'Myself' in the Bible

He said, “I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

Abraham answered, “Now behold, I who am but dust [in origin] and ashes have decided to speak to the Lord.

And he said, “Now behold, I have decided to speak to the Lord [again]. Suppose [only] twenty [righteous people] are found there?” And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

and said, “By Myself (on the basis of Who I Am) I have sworn [an oath], declares the Lord, that since you have done this thing and have not withheld [from Me] your son, your only son [of promise],

‘My father made me swear [an oath], saying, “Hear me, I am about to die; bury me in my tomb which I prepared for myself in the land of Canaan.” So now let me go up [to Canaan], please, and bury my father; then I will return.’”

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob (Israel) as God Almighty [El Shaddai], but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them [in acts and great miracles].

‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.

“But as for you, say to the Israelites, ‘You shall most certainly observe My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that I am the Lord who sanctifies you and sets you apart [for Myself].

for all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine; I am the Lord.”

for they are wholly given to Me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for Myself instead of all who are born first, the firstborn of all the Israelites.

For all the firstborn among the Israelites are Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified and set the Israelites apart for Myself.

And He said,“Hear now My words:If there is a prophet among you,I the Lord will make Myself known to him in a visionAnd I will speak to him in a dream.

It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him [and there will be consequences].

As for all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, even all the Sidonians, I will drive them out before Israel; only allot the land to Israel as an inheritance just as I have commanded you.

She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as I have time after time and shake myself free.” For Samson did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

The closest relative (redeemer) said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, because [by marrying a Moabitess] I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption (purchase) yourself, because I cannot redeem it.”

Then a man of God (prophet) came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Did I not plainly reveal Myself to the house of your father (ancestor) when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house?

But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him a permanent and enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed forever.

therefore, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked for the Lord’s favor [by making supplication to Him].’ So I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.”

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve for Saul, when I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have chosen a king for Myself among his sons.”

David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the New Moon [observance], and I should sit at the table to eat [the sacrificial meal] with the king; but let me go, so that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening.

And blessed be your discretion and discernment, and blessed be you, who has kept me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself by my own hand.

Yet I will demean myself even more than this, and will be humbled (abased) in my own sight [and yours, as I please], but by the maids whom you mentioned, by them I shall be held in honor.”

As for me, how could I get rid of my shame and disgrace? And you, you will be considered one of the fools in Israel. So now, just speak to the king [about taking me as your wife], for he will not withhold me from you.”

Then David sent the army out, a third under the command of Joab, a third under Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and a third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the men, “I myself will certainly go out [to fight] with you.”

“I was also blameless before Him,And kept myself from wrongdoing.

Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts (armies) lives, before whom I stand, I will certainly show myself to Ahab today.”

Yet I will leave 7,000 [survivors] in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed down to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and enter the battle, but you put on your [royal] clothing.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.

In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master [the king] goes into the house of [his god] Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow in the house of Rimmon, when I bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant in this matter [of attending the king when he worships].”

Then David the king rose to his feet and said, “Hear me, my brothers [in arms] and my people. I had intended to build a permanent home for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and as a footstool for our God, and I prepared materials for the building.

Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and will go into battle, but you put on your [royal] robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into the battle.

Haman also said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the banquet she had prepared; and tomorrow also I am invited by her [together] with the king.

“As I have seen, those who plow wickednessAnd those who sow trouble and harm harvest it.

“Is it that I have no help within myself,And that success and wisdom have been driven from me?

“If I have sinned, what [harm] have I done to You,O Watcher of mankind?Why have You set me as a target for You,So that I am a burden to myself?

“[Though] I am blameless,I do not care about myself;I despise my life.

“If I were to wash myself with snowAnd cleanse my hands with lye,

“Then I would speak [my defense] and not fear Him;But I am not like that in myself.

‘Should I lift my head up, You would hunt me like a lion;And again You would show Your marvelous power against me.

“Only [O Lord,] do not do two things to me,And then I will not hide myself from Your face:

Whom I, even I, will see for myself,And my eyes will see Him and not another!My heart faints within me.

“Have I rejoiced at the destruction of the enemy [who hated me],Or exulted [in malicious triumph] when evil overtook him?

“Therefore I retract [my words and hate myself]And I repent in dust and ashes.”

Keep and protect me, O God, for in You I have placed my trust and found refuge.

As for me, I shall see Your face in righteousness;I will be [fully] satisfied when I awake [to find myself] seeing Your likeness.

I was blameless before Him,And I kept myself free from my sin.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth (mourning garment);I humbled my soul with fasting,And I prayed with my head bowed on my chest.

These things I [vividly] remember as I pour out my soul;How I used to go along before the great crowd of people and lead them in procession to the house of God [like a choirmaster before his singers, timing the steps to the music and the chant of the song],With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a great crowd keeping a festival.

When I wept and humbled myself with fasting,It became my reproach.

Make Your servant rejoice,For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul [all that I am—in prayer].

I will behave wisely and follow the way of integrity.When will You come to me?I will walk in my house in integrity and with a blameless heart.

Awake, harp and lyre;I will awaken the dawn!

I will delight in Your statutes;I will not forget Your word.

For I shall delight in Your commandments,Which I love.

Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;Nor do I involve myself in great matters,Or in things too difficult for me.

And I set my mind to seek and explore by [man’s] wisdom all [human activity] that has been done under heaven. It is a miserable business and a burdensome task which God has given the sons of men with which to be busy and distressed.

I made great works: I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself;

I made gardens and orchards for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;

I made pools of water for myself from which to water the forest and make the trees bud.

Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male singers and female singers, and the delights and pleasures of men—many concubines.

And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity (futility, self-conceit).

There was a certain man—without a dependent, having neither a child nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “For whom do I labor and deprive myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity (a wisp of smoke, self-conceit); yes, it is a painful effort and an unhappy task.

Therefore the Lord God of hosts,The Mighty One of Israel, declares:“Ah, I will be freed of My adversariesAnd avenge Myself on My enemies.

I [the Lord] have commanded My consecrated ones,I have even called My great warriors,My proudly exulting ones [the Medes and the Persians who triumph for My honor]—To execute My anger.

‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;I will make myself like the Most High.’

“Now I will arise,” says the Lord.“Now I will be exalted; now I will be lifted up.

“I lay down until morning.Like a lion, so He breaks all my bones;From day until night You bring me to an end.

“I [the Lord] have been silent for a long time,I have been still and restrained Myself.Now I will moan like a woman in labor,I will both gasp and pant.

“The people whom I formed for MyselfWill make known My praise.

For the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb says this,“I am the Lord, Maker of all things,Who alone stretches out the heavens,Who spreads out the earth by Myself,

“I have sworn [an oath] by Myself,The word is gone out of My mouth in righteousnessAnd shall not return,That to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear [allegiance].

“Shall I not punish them [for these things]?” says the Lord;“Shall I not avenge MyselfOn a nation such as this?”

‘Shall I not punish them [for these things]?’ says the Lord.‘Shall I not avenge MyselfOn such a nation as this?’

Has this house, which is called by My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes [a place of retreat for you between acts of violence]? Behold, I Myself have seen it,” says the Lord.

Oh, that I (Jeremiah) could find comfort from my sorrow [for my grief is beyond healing],My heart is sick and faint within me!

“Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord.“Shall I not avenge MyselfOn such a nation as this?

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

I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm in anger, in fury, and in great indignation and wrath.

But if you will not hear and obey these words, I swear [an oath] by Myself,” says the Lord, “that this house will become a desolation.”’”

Who says, ‘I will build myself a spacious houseWith large upper rooms,And cut out its [wide] windows,And panel it with cedar and paint it vermilion.’

“Now when this people or a prophet or a priest asks you [in jest], ‘What is the oracle of the Lord [the burden to be lifted up and carried]?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘What oracle [besides the one that declares you people to be the burden]!’ The Lord says, ‘I will unburden Myself and I will abandon you.’

‘If you will indeed remain in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent and be satisfied concerning the disaster that I have inflicted on you [as discipline, and I will replace judgment with compassion].

For I have sworn [an oath] by Myself,” says the Lord, “that Bozrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin, and a curse; and all its cities will become perpetual ruins.”

But I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold (hear me), I have never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what died on its own or was torn by beasts, nor has any unclean meat ever entered my mouth.”

Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be exiled, how I have been broken by their lewdness and their adulterous hearts which have turned away from Me, and by their eyes which lust after their idols; and they will loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed, for all their repulsive acts.

“Son of man, these men have set up [and honored] their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the [vile] stumbling block of their wickedness and guilt; should I [permit Myself to] be consulted by them at all?

For anyone of the house of Israel or among the strangers who immigrate to Israel who separates himself from Me, taking his idols into his heart, and puts right before his face the [vile] stumbling block of his wickedness and guilt, and [then] comes to the prophet to ask of Me for himself, I the Lord will answer him Myself.

Thus says the Lord God, “I Myself will take a twig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day when I chose Israel and lifted up My hand and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God,

But I acted for My Name’s sake, that it would not be profaned in the sight of the [pagan] nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God,“Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,The great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers,[Boastfully] declaring, ‘My Nile is my own, and I have made it for myself.’

For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out.

Therefore thus says the Lord God to them, “Behold, I Myself will judge between the [well-fed] fat sheep and the lean sheep.

therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will deal with you in accordance with the anger and envy you showed because of your hatred for them; and I will make Myself known among them [as Judge] when I judge and punish you.

I ate no tasty food, nor did any meat or wine enter my mouth; and I did not anoint (refresh, groom) myself at all for the full three weeks.

“I will sow her for Myself in the land.I will also have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy;And I will say to those who were not My people,‘You are My people,’And they will say, ‘You are my God!’”

Ephraim said, “I have indeed become rich [and powerful as a nation];I have found wealth for myself.In all my labors they will not find in meAny wickedness that would be sin.”

With what shall I come before the Lord [to honor Him]And bow myself before God on high?Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,With yearling calves?