'Act' in the Bible

Then God said, "Let there be lights across the sky to distinguish day from night, to act as signs for seasons, days, and years,

and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly.

He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand so that this act will serve as my witness that I dug this well.”

Just then Jacob's sons arrived from the field. When they heard what had happened, they were distraught with grief and livid with anger toward Shechem, because he had committed a disgraceful deed in Israel by forcing Jacob's daughter to have sex, an act that never should have happened.

And while she was in the act of giving birth, one of them put out his hand; and the woman who was with her put a red thread round his hand, saying, This one came out first.

"Your Excellency," they replied, "Why do you speak like this? Far be it from your servants to act like this.

give help! let us act wisely concerning it, lest it multiply, and it hath come to pass, when war happeneth, that it hath been joined, even it, unto those hating us, and hath fought against us, and hath gone out up of the land.'

“When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”

He is to speak to the people for you as your spokesman and you are to act in the role of God for him.

“As soon as I leave you,” Moses said, “I will appeal to the Lord, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. But Pharaoh must not act deceptively again by refusing to let the people go and sacrifice to the Lord.”

And when you come into the land which the Lord will make yours, as he gave his word, you are to keep this act of worship.

And when your children say to you, What is the reason of this act of worship?

And it will be that, when the Lord takes you into the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, the land which he made an oath to your fathers that he would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you will do this act of worship in this month.

But if a man act wantonly toward his neighbour, and slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.

Any man who gets another into his power in order to get a price for him is to be put to death, if you take him in the act.

If a thief is caught in the act of breaking in, and he is beaten to death, no one is guilty of bloodshed.

“If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest.

" 'You will not bow to their gods, and you will not serve them, and you will not act according to their actions, because you will utterly demolish them, and you will utterly break their stone pillars.

'The coloured garments, to do service in the sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons to act as priest in.'

the coloured clothes to minister in the sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to act as priest in.

"When a person commits a truly treacherous act and sins inadvertently concerning the sacred things of the LORD, then he is to bring a trespass offering to the LORD from the flock as compensation for his guilt. It is to be a ram without defect, estimated as to its value in silver shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.

He is to bring from the flock to the priest a ram without defect, estimated as to its value in silver shekels, as a guilt offering. Then the priest is to make atonement for him concerning his inadvertent act that he committed through ignorance, and it will be forgiven him.

If any one sin and act unfaithfully against Jehovah, and lie to his neighbour as to an entrusted thing or a deposit or that in which he hath robbed or wronged his neighbour,

This is the anointing of Aaron, and the anointing of his sons out of the fire-offerings of Jehovah, in the day he hath brought them near to act as priest to Jehovah,

Then he is to make atonement on the sacred place on account of the uncleanness of the Israelis, their transgressions, and all their sins. This is how he is to act in the Tent of Meeting, which will remain with them in the middle of their uncleanness.

'And the priest whom he doth anoint, and whose hand he doth consecrate to act as priest instead of his father, hath made atonement, and hath put on the linen garments, the holy garments;

You may not take as wife a woman and her daughter, or her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter, for they are of one family: it is an act of shame.

You must not have sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman; it is a detestable act.

And you may not have sex relations with a beast, making yourself unclean with it; and a woman may not give herself to a beast: it is an unnatural act.

“You must not steal. You must not act deceptively or lie to one another.

“You must not act unjustly when deciding a case. Do not be partial to the poor or give preference to the rich; judge your neighbor fairly.

You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the Lord.

“You must not be unfair in measurements of length, weight, or volume.

"If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, the two are to be put to death. They've committed a repulsive act. Their guilt will remain their responsibility.

"If a man has sexual relations with another male as he would with a woman, both have committed a repulsive act. They are certainly to be put to death.

And if a man takes as wife a woman and her mother, it is an act of shame; let them be burned with fire, all three of them, so that there may be no shame among you.

And if a man takes his sister, daughter of his father or his mother, and has sex relations with her and she with him, it is an act of shame: they are to be cut off before the children of their people; he has had sex relations with his sister, and his sin will be on him.

And if a man takes his brother's wife, it is an unclean act; he has put shame on his brother; they will have no children.

“If you act with hostility toward Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times for your sins.

“If in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but act with hostility toward Me,

then I will act with hostility toward you; I also will strike you seven times for your sins.

“And if in spite of this you do not obey Me but act with hostility toward Me,

I will act with furious hostility toward you; I will also discipline you seven times for your sins.

and sleeps with another, but it is concealed from her husband, and she is undetected, even though she has defiled herself, since there is no witness against her, and she wasn’t caught in the act;

He may minister to his brothers at the Tent of Meeting by keeping watch, but he is not to engage in service. This is how you are to act with respect to the obligations of the descendants of Levi."

Then Moses said, “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works; for I do not act of my own accord.

God is not a man who lies,or a son of man who changes His mind.Does He speak and not act,or promise and not fulfill?

Edom will be a possession, Seir, his enemies, will also be a possession; but Israel will act valiantly.

Look, these people through the counsel of Balaam caused the Israelites to act treacherously against the Lord in the matter of Peor -- which resulted in the plague among the community of the Lord!

'And I speak unto you, and ye have not hearkened, and provoke the mouth of Jehovah, and act proudly, and go up into the hill-country;

not to act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form,

“When you have children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, and if you act corruptly, make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, provoking Him to anger,

‘You shall not steal.

'And the sons of Israel have journeyed from Beeroth of the sons of Jaakan to Mosera, there Aaron died, and he is buried there, and Eleazar his son doth act as priest in his stead;

"You must not act like this with respect to the LORD your God.

"You must not act as we have been doing here today, where everyone acts as they see fit,

You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

And all [of] Israel shall hear, and they shall fear, and {they shall not continue to act} according to this evil thing in your midst.

And the man that shall act presumptuously, and not hearken unto the priest that standeth to serve there before Jehovah thy God, or unto the judge, that man shall die; and thou shalt put away evil from Israel.

Then all the people who hear will be afraid and will not act presumptuously again."

because those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to those who practice witchcraft and divination. But the LORD does not allow you to act this way."

then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you.

If a man is taken in the act of going in to a married woman, the two of them, the man as well as the woman, are to be put to death: so you are to put away the evil from Israel.

{because} they did not come to meet you with food and with water {when you came out of Egypt}, and [also] {because} they hired Balaam, son of Beor, from Pethor, in Aram Naharaim [to act] against you to curse you

They aren't in the heavens, so you have to ask, "Who'll go up to the heavens for us and get it for us so we can hear it and act on it?'

And they aren't beyond the seas either, so you have to ask, "Who'll cross the sea and get it for us so we can hear it and act on it?'

saying, “I am now 120 years old; I can no longer act as your leader. The Lord has told me, ‘You will not cross this Jordan.’

because I know that after my death, you'll surely act wickedly and turn from the road that I've instructed you. As a result, evil will fall on you in days to come, because you'll act wickedly in the sight of the LORD, causing him to become angry due to your behavior."

To Jehovah do ye act thus, O people foolish and not wise? Is not He thy father -- thy possessor? He made thee, and doth establish thee.

Only, be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded thee; thou dost not turn aside from it right or left, so that thou dost act wisely in every place whither thou goest;

the book of this law doth not depart out of thy mouth, and thou hast meditated in it by day and by night, so that thou dost observe to do according to all that is written in it, for then thou dost cause thy way to prosper, and then thou dost act wisely.

Then the man who is taken with the cursed thing is to be burned, with everything which is his; because he has gone against the agreement of the Lord and has done an act of shame in Israel.

"This is what the entire community of the LORD has to say: "What is this treacherous act by which you have acted deceitfully against the God of Israel by turning away from following the LORD today, and by building yourselves an altar today, so you can rebel against the LORD?

Didn't Zerah's son Achan act treacherously with respect to the things banned by God, and as a result God became angry at the entire community of Israel? And that man was not the only one to die because of his iniquity.'"

"The God of gods, the LORD, the God of gods, the LORD is the one who knows! And may Israel itself be aware that if this was an act of rebellion or an act of treachery against the LORD, may he not deliver us today!

And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this unfaithful act against the Lord; now you have delivered the sons of Israel from the hand of the Lord.”

Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more corruptly than their fathers, going after other gods to worship and bow down to them. They did not turn from their evil practices or their obstinate ways.

And in the morning at sunrise, get up and rush the city; and look, when he and the troops who [are] with him come out to you, {you must act according to whatever opportunity offers itself}.

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Yahweh will be a {witness} between us; we will act according to your word."

Samson said to them, “Since you act like this, I will surely take revenge on you, but after that I will quit.”

He called out to the Lord: “Lord God, please remember me. Strengthen me, God, just once more. With one act of vengeance, let me pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.”

The man who owned the house went out to talk to them and pleaded with them, "No, my brothers, please don't act so wickedly. This man is my guest! Don't try to do this stupid thing.

Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please let me bring them out that you may ravish them and do to them whatever you wish. But do not commit such an act of folly against this man.”

And he gave orders to the men whom he sent, saying, This is what you are to say to all the men of Israel, Has ever an act like this been done from the day when the children of Israel came out of Egypt to this day? Give thought to it, turning it over in your minds, and give your opinion of it.

(The descendants of Benjamin heard that the {Israelites} had gone up [to] Mizpah.) And the {Israelites} said, "Tell us, how did this evil act occur?"

And I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance; for they have committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.

And we will take ten men out of every hundred, through all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, a thousand out of every ten thousand, to get food for the people, so that they may give to Gibeah of Benjamin the right punishment for the act of shame they have done in Israel.

And when their fathers or their brothers come and make trouble, you are to say to them, Give them to us as an act of grace; for we did not take them as wives for ourselves in war; and if you yourselves had given them to us you would have been responsible for the broken oath.

He said, "May you be rewarded by the Lord, my dear! This act of devotion is greater than what you did before. For you have not sought to marry one of the young men, whether rich or poor.

Stay the night, and if he fulfills his duty as your related redeemer in the morning, that will be acceptable. But if he isn't inclined to do so, then, as the LORD lives, I will act as your related redeemer myself. So lie down until morning."

So I thought to myself I ought to tell you that you must make a public purchase of this before the town residents and the elders of my people. So if you intend to act as the related redeemer, then do so. But if not, let me know, because except for you and I after you there is no one to fulfill the duties of a related redeemer." The man responded, "I will act as related redeemer."

At this, the nearer related redeemer replied, "Then I am unable to act as related redeemer, because that would complicate my own inheritance. You act instead as the related redeemer, because I cannot do so."

(Now this used to be the customary way to finalize a transaction involving redemption in Israel: A man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party. This was a legally binding act in Israel.)

Be strong and act like men, you Philistines, or else you will wind up serving the Hebrews the way they have served you! Act like men and fight!"

So Jonathan said to {his armor bearer}, "Come, let us go over to the garrisons of these uncircumcised; perhaps Yahweh will act for us, for there is no hindrance for Yahweh to save by many or by few."

Do I have such a shortage of crazy people that you brought this one to act crazy around me? Is this one going to come into my house?”

May the LORD act as judge, and may he decide between me and you. May he see, may he plead my case, and may he vindicate me in this dispute against you."

And David sent to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, May the Lord give you his blessing, because you have done this kind act to Saul your lord, and have put his body to rest!

May the Lord be good and true to you: and I myself will see that your kind act is rewarded, because you have done this thing.

Act now! For the Lord has said to David, 'By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the Philistines and from all their enemies.'"