'Please' in the Bible

So Absalom responded, "If you aren't coming, please allow my brother Amnon to accompany us." The king asked, "Why should he go with you?"

Then Absalom instructed his young men, "Please keep watching Amnon until he's drunk. Then I'll tell you, "Attack Amnon!' As soon as I do, kill him and don't be afraid! You have your orders, so be strong and brave!"

so he sent messengers to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, "Please play the role of a mourner, wear the clothes of a mourner, and refrain from using makeup. Act like a woman who's been in mourning for the dead for many days.

Now please pay attention closely! My whole family is attacking your humble servant! They're saying, "Turn over the one who attacked his brother and we'll put him to death in retribution for his brother, whose life he took. That way, we'll kill the heir also!' They're going to extinguish the only light left in my family, leaving my late husband neither an ongoing name nor a survivor on the face of the earth!"

Then she said, "Your majesty, please remember the LORD your God, so that blood avengers don't do any more damage! Otherwise, they'll destroy my son!" So he promised, "As the LORD lives, not even a single hair from your son's head will fall to the ground!"

At this, the woman responded, "Would your majesty the king please allow your humble servant to say one more thing?" "Say it"" he replied.

"So your humble servant is saying, "Please, your majesty, let what the king has to say be of comfort, because just as the angel of God is, so also is your majesty the king to discern both good and evil. And may the LORD your God remain present with you.'"

In reply, the king asked the woman, "Please don't conceal anything about which I'm going to be asking you now." So the woman replied, "Please, your majesty, let the king speak."

And so it was that forty years after Israel had demanded a king, Absalom asked the king, "Please let me go to Hebron so I can pay my vow that I made to the LORD,

Just then, someone told David, "Ahithophel is one of Absalom's conspirators!" So David prayed, "LORD, please turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness."

"Please," Zadok's son Ahimaaz continued, "No matter what happens, let me follow the Ethiopian!" Joab asked him, "Why this request to run, my son? There's no reward in it for you."

Please let your servant return so I can die in my own home town near the grave of my father and mother. Meanwhile, here is your servant Chimham! Let him accompany your majesty the king. Please do for him whatever seems best to you."

Later, David's conscience bothered him after he had numbered the army, so David told the LORD, "I have sinned greatly by what I did. But now I am asking you, please remove the guilt of your servant, since I have acted very foolishly."

So David replied to Gad, "This is a very difficult choice for me to make! Let me now please fall into the hand of the LORD, since his mercy is very great, but may I never fall into human hands!"

When David saw the angel who had been attacking the people, he told the LORD, "Look, I'm the one who has sinned! I did the evil. These are only sheep! What did they do? Please, let your hand fall on me and on my household!"

Then he asked her, "Please talk to King Solomon for me, since he won't refuse you. Ask him to give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife."

and told him, "I would like to make a minor request of you. Please don't refuse me." "What is your request, mother?" the king asked her. "I won't turn you down."

The woman whose child was still alive cried out to the king, because her heart yearned for her son. "Oh no, your majesty!" she said. "Give her the living child. Please don't kill him." But the other woman said, "Cut him in half! That way, he'll belong to neither one of us."

Now therefore please order that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My servants will work with your servants, and I will pay your servants whatever wages you set, because you know there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians do."

Later on, Hadad learned in Egypt that David had been buried with his ancestors and that Joab the army commander was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, "Please send me out so I can go back to my own land."

As a result, he asked them, "What's your advice so that we can give an answer to these people who have asked me, "Please lighten the burden that your father put on us.'?"

"Please!" the king begged the man of God, "Ask the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored for me!" So the man of God asked the LORD, and the king's hand was immediately and fully restored, just like it had been before.

So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance to the city, a widow was there gathering sticks. So he asked her, "Please, may I have some water in a cup so I can have a drink."

While she was on her way to get the water, he called out to her, "Would you please also bring me a piece of bread while you're at it?"

Then he stretched himself three times and cried out to the LORD, "LORD my God, please cause the soul of this little boy to return to him."

He abandoned the oxen, ran off to follow Elijah, and asked him, "Please, let me kiss my mother and father good-bye, and then I'll come after you." "Go back again," Elijah replied. "What have I done to you?"

Then the king of Israel called together all of the elders of the land and told them, "Please note that this man is here looking for trouble. He sent a message to me, demanding my wives, my children, and my silver and gold, and I haven't refused him."

So they put on some sackcloth, tied their hair back with ropes, and approached the king of Israel. "Your servant Ben-hadad says this," they said. "Please let me live." "Is he still alive?" Ahab asked. "He's my brother."

Right about then, one of the members of the guild of prophets told another through a message from the LORD: "Please strike me!" But the man refused to do so,

Later, he found another man and told him, "Please strike me!" So the man struck him and wounded him.

Ahab addressed Naboth and asked him, "I would like to plant a vegetable garden near my house. Please exchange your vineyard with a better one from me, or if you'd rather have cash, I'll buy it for its full value."

"I'm with you," Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel. "My army will join yours, and my cavalry will be your cavalry." But Jehoshaphat also asked the king of Israel, "Please ask for a message from the LORD, first."

Meanwhile, the messenger who had gone off to summon Micaiah advised him, "Look, everything that the other prophets were saying was unanimously favorable to the king. So please, cooperate with them and speak favorably."

Then the king tried yet again! The king sent a third company of 50 soldiers along with their leader. The third leader went up the hill, approached Elijah, fell on his knees in front of him, and begged him, "Hey, man of God, please treat my life and the lives of these servants of yours as precious!

Look how fire fell from heaven and devoured the two other companies of 50 soldiers, along with their captains, but now please treat me as if my life were precious!"

Elijah instructed Elisha, "Remain here on this side, please, because the LORD is sending me as far as Bethel." But Elisha replied, "As the LORD lives, I'm not going to leave you while you're still alive!" So they both went on to Bethel.

Elijah also spoke to him, "Elisha, remain here on this side, please, because the LORD is sending me to Jericho." But Elisha responded, "As the LORD lives, and while you're still alive, I'm not going to leave you!" So they went to Jericho.

Elijah also spoke to him, "Elisha, remain here on this side, please, because the LORD is sending me to the Jordan River."

When they had crossed the Jordan River, Elijah invited Elisha, "Ask me what you want me to do for you before I'm taken away from you." So Elisha asked, "Please, may there be a double portion of your spirit upon me!"

Then they asked Elisha, "Look! We have 50 valiant men here with your servant! Please let them go out and search for your master Elijah. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up on a mountain or into a valley." Elisha responded, "Don't bother searching."

"No, sir! Please, as a godly man, don't mislead your servant!" But the woman did conceive and did bear a son at that very same time the next year, just as Elisha had told her.

Then she called to her husband and asked him, "Please send me one of the servants, along with one of the donkeys, so I can ride quickly to see that godly man. I'll be right back."

When the man of God noticed her from a distance, he told his attendant Gehazi, "Look! There's the woman from Shunem! Please run out quickly and greet her. Ask her, "Are things going well with you? Are things going well with your husband? Are things going well with your child?'" She answered Gehazi, "Things are going well."

When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king and asked, "Why did you tear your clothes? Please, let the man come visit me and he will learn that there is a prophet in Israel!"

Naaman went back to the man of God, along with his entire entourage, and stood before him. "Please look!" he said. "I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel! So please, take a present from your servant."

So Naaman asked, "No? Then please let your servant load two mules with dirt from Israel, because your servant will no longer offer any burnt offering or sacrifice to any other god but the LORD.

Gehazi said, "Everything's all right. My master sent me to tell you, "Just now two men from the Guild of Prophets have arrived from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them each a talent of silver bullion and two sets of clothes.'"

But Naaman said, "Please accept my invitation to take two talents of silver." He urged him, binding two talents of silver in two bags, along with two sets of clothes. He placed them in the care of two of his young men, and they went on ahead of Gehazi.

The king of Aram flew into a rage over this, so he called in his advisors and asked them, "Will you please tell me which of us has joined the king of Israel?"

Then Elisha prayed, asking the LORD, "Please make him able to really see!" And so when the LORD enabled the young man to see, he looked, and there was the mountain, filled with horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha!

When the army approached him, Elisha spoke to the LORD, asking him, "LORD, I'm asking you please to afflict this group of people with blindness!" So he afflicted them with blindness, just as Elisha had asked.

One of his attendants suggested, "Please, let's take five of the remaining horses, since those who remain here will end up like the rest of Israel, which has already died, and we'll send them out to look."

The king was talking with Gehazi, the attendant of the man of God. He had asked Gehazi, "Please tell me about all of the great things that Elisha has done."

At this, Hilkiah's son Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah asked Rab-shakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it, but don't speak the language of Judah to us within the hearing of the people who are on the wall."

David responded to God, "I sinned greatly by behaving this way. But now I am asking you, please remove the guilt of your servant, since I have acted very foolishly."

So David replied to Gad, "This is a very bad choice for me to make! Let me now please fall into the hand of the LORD, because his mercy is very great, but may I never fall into human hands!"

David told God, "Wasn't I the one who ordered the census of the population? Wasn't it I who sinned and acted wickedly? Now as for these sheep, what have they done? LORD God, please let your hand be against me and my ancestral household, but don't let your people be ravaged by plague!"

Then David told the entire assembly, "Bless the LORD your God, please." So the entire assembly blessed the LORD God of their ancestors, bowing their heads and falling in the LORD's presence and before the king.

"And now, my God, please let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers that are uttered in this place.

In reply, they told him, "If you will be kind to this people, please them, and speak appropriately to them with kind words, they'll serve you forever."

As a result, he asked them, "What's your advice, so we can give an answer to these people who have asked me, "Please lighten the burden that your father put on us'?"

"I'm with you," Jehoshaphat replied. "and my army is with you. We'll join you in the battle." But then Jehoshaphat asked the king of Israel, "Please ask for a message from the LORD, first."

Meanwhile, the messenger who had gone off to summon Micaiah advised him, "Look, everything that the other prophets were saying has been unanimously favorable to the king. So please, cooperate with them and speak favorably."

Take notice, please, that Amariah the Chief Priest is presiding over all cases that pertain to the LORD, Ishmael's son Zebadiah is presiding as ruler of the household of Judah with respect to all cases that pertain to the national government, and the descendants of Levi will preside over your other civil cases. Serve courageously, and the LORD will be with the upright."

Please don't be careless, you descendants of Aaron, because the LORD has chosen you to minister in his presence, to serve him, to be his ministers, and to burn incense."

Accordingly, with your approval we suggest that a search be conducted within the king's treasury at Babylon to verify whether or not King Cyrus ever issued such a decree to reconstruct this Temple of God in Jerusalem. Then please notify us concerning the king's pleasure in this matter.

I said, "Please, LORD, God of Heaven, the great and fearsome God who keeps the covenant, showing gracious love to those who love you and keep your commands,

please turn your attention to observe carefully and listen to the prayer of your servant today that I am presenting to you day and night on behalf of your servants, the Israelis.

Please remember what you spoke in commanding your servant Moses. You said,

"And now, Lord, I ask you to listen to the prayer of your servant and to the prayers of your servants who delight in revering your Name. I ask you, please prosper your servant today by granting him to receive favor from this man." Now I was the king's senior security advisor.

So today please restore to them their fields, vineyards, olive orchards, and homes, along with the one percent interest charge that you've assessed them on the grain, wine, and oil."

Now please think: Who has ever perished when they're innocent? Where have the upright been destroyed?

"Look! We have thought all this through, and what we've said is true; So please listen and learn for your own good!"

"Inquire of the previous generation, won't you please? Consider what their forefathers searched out.

""Please remember that you've made me like clay and you'll return me to dust.

Will it please the Almighty if you are innocent, or does he profit if your life is blameless?

"Now please listen to what I have to say, Job. Listen to every word!

"Please observe Behemoth, which I made along with you. He eats grass like an ox.

That will please the LORD more than oxen and bulls with horns and hooves.

As for me, I am poor and needy. God, come quickly to me. You are my helper and my deliverer. LORD, please do not delay.

Please return, LORD! When will it be? Comfort your servants.

Then I called on the name of the LORD, "LORD, please deliver me!"

Please LORD, deliver us! Please LORD, hurry and bring success now!

LORD, please accept my voluntary offerings of praise, and teach me your judgments.

When a person's ways please the LORD, even his enemies will be at peace with him.

"Please come, and let's reason together," implores the LORD. "Even though your sins are like scarlet, they'll be white like snow. Though they're like crimson, they'll become like wool.

"So now, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, won't you please, between me and my vineyard.

"Now, let me tell you, won't you please, what I'm going to do to my vineyard. "I'm going to take away its protective hedge, and it will be devoured; I'll break down its wall, and it will be trampled.

In reply, the LORD announced, "Please listen, you household of David. Is it such a minor thing for you to try the patience of men? Must you also try the patience of my God?

"And this entire vision has become for you like the words of a sealed book. When people give it to someone who can read, and say, "Read this, please,' he answers, "I cannot, because it is sealed.'

Or when they give the book to someone who cannot read, and say, "Read this, please,' he answers, "I don't know how to read.'"

Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah replied to him, "Please speak with your servants with us in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew where the people sitting on the wall can hear."

"Please, LORD," he said, "Remember how I have walked before you faithfully and with a true heart, and I have done what pleases you." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

who says about Cyrus, "He's my shepherd, and he'll carry out everything that I please: He'll say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt,' and of my Temple, "Let its foundations be laid again.'"'"

I declare from the beginning things to follow, and from ancient times things that have not yet been done; saying, "My purpose will stand, and he will accomplish everything that I please.'

For this is what the LORD says: "To the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me, and who hold fast my covenant

Don't be angry beyond measure, LORD, and don't remember our iniquity for a season. Please look now, we are all your people.

Therefore I, too, will choose harsh treatment for them, and will bring upon them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they didn't listen; but they did what I consider to be evil, and chose what doesn't please me."

"Please inquire of the LORD on our behalf, because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is fighting against us. Perhaps the LORD will do some of his miraculous acts for us, and Nebuchadnezzar will depart from us."

But please listen to what I'm saying in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people.