'God' in the Bible

Because God fought for them, they killed many of the enemy. They dispossessed the Hagrites and lived in their land until the exile.

But they were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors and worshiped instead the gods of the native peoples whom God had destroyed before them.

So the God of Israel stirred up King Pul of Assyria (that is, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria), and he carried away the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh and took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan, where they remain to this very day.

In the past, even when Saul was king, you were Israel's commanding general. The Lord your God said to you, 'You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over my people Israel.'"

and said, "God forbid that I should do this! Should I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?" Because they risked their lives to bring it to him, he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors.

David went out to meet them and said, "If you come to me in peace and want to help me, then I will make an alliance with you. But if you come to betray me to my enemies when I have not harmed you, may the God of our ancestors take notice and judge!"

But a spirit empowered Amasai, the leader of the thirty warriors, and he said: "We are yours, O David! We support you, O son of Jesse! May you greatly prosper! May those who help you prosper! Indeed your God helps you!" So David accepted them and made them leaders of raiding bands.

David said to the whole Israelite assembly, "If you so desire and the Lord our God approves, let's spread the word to our brothers who remain in all the regions of Israel, and to the priests and Levites in their cities, so they may join us.

Let's move the ark of our God back here, for we did not seek his will throughout Saul's reign."

So David assembled all Israel from the Shihor River in Egypt to Lebo Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim.

David and all Israel went up to Baalah (that is, Kiriath Jearim) in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, who sits enthroned between the cherubim -- the ark that is called by his name.

while David and all Israel were energetically celebrating before God, singing and playing various stringed instruments, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.

The Lord was so furious with Uzzah, he killed him, because he reached out his hand and touched the ark. He died right there before God.

David was afraid of God that day and said, "How will I ever be able to bring the ark of God up here?"

The ark of God remained in Obed-Edom's house for three months; the Lord blessed Obed-Edom's family and everything that belonged to him.

David asked God, "Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?" The Lord said to him, "March up! I will hand them over to you!"

So they marched against Baal Perazim and David defeated them there. David said, "Using me as his instrument, God has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out." So that place is called Baal Perazim.

So David again asked God what he should do. This time God told him, "Don't march up after them; circle around them and come against them in front of the trees.

David did just as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer.

David constructed buildings in the City of David; he then prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

Then David said, "Only the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to serve before him perpetually.

He told them: "You are the leaders of the Levites' families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves and bring the ark of the Lord God of Israel up to the place I have prepared for it.

The first time you did not carry it; that is why the Lord God attacked us, because we did not ask him about the proper way to carry it."

The priests and Levites consecrated themselves so they could bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.

The descendants of Levi carried the ark of God on their shoulders with poles, just as Moses had ordered according to the divine command.

Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer the priests were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God; Obed-Edom and Jehiel were also guardians of the ark.

When God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the Lord's covenant, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

They brought the ark of God and put it in the middle of the tent David had pitched for it. Then they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.

He appointed some of the Levites to serve before the ark of the Lord, to offer prayers, songs of thanks, and hymns to the Lord God of Israel.

He is the Lord our God; he carries out judgment throughout the earth.

Say this prayer: "Deliver us, O God who delivers us! Gather us! Rescue us from the nations! Then we will give thanks to your holy name, and boast about your praiseworthy deeds."

May the Lord God of Israel be praised, in the future and forevermore. Then all the people said, "We agree! Praise the Lord!"

Heman and Jeduthun were in charge of the music, including the trumpets, cymbals, and the other musical instruments used in praising God. The sons of Jeduthun guarded the entrance.

Nathan said to David, "You should do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you."

That night God told Nathan the prophet,

David went in, sat before the Lord, and said: "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you should have brought me to this point?

And you did not stop there, O God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant's family. You have revealed to me what men long to know, O Lord God.

O Lord, there is none like you; there is no God besides you! What we heard is true!

And who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation in the earth? Their God went to claim a nation for himself! You made a name for yourself by doing great and awesome deeds when you drove out nations before your people whom you had delivered from the Egyptian empire and its gods.

You made Israel your very own nation for all time. You, O Lord, became their God.

so it may become a reality and you may gain lasting fame, as people say, 'The Lord who commands armies is the God of Israel.' David's dynasty will be established before you,

for you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a dynasty for him. That is why your servant has had the courage to pray to you.

Now, O Lord, you are the true God; you have made this good promise to your servant.

Be strong! Let's fight bravely for the sake of our people and the cities of our God! The Lord will do what he decides is best!"

God was also offended by it, so he attacked Israel.

David said to God, "I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly."

God sent an angel to ravage Jerusalem. As he was doing so, the Lord watched and relented from his judgment. He told the angel who was destroying, "That's enough! Stop now!" Now the Lord's angel was standing near the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

David said to God, "Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed! As for these sheep -- what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family, but remove the plague from your people!"

David then said, "This is the place where the temple of the Lord God will be, along with the altar for burnt sacrifices for Israel."

He summoned his son Solomon and charged him to build a temple for the Lord God of Israel.

David said to Solomon: "My son, I really wanted to build a temple to honor the Lord my God.

"Now, my son, may the Lord be with you! May you succeed and build a temple for the Lord your God, just as he announced you would.

Only may the Lord give you insight and understanding when he places you in charge of Israel, so you may obey the law of the Lord your God.

He told them, "The Lord your God is with you! He has made you secure on every side, for he handed over to me the inhabitants of the region and the region is subdued before the Lord and his people.

Now seek the Lord your God wholeheartedly and with your entire being! Get up and build the sanctuary of the Lord God! Then you can bring the ark of the Lord's covenant and the holy items dedicated to God's service into the temple that is built to honor the Lord."

The descendants of Moses the man of God were considered Levites.

For David said, "The Lord God of Israel has given his people rest and has permanently settled in Jerusalem.

They divided them by lots, for there were officials of the holy place and officials designated by God among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar.

This was the order in which they carried out their assigned responsibilities when they entered the Lord's temple, according to the regulations given them by their ancestor Aaron, just as the Lord God of Israel had instructed him.

All these were the sons of Heman, the king's prophet. God had promised him these sons in order to make him prestigious. God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

the sixth Ammiel, the seventh Issachar, and the eighth Peullethai. (Indeed, God blessed Obed-Edom.)

Jeriah had 2,700 relatives who were respected family leaders. King David placed them in charge of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh; they took care of all matters pertaining to God and the king.

Joab son of Zeruiah started to count the men but did not finish. God was angry with Israel because of this, so the number was not recorded in the scroll called The Annals of King David.

King David rose to his feet and said: "Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I wanted to build a temple where the ark of the Lord's covenant could be placed as a footstool for our God. I have made the preparations for building it.

But God said to me, 'You must not build a temple to honor me, for you are a warrior and have spilled blood.'

The Lord God of Israel chose me out of my father's entire family to become king over Israel and have a permanent dynasty. Indeed, he chose Judah as leader, and my father's family within Judah, and then he picked me out from among my father's sons and made me king over all Israel.

So now, in the sight of all Israel, the Lord's assembly, and in the hearing of our God, I say this: Carefully observe all the commands of the Lord your God, so that you may possess this good land and may leave it as a permanent inheritance for your children after you.

"And you, Solomon my son, obey the God of your father and serve him with a submissive attitude and a willing spirit, for the Lord examines all minds and understands every motive of one's thoughts. If you seek him, he will let you find him, but if you abandon him, he will reject you permanently.

David said to his son Solomon: "Be strong and brave! Do it! Don't be afraid and don't panic! For the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not leave you or abandon you before all the work for the service of the Lord's temple is finished.

King David said to the entire assembly: "My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is just an inexperienced young man, and the task is great, for this palace is not for man, but for the Lord God.

So I have made every effort to provide what is needed for the temple of my God, including the gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, as well as a large amount of onyx, settings of antimony and other stones, all kinds of precious stones, and alabaster.

Now, to show my commitment to the temple of my God, I donate my personal treasure of gold and silver to the temple of my God, in addition to all that I have already supplied for this holy temple.

David praised the Lord before the entire assembly: "O Lord God of our father Israel, you deserve praise forevermore!

Now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your majestic name!

O Lord our God, all this wealth, which we have collected to build a temple for you to honor your holy name, comes from you; it all belongs to you.

I know, my God, that you examine thoughts and are pleased with integrity. With pure motives I contribute all this; and now I look with joy as your people who have gathered here contribute to you.

O Lord God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, maintain the motives of your people and keep them devoted to you.

David told the entire assembly: "Praise the Lord your God!" So the entire assembly praised the Lord God of their ancestors; they bowed down and stretched out flat on the ground before the Lord and the king.

Solomon son of David solidified his royal authority, for the Lord his God was with him and magnified him greatly.

Solomon and the entire assembly went to the worship center in Gibeon, for the tent where they met God was located there, which Moses the Lord's servant had made in the wilderness.

(Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.

That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, "Tell me what I should give you."

Solomon replied to God, "You demonstrated great loyalty to my father David and have made me king in his place.

Now, Lord God, may your promise to my father David be realized, for you have made me king over a great nation as numerous as the dust of the earth.

God said to Solomon, "Because you desire this, and did not ask for riches, wealth, and honor, or for vengeance on your enemies, and because you did not ask for long life, but requested wisdom and discernment so you can make judicial decisions for my people over whom I have made you king,

Look, I am ready to build a temple to honor the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him in order to burn fragrant incense before him, to set out the bread that is regularly displayed, and to offer burnt sacrifices each morning and evening, and on Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and at other times appointed by the Lord our God. This is something Israel must do on a permanent basis.

I will build a great temple, for our God is greater than all gods.

Huram also said, "Worthy of praise is the Lord God of Israel, who made the sky and the earth! He has given David a wise son who has discernment and insight and will build a temple for the Lord, as well as a royal palace for himself.

The priests and Levites carried the ark, the tent where God appeared to his people, and all the holy items in the tent.

He said, "The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled what he promised my father David.

Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel.

The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David's place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the Lord God of Israel

and prayed: "O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty to your servants who obey you with sincerity.

Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, 'You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.'

Now, O Lord God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized.

"God does not really live with humankind on the earth! Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built!

But respond favorably to your servant's prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you.

"Now, my God, may you be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.

Now ascend, O Lord God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! May your priests, O Lord God, experience your deliverance! May your loyal followers rejoice in the prosperity you give!

O Lord God, do not reject your chosen ones! Remember the faithful promises you made to your servant David!"