'Ourselves' in the Bible

And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Then we will give you our daughters, take your daughters for ourselves, live with you, and become one people.

“What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed your servants’ iniquity. We are now my lord’s slaves—both we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.”

So we have presented to the Lord an offering of the gold articles each man found—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”

But we will arm ourselves and be ready to go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Meanwhile, our dependents will remain in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

We took only the livestock and the spoil from the cities we captured as plunder for ourselves.

But we took all the livestock and the spoil from the cities as plunder for ourselves.

Wasn’t the sin of Peor, which brought a plague on the Lord’s community, enough for us, so that we have not cleansed ourselves from it even to this day,

that we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from Him. May the Lord Himself hold us accountable if we intended to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it.

“Therefore we said: Let us take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offering or sacrifice.

They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants, so we won’t die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of requesting a king for ourselves.”

Be strong! We must prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.”

Please let us go to the Jordan where we can each get a log and can build ourselves a place to live there.”“Go,” he said.

Be strong! We must prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.”

I proclaimed a fast by the Ahava River, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us, our children, and all our possessions.

We will impose the following commands on ourselves: To give an eighth of an ounce of silver yearly for the service of the house of our God:

Let us judge for ourselves what is right;let us decide together what is good.

“Let us tear off their chainsand free ourselves from their restraints.”

who said, “Let us seize God’s pastures for ourselves.”

‘Let us go up against Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it for ourselves. Then we can install Tabeel’s son as king in it.’”

“Why have we fasted, but You have not seen?We have denied ourselves, but You haven’t noticed!”“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,and oppress all your workers.

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all the people of Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and plead for the Lord’s favor, and did not the Lord relent concerning the disaster He had pronounced against them? We are about to bring great harm on ourselves!”

you who rejoice over Lo-debarand say, “Didn’t we capture Karnaimfor ourselves by our own strength?”

And forgive us our sins,for we ourselves also forgive everyonein debt to us.And do not bring us into temptation.”

“Why do we need any more testimony,” they said, “since we’ve heard it ourselves from His mouth?”

And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”

But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the preaching ministry.”

We ourselves are witnesses of everything He did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem, yet they killed Him by hanging Him on a tree.

And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors.

After we tore ourselves away from them and set sail, we came by a direct route to Cos, the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

These men went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under a solemn curse that we won’t eat anything until we have killed Paul.

And not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.

If we were properly evaluating ourselves, we would not be judged,

He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Indeed, we personally had a death sentence within ourselves, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.

For this is our confidence: The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with God-given sincerity and purity, not by fleshly wisdom but by God’s grace.

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you?

It is not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God.

Instead, we have renounced shameful secret things, not walking in deceit or distorting God’s message, but commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in God’s sight by an open display of the truth.

For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves because of Jesus.

We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in the outward appearance rather than in the heart.

But as God’s ministers, we commend ourselves in everything:by great endurance, by afflictions,by hardship, by difficulties,

Therefore, dear friends, since we have such promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, completing our sanctification in the fear of God.

For we don’t dare classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves, they lack understanding.

For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, since we have come to you with the gospel of Christ.

You have thought all along that we were defending ourselves to you. No, in the sight of God we are speaking in Christ, and everything, dear friends, is for building you up.

But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not!

You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers.

Therefore, we ourselves boast about you among God’s churches—about your endurance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you endure.

It is not that we don’t have the right to support, but we did it to make ourselves an example to you so that you would imitate us.

Pray for us; for we are convinced that we have a clear conscience, wanting to conduct ourselves honorably in everything.

If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.