'Life' in the Bible

Then his servants said to him, It is said that the kings of Israel are full of mercy: let us then put on haircloth, and cords on our heads, and go to the king of Israel; it may be that he will give you your life.

So they put on haircloth, and cords on their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, Your servant Ben-hadad says, Let me now keep my life. And he said, Is he still living? he is my brother.

And when the king went by, crying out to him he said, Your servant went out into the fight; and a man came out to me with another man and said, Keep this man: if by any chance he gets away, your life will be the price of his life, or you will have to give a talent of silver in payment.

And he said to him, These are the words of the Lord: Because you have let go from your hands the man whom I had put to the curse, your life will be taken for his life, and your people for his people.

Then he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men; and the third captain of fifty went up, and falling on his knees before Elijah, requesting mercy of him, said, O man of God, let my life and the life of these your fifty servants be of value to you.

For fire came down from heaven and put an end to the first two captains of fifty and their fifties; but now let my life be of value in your eyes.

Then Elisha said, By the life of the Lord of armies whose servant I am, if it was not for the respect I have for Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, I would not give a look at you, or see you.

And he took him in to his mother, and she took him on her knees and kept him there till the middle of the day, when his life went from him.

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?

But he said, By the life of the Lord whose servant I am, I will take nothing from you. And he did his best to make him take it but he would not.

But Elisha was in his house, and the responsible men were seated there with him; and before the king got there, Elisha said to those who were with him, Do you see how this cruel and violent man has sent to take away my life?

If we say, We will go into the town, there is no food in the town, and we will come to our end there; and if we go on waiting here, death will come to us. Come then, let us give ourselves up to the army of Aram: if they let us go on living, then life will be ours; and if they put us to death, then death will be ours.

Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had given back to life, Go now, with all the people of your house, and get a living-place for yourselves wherever you are able; for by the word of the Lord, there will be great need of food in the land; and this will go on for seven years.

And while he was giving the king the story of how Elisha had given life to the dead, the woman whose son had come back to life came to the king with a request for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, My lord king, this is the woman and this is her son, whose life Elisha gave back to him.

And when Jehu was coming into the town, she said, Is all well, O Zimri, taker of your master's life?

Then they went in to make offerings and burned offerings. Now Jehu had put eighty men outside, and said to them, If any man whom I give into your hands gets away, the life of him who lets him go will be the price of his life.

Then he made the king's son come out, and put the crown on him and the arm-bands, and made him king, and put the holy oil on him; and they all, making sounds of joy with their hands, said, Long life to the king.

And while they were putting a dead man into the earth, they saw a band coming; and they put the man quickly into the place where Elisha's body was; and the dead man, on touching Elisha's bones, came to life again, and got up on his feet.

Now when he became strong in the kingdom, straight away he put to death those servants who had taken the life of the king his father;

Till I come and take you away to a land like yours, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vine-gardens, a land of oil-giving olives and of honey, so that life and not death may be your fate. Give no attention to Hezekiah when he says to you, The Lord will keep us safe.

I will give you fifteen more years of life; and I will keep you and this town safe from the hands of the king of Assyria; I will keep this town safe, for my honour, and for the honour of my servant David.

And his prison clothing was changed, and he was a guest at the king's table every day for the rest of his life.

And for his food, the king gave him a regular amount every day for the rest of his life.

Saying, By my God, far be it from me to do this! How may I take as drink the life-blood of these men who have put their lives in danger? so he did not take it. These things did the three great men of war.

And David went out to them, and said to them, If you have come in peace to give me help, my heart will be united with yours; but if you have come to give me up to those who would take my life, though my hands are clean from wrongdoing, then may the God of our fathers see it and give you punishment.

But God said to me, You are not to be the builder of a house for my name, because you are a man of war and have taken life;

And he came to his end after a long life, full of days and great wealth and honour; and Solomon his son became king in his place.

And God said to Solomon, Because this was in your heart, and you did not make request for money, property, or honour, or for the destruction of your haters, or for long life; but you have made request for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, so that you may be the judge of my people over whom I have made you king:

If my people, on whom my name is named, make themselves low and come to me in prayer, searching for me and turning from their evil ways; then I will give ear from heaven, overlooking their sin, and will give life again to their land.

But the high places were not taken away out of Israel; but still the heart of Asa was true to the Lord all his life.

Then they made the king's son come out, and they put the crown on his head and gave him the arm-bands and made him king: and Jehoiada and his sons put the holy oil on him and said, Long life to the king.

Now when he became strong in the kingdom, he put to death those men who had taken the life of the king his father.

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 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.

And gave witness against them so that you might make them come back again to your law: but their hearts were lifted up, and they gave no attention to your orders and went against your decisions (which, if a man keeps them, will be life to him), and turning their backs on you, made their necks stiff and did not give ear.

Then Esther the queen, answering, said, If I have your approval, O king, and if it is the king's pleasure, let my life be given to me in answer to my prayer, and my people at my request:

And the king in his wrath got up from the feast and went into the garden: and Haman got to his feet to make a prayer for his life to Esther the queen: for he saw that the king's purpose was evil against him.

And the Satan said in answer to the Lord, Skin for skin, all a man has he will give for his life.

And the Lord said to the Satan, See, he is in your hands, only do not take his life.

Why does he give light to him who is in trouble, and life to the bitter in soul;

Is not your fear of God your support, and your upright way of life your hope?

O, keep in mind that my life is wind: my eye will never again see good.

I have no desire for life, I would not be living for ever! Keep away from me, for my days are as a breath.

I have done no wrong; I give no thought to what becomes of me; I have no desire for life.

My soul is tired of life; I will let my sad thoughts go free in words; my soul will make a bitter outcry.

Are not the days of my life small in number? Let your eyes be turned away from me, so that I may have a little pleasure,

And your life will be brighter than day; though it is dark, it will become like the morning.

Old men have wisdom, and a long life gives knowledge.

I will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand.

For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end.

If death takes a man, will he come to life again? All the days of my trouble I would be waiting, till the time came for me to be free.

His bowmen come round about me; their arrows go through my body without mercy; my life is drained out on the earth.

How long will you make my life bitter, crushing me with words?

Why is life given to the evil-doers? why do they become old and strong in power?

But God by his power gives long life to the strong; he gets up again, though he has no hope of life.

By the life of God, who has taken away my right; and of the Ruler of all, who has made my soul bitter;

(For all my breath is still in me, and the spirit of God is my life;)

I will keep it safe, and will not let it go: my heart has nothing to say against any part of my life.

They are wasted for need of food, biting the dry earth; their only hope of life is in the waste land.

Did not God make him as well as me? did he not give us life in our mothers' bodies?

(For I did not let my mouth give way to sin, in putting a curse on his life;)

The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Ruler of all gives me life.

To keep back his soul from the underworld, and his life from destruction.

And his soul comes near to the underworld, and his life to the angels of death.

And if he has mercy on him, and says, Let him not go down to the underworld, I have given the price for his life:

He kept my soul from the underworld, and my life sees the light in full measure.

Keeping back his soul from the underworld, so that he may see the light of life.

Truly, God gives up the hard-hearted, and will not give life to the sinner.

If they give ear to his voice, and do his word, then he gives them long life, and years full of pleasure.

They come to their end while they are still young, their life is short like that of those who are used for sex purposes in the worship of their gods.

And the Lord's blessing was greater on the end of Job's life than on its start: and so he came to have fourteen thousand sheep and goats, and six thousand camels, and two thousand oxen, and a thousand she-asses.

And after this Job had a hundred and forty years of life, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations.

Let my hater go after my soul and take it; let my life be crushed to the earth, and my honour into the dust. (Selah.)

You will make clear to me the way of life; where you are joy is complete; in your right hand there are pleasures for ever and ever.

The law of the Lord is good, giving new life to the soul: the witness of the Lord is certain, giving wisdom to the foolish.

He made request to you for life, and you gave it to him, long life for ever and ever.

Make my soul safe from the sword, my life from the power of the dog.

The poor will have a feast of good things: those who make search for the Lord will give him praise: your heart will have life for ever.

All the fat ones of the earth will give him worship; all those who go down to the dust will make themselves low before him, even he who has not enough for the life of his soul.

Let not my soul be numbered among sinners, or my life among men of blood;

The Lord is my light and my salvation; who is then a cause of fear to me? the Lord is the strength of my life; who is a danger to me?

One prayer have I made to the Lord, and this is my heart's desire; that I may have a place in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, looking on his glory, and getting wisdom in his Temple.

My life goes on in sorrow, and my years in weeping; my strength is almost gone because of my sin, and my bones are wasted away.

False statements against me have come to my ears; fear was on every side: they were talking together against me, designing to take away my life.

The chances of my life are in your hand; take me out of the hands of my haters, and of those who go after me.

What man has a love of life, and a desire that his days may be increased so that he may see good?

Lord, how long will you be looking on? take my soul from their destruction, my life from the lions.

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judging is like the great deep; O Lord, you give life to man and beast.

For with you is the fountain of life: in your light we will see light.

Put your life in the hands of the Lord; have faith in him and he will do it.

The Lord will keep him safe, and give him life; the Lord will let him be a blessing on the earth, and will not give him into the hand of his haters.

But the Lord will send his mercy in the daytime, and in the night his song will be with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

So that he might have eternal life, and never see the underworld.

Because you have taken my soul from the power of death; and kept my feet from falling, so that I may be walking before God in the light of life.

You will give the king long life; and make his years go on through the generations.

O God, let the voice of my grief come to your ear: keep my life from the fear of those who are against me.

The year is crowned with the good you give; life-giving rain is dropping from your footsteps,

Because he gives us life, and has not let our feet be moved.

The poor will see it and be glad: you who are lovers of God, let your hearts have life.

You, who have sent great and bitter troubles on me, will give me life again, lifting me up from the deep waters of the underworld.