for them, and have pity on them; For they are your people and your heritage, which you took out of Egypt, out of the iron fireplace; Let your eyes be open to your servant's prayer for grace and to the prayer of your people Israel, hearing them when their cry comes to you. For you made them separate from all the peoples of the earth, to be your heritage, as you said by Moses your servant, when you took our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.

May the Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus because he frequently gave me help, and had no feeling of shame because I was in chains;

(May he have the Lord's mercy in that day); and of all he did for me at Ephesus you have full knowledge.

And Abraham came near, and said, Will you let destruction come on the upright with the sinners? If by chance there are fifty upright men in the town, will you give the place to destruction and not have mercy on it because of the fifty upright men? Let such a thing be far from you, to put the upright to death with the sinner: will not the judge of all the earth do right? read more.
And the Lord said, If there are fifty upright men in the town, I will have mercy on it because of them. And Abraham answering said, Truly, I who am only dust, have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: If by chance there are five less than fifty upright men, will you give up all the town to destruction because of these five? And he said, I will not give it to destruction if there are forty-five. And again he said to him, By chance there may be forty there. And he said, I will not do it if there are forty. And he said, Let not the Lord be angry with me if I say, What if there are thirty there? And he said, I will not do it if there are thirty. And he said, See now, I have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: what if there are twenty there? And he said, I will have mercy because of the twenty. And he said, O let not the Lord be angry and I will say only one word more: by chance there may be ten there. And he said, I will have mercy because of the ten.

Then Abraham made prayer to God, and God made Abimelech well again, and his wife and his women-servants, so that they had children. For the Lord had kept all the women of the house of Abimelech from having children, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

And Moses, crying to the Lord, said, Let my prayer come before you, O God, and make her well. And the Lord said to Moses, If her father had put a mark of shame on her, would she not be shamed for seven days? Let her be shut up outside the tent-circle for seven days, and after that she may come in again. So Miriam was shut up outside the tent-circle for seven days: and the people did not go forward on their journey till Miriam had come in again.

Now it came to the ears of Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an unsexed servant in the king's house, that they had put Jeremiah into the water-hole; the king at that time being seated in the doorway of Benjamin: And Ebed-melech went out from the king's house and said to the king, My lord the king, these men have done evil in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have put into the water-hole; and he will come to his death in the place where he is through need of food: for there is no more bread in the town. read more.
Then the king gave orders to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take with you three men from here and get Jeremiah out of the water-hole before death overtakes him. So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king, to the place where the clothing was kept, and got from there old clothing and bits of old cloth, and let them down by cords into the water-hole where Jeremiah was. And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put these bits of old cloth under your arms under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. So pulling Jeremiah up with the cords they got him out of the water-hole: and Jeremiah was kept in the place of the armed watchmen.

But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life. Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again.

My request is for my child Onesimus, the child of my chains, Who in the past was of no profit to you, but now is of profit to you and to me: Whom I have sent back to you, him who is my very heart: read more.
Though my desire was to keep him with me, to be my servant in the chains of the good news, in your place: But without your approval I would do nothing; so that your good works might not be forced, but done freely from your heart. For it is possible that for this reason he was parted from you for a time, so that you might have him for ever; No longer as a servant, but more than a servant, a brother, very dear to me specially, but much more to you, in the flesh as well as in the Lord. If then you take me to be your friend and brother, take him in as myself. If he has done you any wrong or is in debt to you for anything, put it to my account. I, Paul, writing this myself, say, I will make payment to you: and I do not say to you that you are in debt to me even for your life. So brother, let me have joy of you in the Lord: give new life to my heart in Christ. Being certain that you will do my desire, I am writing to you, in the knowledge that you will do even more than I say.

Now it was clear to Joab, the son of Zeruiah, that the king's heart was turning to Absalom. And Joab sent to Tekoa and got from there a wise woman, and said to her, Now make yourself seem like one given up to grief, and put on the clothing of sorrow, not using any sweet oil for your body, but looking like one who for a long time has been weeping for the dead: And come to the king and say these words to him. So Joab gave her words to say. read more.
And the woman of Tekoa came to the king, and falling on her face, gave him honour and said, Give me help, O king. And the king said to her, What is your trouble? And her answer was, Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead. And I had two sons, and the two of them had a fight in the field, and there was no one to come between them, and one with a blow put the other to death. And now all the family is turned against me, your servant, saying, Give up him who was the cause of his brother's death, so that we may put him to death in payment for the life of his brother, whose life he took; and we will put an end to the one who will get the heritage: so they will put out my last burning coal, and my husband will have no name or offspring on the face of the earth. And the king said to the woman, Go to your house and I will give orders about this. And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, My lord, O king, may the sin be on me and on my family, and may the king and the seat of his kingdom be clear of sin! And the king said, If anyone says anything to you, make him come to me, and he will do you no more damage. Then she said, Let the king keep in mind the Lord your God, so that he who gives punishment for blood may be kept back from further destruction and that no one may send death on my son. And he said, By the living Lord, not a hair of your son's head will come to the earth. Then the woman said, Will the king let his servant say one word more? And he said, Say on. And the woman said, Why have you had such a thought about the people of God? (for in saying these very words the king has put himself in the wrong because he has not taken back the one whom he sent far away.) For death comes to us all, and we are like water drained out on the earth, which it is not possible to take up again; and God will not take away the life of the man whose purpose is that he who has been sent away may not be completely cut off from him. And now it is my fear of the people which has made me come to say these words to my lord the king: and your servant said, I will put my cause before the king, and it may be that he will give effect to my request. For the king will give ear, and take his servant out of the power of the man whose purpose is the destruction of me and my son together from the heritage of God. Then your servant said, May the word of my lord the king give me peace! for my lord the king is as the angel of God in his hearing of good and bad: and may the Lord your God be with you! Then the king said to the woman, Now give me an answer to the question I am going to put to you; keep nothing back. And the woman said, Let my lord the king say on. And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with you in all this? And the woman in answer said, By the life of your soul, my lord the king, it is not possible for anyone to go to the right hand or to the left from anything said by the king: your servant Joab gave me orders, and put all these words in my mouth: This he did, hoping that the face of this business might be changed: and my lord is wise, with the wisdom of the angel of God, having knowledge of everything on earth. And the king said to Joab, See now, I will do this thing: go then and Come back with the young man Absalom. Then Joab, falling down on his face on the earth, gave the king honour and blessing; and Joab said, Today it is clear to your servant that I have grace in your eyes, my lord king, because the king has given effect to the request of his servant. So Joab got up and went to Geshur and came back again to Jerusalem with Absalom. And the king said, Let him go to his house, but let him not see my face. So Absalom went back to his house and did not see the face of the king.

And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood? Let us give him to these Ishmaelites for a price, and let us not put violent hands on him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers gave ear to him.

Then Bath-sheba went into the king's room; now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was waiting on him. And Bath-sheba went down on her face on the earth before the king giving him honour. And he said, What is your desire? And she said to him, My lord, you took an oath by the Lord your God and gave your word to your servant, saying, Truly, Solomon your son will be king after me, seated on the seat of my kingdom. read more.
And now, see, Adonijah has made himself king without my lord's knowledge; And has put to death oxen and fat beasts and sheep in great numbers, and has sent for all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab, the captain of the army; but he has not sent for Solomon your servant. And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, waiting for you to say who is to take the place of my lord the king after him. For as things are, it will come about, when my lord the king is sleeping with his fathers, that I and Solomon my son will be made outlaws. And while she was still talking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. And they said to the king, Here is Nathan the prophet. And when he came in before the king, he went down on his face on the earth. And Nathan said, O my lord king, have you said, Adonijah is to be king after me, seated on the seat of my kingdom? Because today he has gone down and has put to death oxen and fat beasts and sheep in great numbers, and has sent for all the king's sons to come to him, with the captains of the army and Abiathar the priest; and they are feasting before him and crying, Long life to King Adonijah! But me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon, he has not sent for. Has this thing been done by my lord the king, without giving word to your servants who was to be placed on my lord the king's seat after him? Then King David in answer said, Send for Bath-sheba to come to me. And she came in and took her place before the king. And the king took an oath, and said, By the living Lord, who has been my saviour from all my troubles, As I took an oath to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, Certainly Solomon your son will become king after me, seated on my seat in my place; so will I do this day. Then Bath-sheba went down on her face on the earth before the king giving him honour, and said, May my lord King David go on living for ever.

Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, came to Bath-sheba, the mother of Solomon. And she said, Come you in peace? And he said, Yes, in peace. Then he said, I have something to say to you. And she said, Say on. 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. read more.
Now I have one request to make to you, and do not say, No, to me. And she said to him, Say on. Then he said, Will you go to Solomon the king (for he will not say, No, to you) and put before him my request that he will give me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife? And Bath-sheba said, Good! I will make your request to the king. So Bath-sheba went to King Solomon to have talk with him on Adonijah's account. And the king got up to come to her, and went down low to the earth before her; then he took his place on the king's seat and had a seat made ready for the king's mother and she took her place at his right hand. Then she said, I have one small request to make to you; do not say, No, to me. And the king said, Say on, my mother, for I will not say, No, to you. And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother for a wife. Then King Solomon made answer and said to his mother, Why are you requesting me to give Abishag the Shunammite to Adonijah? Take the kingdom for him in addition, for he is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab, the son of Zeruiah, are on his side. Then King Solomon took an oath by the Lord, saying, May God's punishment be on me if Adonijah does not give payment for these words with his life. Now by the living Lord, who has given me my place on the seat of David my father, and made me one of a line of kings, as he gave me his word, truly Adonijah will be put to death this day. And King Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he made an attack on him and put him to death.

So he went in, and shutting the door on the two of them, made prayer to the Lord. Then he got up on the bed, stretching himself out on the child, and put his mouth on the child's mouth, his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands; and the child's body became warm. Then he came back, and after walking once through the house and back, he went up, stretching himself out on the child seven times; and the child's eyes became open. read more.
And he gave orders to Gehazi, and said, Send for the Shunammite. And she came in answer to his voice. And he said, Take up your son.

And the Lord said to Moses, How long will this people have no respect for me? how long will they be without faith, in the face of all the signs I have done among them? I will send disease on them for their destruction, and take away their heritage, and I will make of you a nation greater and stronger than they. And Moses said to the Lord, Then it will come to the ears of the Egyptians; for by your power you took this people out from among them; read more.
And they will give the news to the people of this land: they have had word that you, Lord, are present with this people, letting yourself be seen face to face, and that your cloud is resting over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if you put to death all this people as one man, then the nations who have had word of your glory will say, Because the Lord was not able to take this people into the land which he made an oath to give them, he sent destruction on them in the waste land. So now, may my prayer come before you, and let the power of the Lord be great, as you said: The Lord is slow to wrath and great in mercy, overlooking wrongdoing and evil, and will not let wrongdoers go free; sending punishment on children for the sins of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation. May the sin of this people have forgiveness, in the measure of your great mercy, as you have had mercy on them from Egypt up till now. And the Lord said, I have had mercy, as you say:

And Moses said, If you yourself are not going with us, do not send us on from here. For is not the fact of your going with us the sign that I and this people have grace in your eyes, so that we, that is, I and your people, are separate from all other people on the face of the earth? And the Lord said to Moses, I will do as you say: for you have grace in my eyes, and I have knowledge of you by your name.

Then Pharaoh quickly sent for Moses and Aaron, and said, I have done evil against the Lord your God and against you. Let me now have forgiveness for my sin this time only, and make prayer to the Lord your God that he will take away from me this death only. So he went out from Pharaoh and made prayer to the Lord. read more.
And the Lord sent a very strong west wind, which took up the locusts, driving them into the Red Sea; not one locust was to be seen in any part of Egypt. But the Lord made Pharaoh's heart hard, and he did not let the children of Israel go.

And the Lord said to Moses, Let your hand be stretched out to heaven, and all the land of Egypt will be dark, so that men will be feeling their way about in the dark. And when Moses' hand was stretched out, dark night came over all the land of Egypt for three days; They were not able to see one another, and no one got up from his place for three days: but where the children of Israel were living it was light.

Now while Moses' hand was lifted up, Israel was the stronger: but when he let his hand go down, Amalek became the stronger. But Moses' hands became tired; so they put a stone under him and he took his seat on it, Aaron and Hur supporting his hands, one on one side and one on the other; so his hands were kept up without falling till the sun went down. And Joshua overcame Amalek and his people with the sword. read more.
And the Lord said to Moses, Make a record of this in a book, so that it may be kept in memory, and say it again in the ears of Joshua: that all memory of Amalek is to be completely uprooted from the earth.

And I will make prayer to the Father and he will give you another Helper to be with you for ever,

But I have made prayer for you, that your faith may not go from you: and when you are turned again, make your brothers strong.

And Jesus said, Father, let them have forgiveness, for they have no knowledge of what they are doing. And they made division of his clothing among them by the decision of chance.

And he got up and went out of the Synagogue and went into the house of Simon. And Simon's wife's mother was very ill with a burning heat; and in answer to their prayers for her He went near her, and with a sharp word he gave orders to the disease and it went away from her; and straight away she got up and took care of their needs.

And at the evening offering, having made myself low before God, I got up, and with signs of grief, falling down on my knees, with my hands stretched out to the Lord my God, I said, O my God, shame keeps me from lifting up my face to you, my God: for our sins are increased higher than our heads and our evil-doing has come up to heaven. From the days of our fathers till this day we have been great sinners; and for our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been given up into the hands of the kings of the lands, to the sword and to prison and to loss of goods and to shame of face, as it is this day. read more.
And now for a little time grace has come to us from the Lord our God, to let a small band of us get free and to give us a nail in his holy place, so that our God may give light to our eyes and a measure of new life in our prison chains. For we are servants; but our God has not been turned away from us in our prison, but has had mercy on us before the eyes of the kings of Persia, to give us new strength to put up again the house of our God and to make fair its waste places, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. And now, O our God, what are we to say after this? for we have not kept your laws, Which you gave to your servants the prophets, saying, The land into which you are going, to take it for a heritage, is an unclean land, because of the evil lives of the peoples of the land and their disgusting ways, which have made the land unclean from end to end. So now do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or do anything for their peace or well-being for ever; so that you may be strong, living on the good of the land, and handing it on to your children for a heritage for ever. And after everything which has come on us because of our evil-doing and our great sin, and seeing that the punishment which you, O God, have given us, is less than the measure of our sins, and that you have kept from death those of us who are here; Are we again to go against your orders, taking wives from among the people who do these disgusting things? would you not be angry with us till our destruction was complete, till there was not one who got away safe? O Lord God of Israel, righteousness is yours; we are only a small band which has been kept from death, as at this day: see, we are before you in our sin; for no one may keep his place before you because of this.

And Saul gave orders to his son Jonathan and to all his servants to put David to death. But Saul's son Jonathan had great delight in David. And Jonathan said to David, Saul, my father, is purposing your death: so now, take care in the morning, and keep yourself safe in a secret place: And I will go out and take my place by my father's side in the field near where you are; and I will get into talk with my father about you, and when I see how things are, I will give you word. read more.
And Jonathan gave his father Saul a good account of David, and said to him, Let not the king do wrong against his servant, against David; because he has done you no wrong, and all his acts have had a good outcome for you: For he put his life in danger and overcame the Philistine, and the Lord gave all Israel salvation: you saw it and were glad: why then are you sinning against him who has done no wrong, desiring the death of David without cause? And Saul gave ear to the voice of Jonathan, and said with an oath, By the living Lord, he is not to be put to death. Then Jonathan sent for David and gave him word of all these things. And Jonathan took David to Saul, who kept him by his side as in the past.

And Daniel went to his house and gave his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah the news: So that they might make a request for the mercy of the God of heaven in the question of this secret; so that Daniel and his friends might not come to destruction with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

And on hearing it, King Hezekiah took off his robe, and put on haircloth, and went into the house of the Lord. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the chief priests, dressed in haircloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. And they said to him, Hezekiah says, This day is a day of trouble and punishment and shame; for the children are ready to come to birth, but there is no strength to give birth to them. read more.
It may be that the Lord your God will give ear to the words of the Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, sent to say evil things against the living God, and will make his words come to nothing: so then make your prayer for the rest of the people.

Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah, the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, came near, And said to Jeremiah the prophet, Let our request come before you, and make prayer for us to the Lord your God, even for this small band of us; for we are only a small band out of what was a great number, as your eyes may see: That the Lord your God may make clear to us the way in which we are to go and what we are to do. read more.
Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have given ear to you; see, I will make prayer to the Lord your God, as you have said; and it will be that, whatever the Lord may say in answer to you, I will give you word of it, keeping nothing back. Then they said to Jeremiah, May the Lord be a true witness against us in good faith, if we do not do everything which the Lord your God sends you to say to us. If it is good or if it is evil, we will be guided by the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you; so that it may be well for us when we give ear to the voice of the Lord our God.

Then a man of God came from Judah by the order of the Lord to Beth-el, where Jeroboam was by the altar, burning offerings. And by the order of the Lord he made an outcry against the altar, saying, O altar, altar, the Lord has said, From the seed of David will come a child, named Josiah, and on you he will put to death the priests of the high places, who are burning offerings on you, and men's bones will be burned on you. The same day he gave them a sign, saying, This is the sign which the Lord has given: See, the altar will be broken and the burned waste on it overturned. read more.
Then the king, hearing the man of God crying out against the altar at Beth-el, put out his hand from the altar, saying, Take him prisoner. And his hand, stretched out against him, became dead, and he had no power of pulling it back. And the altar was broken and the burned waste on it overturned; this was the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. Then the king made answer and said to the man of God, Make a prayer now for the grace of the Lord your God, and for me, that my hand may be made well. And in answer to the prayer of the man of God, the king's hand was made well again, as it was before.

Then Samuel said, Let all Israel come to Mizpah and I will make prayer to the Lord for you. So they came together to Mizpah, and got water, draining it out before the Lord, and they took no food that day, and they said, We have done evil against the Lord. And Samuel was judge of the children of Israel in Mizpah. Now when the Philistines had news that the children of Israel had come together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And the children of Israel, hearing of it, were full of fear. read more.
And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Go on crying to the Lord our God for us to make us safe from the hands of the Philistines. And Samuel took a young lamb, offering all of it as a burned offering to the Lord; and Samuel made prayers to the Lord for Israel and the Lord gave him an answer. And while Samuel was offering the burned offering, the Philistines came near for the attack on Israel; but at the thunder of the Lord's voice that day the Philistines were overcome with fear, and they gave way before Israel. And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and went after the Philistines, attacking them till they came under Beth-car. Then Samuel took a stone and put it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, naming it Eben-ezer, and saying, Up to now the Lord has been our help. So the Philistines were overcome, and did not come into the country of Israel again: and all the days of Samuel the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. And the towns which the Philistines had taken were given back to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and all the country round them Israel made free from the power of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

But when Pharaoh saw that there was peace for a time, he made his heart hard and did not give ear to them, as the Lord had said.

Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses made prayer to the Lord about the frogs which he had sent on Pharaoh.

Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have done evil this time: the Lord is upright, and I and my people are sinners. Make prayer to the Lord; for there has been enough of these thunderings of God and this ice-storm; and I will let you go and will keep you no longer. And Moses said, When I am gone outside the town, my hands will be stretched out to the Lord; the thunders and the ice-storm will come to an end, so that you may see that the earth is the Lord's. read more.
But as for you and your servants, I am certain that even now the fear of the Lord God will not be in your hearts. And the flax and the barley were damaged, for the barley was almost ready to be cut and the flax was in flower. But the rest of the grain-plants were undamaged, for they had not come up. So Moses went out of the town, and stretching out his hands made prayer to God: and the thunders and the ice-storm came to an end; and the fall of rain was stopped. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the ice-storm and the thunders were ended, he went on sinning, and made his heart hard, he and his servants. And the heart of Pharaoh was hard, and he did not let the people go, as the Lord had said by the mouth of Moses.

Then Moses went out from Pharaoh and made prayer to the Lord. And the Lord did as Moses said, and took away the cloud of flies from Pharaoh and from his servants and from his people; not one was to be seen. But again Pharaoh made his heart hard and did not let the people go.

My prayer is for them: my prayer is not for the world, but for those whom you have given to me, because they are yours

Lord, you were good to your land: changing the fate of Jacob. The wrongdoing of your people had forgiveness; all their sin had been covered. (Selah.) You were no longer angry: you were turned from the heat of your wrath. read more.
Come back to us, O God of our salvation, and be angry with us no longer. Will you go on being angry with us for ever? will you keep your wrath against us through all the long generations? Will you not give us life again, so that your people may be glad in you? Let us see your mercy, O Lord, and give us your salvation.

And when David saw the angel who was causing the destruction of the people, he said to the Lord, Truly, the sin is mine; I have done wrong: but these are only sheep; what have they done? let your hand be against me and against my family.

And he took the letter to the king of Israel, in which the king of Aram had said, See, I have sent my servant Naaman to you to be made well, for he is a leper. But the king of Israel, after reading the letter, was greatly troubled and said, Am I God, to give death and life? why does this man send a leper to me to be made well? is it not clear that he is looking for a cause of war? Now Elisha, the man of God, hearing that the king of Israel had done this, sent to the king, saying, Why are you troubled? send the man to me, so that he may see that there is a prophet in Israel.

And all the people said to Samuel, Make prayer for us to the Lord your God so that death may not overtake us: for in addition to all our sins we have done this evil, in desiring a king.

Then they went on from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, going round the land of Edom: and the spirit of the people was overcome with weariness on the way. And crying out against God and against Moses, they said, Why have you taken us out of Egypt to come to our death in the waste land? For there is no bread and no water, and this poor bread is disgusting to us. Then the Lord sent poison-snakes among the people; and their bites were a cause of death to numbers of the people of Israel. read more.
Then the people came to Moses and said, We have done wrong in crying out against the Lord and against you: make prayer to the Lord to take away the snakes from us. So Moses made prayer for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, Make an image of a snake and put it on a rod, and anyone who has been wounded by the snakes, looking on it will be made well. So Moses made a snake of brass and put it on a rod; and anyone who had a snakebite, after looking on the snake of brass, was made well.

Now the people were saying evil against the Lord; and the Lord, hearing it, was angry and sent fire on them, burning the outer parts of the tent-circle. And the people made an outcry to Moses, and Moses made prayer to the Lord, and the fire was stopped.

And a woman of Canaan came out from those parts, crying and saying, Have pity on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is greatly troubled with an unclean spirit.

And he said, O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, let me do well in what I have undertaken this day, and give your mercy to my master Abraham.

Then, after hearing these words, for some days I gave myself up to weeping and sorrow, seated on the earth; and taking no food I made prayer to the God of heaven, And said, O Lord, the God of heaven, the great God, greatly to be feared, keeping faith and mercy with those who have love for him and are true to his laws: Let your ear now take note and let your eyes be open, so that you may give ear to the prayer of your servant, which I make before you at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel, your servants, while I put before you the sins of the children of Israel, which we have done against you: truly, I and my father's people are sinners. read more.
We have done great wrong against you, and have not kept the orders, the rules, and the decisions, which you gave to your servant Moses. Keep in mind, O Lord, the order you gave your servant Moses, saying, If you do wrong I will send you wandering among the peoples: But if you come back to me and keep my orders and do them, even if those of you who have been forced out are living in the farthest parts of heaven, I will get them from there, and take them back to the place marked out by me for the resting-place of my name.

And now, I give you into the care of God and the word of his grace, which is able to make you strong and to give you your heritage among all the saints.

And it came about that after they had taken all the grass of the land, I said, O Lord God, have mercy: how will Jacob be able to keep his place? for he is small. The Lord, changing his purpose about this, said, It will not be. This is what the Lord let me see: and I saw that the Lord God sent for a great fire to be the instrument of his punishment; and, after burning up the great deep, it was about to put an end to the Lord's heritage. read more.
Then said I, O Lord God, let there be an end: how will Jacob be able to keep his place? for he is small. The Lord, changing his purpose about this, said, And this will not be.

And he said to him, Now say to her, See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? will you have any request made for you to the king or the captain of the army? But she said, I am living among my people.

Then the king made answer and said to the man of God, Make a prayer now for the grace of the Lord your God, and for me, that my hand may be made well. And in answer to the prayer of the man of God, the king's hand was made well again, as it was before.

And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Make prayer now to the Lord our God for us.

So that they may make offerings of a sweet smell to the God of heaven, with prayers for the life of the king and of his sons.

And Moses, crying to the Lord, said, Let my prayer come before you, O God, and make her well.

If one man does wrong to another, God will be his judge: but if a man's sin is against the Lord, who will take up his cause? But they gave no attention to the voice of their father, for it was the Lord's purpose to send destruction on them.

And Simon, answering, said, Make prayer for me to the Lord, so that these things which you have said may not come on me.

Then the people came to Moses and said, We have done wrong in crying out against the Lord and against you: make prayer to the Lord to take away the snakes from us. So Moses made prayer for the people.

And the Lord, in his wrath, would have put Aaron to death: and I made prayer for Aaron at the same time.