'May' in the Bible

For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem,“Plow your uncultivated ground [for a season],And do not sow among thorns.

O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness,That you may be saved.How long will your wicked and immoral thoughtsLodge within you?

‘They are fat and they are sleek (prosperous),They excel in acts of wickedness;They do not plead the cause,The cause of the orphan, so that they [the wicked] may prosper,And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

To whom shall I (Jeremiah) speak and give warningThat they may hear?Behold, their ears are closed [absolutely deaf to God]And they cannot listen.Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reprimand and an object of scorn to them;They have no delight in it.

“I [the Lord] have set you as an assayer [O Jeremiah] and as a tester [of the ore] of My people,That you may know and analyze their acts.”

The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods that they may offend and provoke Me to anger.

But this thing I did command them: ‘Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, so that it may be well with you.’

Who is the wise man who may understand this [without any doubt]? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, so that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?

“Let them hurry and take up a wailing for us,That our eyes may shed tearsAnd our eyelids flow with water.

For thus says the Lord;“Behold, I am slinging out at this time the people of this land,And will cause them [great] distress,That they may find it [to be as I have said].”

that I may complete the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.”’” Then I answered, “Amen (so be it), O Lord.”

But I was like a gentle and tame lamb brought to the slaughter;And I did not know that they had devised plots and schemes against me, saying,“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit;Let us cut him off from the land of the living,That his name be remembered no longer.”

“So I Myself will throw your skirts up over your face,That your shame may be exposed [publicly].

“O Lord, though our many sins testify against us” [prays Jeremiah],“Act now [for us and] for Your name’s sake [so that the faithless may witness Your faithfulness]!For our backslidings are countless;We have sinned against You.

saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way and the evil of your actions [that you may not forfeit the right to] live in the land that the Lord has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever;

It may be that they will listen and everyone will turn from his wickedness, so that I may relent and reverse [My decision concerning] the disaster which I am planning to do to them because of their malevolent deeds.’

But if they are [true] prophets, and if the word of the Lord is [really spoken] by them, let them now entreat the Lord of hosts that the articles which are [still] left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon.

and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord confirm and fulfill your words which you have prophesied to bring back the articles of the Lord’s house and all the captives, from Babylon to this place.

Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there and do not decrease [in number].

“I have surely heard Ephraim (Israel) moaning and grieving,‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised,Like a bull unaccustomed to the yoke or an untrained calf;Bring me back that I may be restored,For You are the Lord my God.

‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this unsealed deed, and put them in an earthen jar, that they may last a long time.”

and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may [reverently] fear Me forever, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

Nor shall you build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard or own one; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners (temporary residents).’

It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster which I plan to bring on them, so that each one will turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their wickedness and their sin.”

It may be that their supplication [for mercy] will come before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.”

“Take him and look after him; do nothing to harm him, but rather deal with him just as he asks of you.”

that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.”

Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to act in accordance with all the things that the Lord your God sends you to tell us.

Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to and honor the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”

And I will show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own land.

But Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Chaldeans, so they may [either] put us to death or exile us to Babylon.”

And this will be the sign to you,’ says the Lord, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will surely stand against you for harm.’

For that day belongs to the Lord God of hosts,A day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries.And the sword will devour and be satiatedAnd drink its fill of their blood;For the Lord God of hosts has a sacrifice [like that of a great sin offering]In the north country by the river Euphrates.

“Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is His name.He will most certainly plead their case and defend their causeSo that He may bring rest to their land,But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

“A sword against the oracle priests (the babbling liars), and they will become fools!A sword against her mighty warriors, and they will be shattered and destroyed!

“A sword against their horses and against their chariotsAnd against all the foreign troops that are in her midst,And they will become [as weak and defenseless as] women!A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!

“A drought on her waters, and they will dry up!For it is a land of [worthless] idols,And they are mad over fearsome idols [those objects of terror in which they foolishly trust].

Babylon has suddenly fallen and is shattered!Wail for her [if you care to]!Get balm for her [incurable] pain;Perhaps she may be healed.

“May the violence done to me and to my flesh and blood be upon Babylon,”The inhabitant of Zion will say;And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”Jerusalem will say.

“When they are inflamed [with wine and lust during their drinking bouts], I will prepare them a feast [of My wrath]And make them drunk, that they may rejoiceAnd may sleep a perpetual sleepAnd not wake up,” declares the Lord.