'Work' in the Bible

"Your father made us work too hard! Now if you lighten the demands he made and don't make us work as hard, we will serve you."

The young advisers with whom Rehoboam had grown up said to him, "Say this to these people who have said to you, 'Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden' -- say this to them: 'I am a lot harsher than my father!

King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, the supervisor of the work crews, out after them, but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to jump into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem.

"Now as far as we're concerned, the LORD is our God, and we haven't abandoned him. The descendants of Aaron are ministering to the LORD as priests, and the descendants of Levi continue their work.

Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.

And it came to pass, when Baasha heard it, that he left off building of Ramah, and let his work cease.

and they bury him in one of his graves, that he had prepared for himself in the city of David, and they cause him to lie on a bed that one hath filled with spices, and divers kinds of mixtures, with perfumed work; and they burn for him a burning -- very great.

for to the God of his father he hath sought, and in His commands he hath walked, and not according to the work of Israel.

and he hath much work in cities of Judah; and men of war, mighty of valour, are in Jerusalem.

So now let the fear of the Lord be in you; do your work with care; for in the Lord our God there is no evil, or respect for high position, or taking of payment to do wrong.

And he gave them their orders, saying, You are to do your work in the fear of the Lord, in good faith and with a true heart.

And now, Amariah, the chief priest, is over you in all questions to do with the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the head of the family of Judah, in everything to do with the king's business; and the Levites will be overseers for you. Be strong to do the work; and may the Lord be with the upright.

But let no one come into the house of the Lord but only the priests and those of the Levites who have work to do there; they may go in for they are holy; but the rest of the people are to keep the orders of the Lord.

And Jehoiada put the work and the care of the house of the Lord into the hands of the priests and the Levites, who had been grouped in divisions by David to make burned offerings to the Lord, as it is recorded in the law of Moses, with joy and song as David had said.

And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the LORD.

So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.

When they had completed the work, they brought what was left of the money to the king and to Jehoiada, and it was used to cast utensils for the LORD's Temple that were to be utilized for daily service and for burnt offerings, for incense vessels, and for both gold and silver vessels. Burnt offerings were offered on a regular basis in the LORD's Temple throughout Jehoiada's lifetime.

Records concerning his sons, the various prophetic statements rebuking him, and records of the reconstruction work on God's Temple are written in the Midrash of the Book of the Kings. Joash's son Amaziah reigned in his place.

And they made protests to Uzziah the king, and said to him, The burning of perfumes, Uzziah, is not your business but that of the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been made holy for this work: go out of the holy place, for you have done wrong, and it will not be to your honour before God.

Jotham constructed the Upper Gate of the LORD's Temple and did extensive work on the wall of Ophel.

They began their consecration duties on the first day of the first month and finished at the LORD's outer vestibule on the eighth day of the month. Another eight days was used to consecrate the LORD's Temple, so they completed the work on the sixteenth day of the first month.

But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

And there was a great amount of burned offerings, with the fat of the peace-offerings and the drink offerings for every burned offering. So the work of the Lord's house was put in order.

They all got to work and removed the idolatrous altars that were throughout Jerusalem. They also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Brook.

Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good understanding in the things of the Lord. So the people ate for the appointed seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers.

At the conclusion of all of these activities, everybody in Israel who was in attendance traveled throughout the cities of Judah, broke down the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherim, and broke down the high places and altars throughout the territories of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh until they had eliminated all of them. Then the people of Israel went back to their cities and back to their work.

Then Hezekiah put in order the divisions of the priests and Levites, every man in his division, in relation to his work, for the burned offerings and peace-offerings, and for the ordering of worship and for giving praise at the doors of the Lord's house.

without regard to genealogical enrollment, to every male 30 years old and older that is, to everyone who entered the LORD's Temple as their duty obligations required for their work and duties according to their divisions

And the families of the priests were listed by their fathers' names, but the Levites, of twenty years old and over, were listed in relation to their work in their divisions;

And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.

Now after these things and this true-hearted work, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came into Judah, and put his army in position before the walled towns of Judah, designing to make his way into them by force.

And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.

And Hezekiah himself hath stopped the upper source of the waters of Gihon, and directeth them beneath to the west of the city of David, and Hezekiah prospereth in all his work;

They put it into the hands of those doing the work—those who oversaw the Lord’s temple. They gave it to the workmen who were working in the Lord’s temple, to repair and restore the temple;

And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick.

Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.

They have emptied out the money that was found in the Lord’s temple and have put it into the hand of the overseers and the hand of those doing the work.”

And he gave the priests their places, making them strong for the work of the house of God.

And when the work had been completed, the priests stood at their positions and the Levites in their working groups according to the command of the king.

They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pound of silver, and one hundred priests' garments.

Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD.

At this time Jeshua, along with his children and relatives, and Kadmiel, with his children and the descendants of Judah, joined the family of Henadad with his children and relatives, and the descendants of Levi in overseeing the work on the Temple of God.

But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of families in Israel said to them, You have no part with us in the building of a house for our God; we ourselves will do the work together for the Lord, the God of Israel, as Cyrus, king of Persia, has given us orders.

After this, the non-Israeli inhabitants of the land undermined the people of Judah, harassing them in their construction work

Accordingly, issue an order to force these men to cease their work so that this city is not rebuilt until you receive further notice from me.

Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Then they said these words to them: What are the names of the men who are at work on this building?

Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands.

Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place.

I hereby issue a decree concerning what you must do, so that the elders of the Jews can rebuild the house of God: The cost is to be paid in full to these men out of the royal revenues from the taxes of the region west of the Euphrates River, so that the work will not stop.

Then they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their sections for the work of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

And I sent them to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and gave them orders what to say to Iddo and his brothers the Nethinim at the place Casiphia, so that they might come back to us with men to do the work of the house of our God.

There were also 220 of the temple servants, who had been appointed by David and the leaders for the work of the Levites. All were identified by name.

So get up it's your responsibility! We're with you. Be strong, and get to work."

But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing.

And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

Then I said to them, You see what a bad condition we are in; how Jerusalem is a waste, and its doorways burned with fire: come, let us get to work, building up the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer be put to shame.

Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.

After him Baruch, the son of Zabbai, was hard at work on another part, from the turning of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib, the chief priest.

Further on, past the horse doorway, the priests were at work, every one opposite his house.

And in the hearing of his countrymen and the army of Samaria he said, What are these feeble Jews doing? will they make themselves strong? will they make offerings? will they get the work done in a day? will they make the stones which have been burned come again out of the dust?

So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.

But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair work on the Jerusalem wall was progressing and that its breaches were being repaired, they flew into a rage.

Then [the leaders of] Judah said,“The strength of the burden bearers is failing,And there is much rubble;We ourselves are unableTo rebuild the wall.”

And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.

And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.

And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.

They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.

And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another.

So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.

At that time, I also said to the people, “Let everyone and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day.”

And shaking out the folds of my robe, I said, So may God send out from his house and his work every man who does not keep this agreement; even so let him be sent out and made as nothing. And all the meeting of the people said, So be it, and gave praise to the Lord. And the people did as they had said.

Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work.

Every day one ox, six select sheep, and some birds were prepared for me, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Despite all this I did not require the food allotted to the governor, for the work was demanding on this people.

And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?

For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.

And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drams of gold, fifty basons, five hundred and thirty priests' garments.

And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pound of silver.

We accept responsibility for fulfilling the commands to give one third of a shekel each year for the work of the temple of our God,

For the shewbread, and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.

We will also bring the first of our coarse meal, of our contributions, of the fruit of every tree, of new wine, and of olive oil to the priests at the storerooms of the temple of our God, along with a tenth of the produce of our land to the Levites, for the Levites are the ones who collect the tithes in all the cities where we work.

And their brethren that did the work of the house were eight hundred twenty and two: and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchiah,

and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the leaders of the Levites, who supervised the work outside the house of God;

The overseer of the descendants of Levi at Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. Singers from the descendants of Asaph oversaw the work of the Temple of God.

And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his field.

And I have cleansed them from every stranger, and appoint charges to priests and to Levites, each in his work,

Then the king gave a great feast for all his captains and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he gave orders through all the divisions of his kingdom for a day of rest from work, and gave wealth from his store.

If the king approves, let it be decreed that they're to be destroyed, and I'll measure out 10,000 silver talents and bring it to the king's treasury for those who will do the work."

All the provincial officials, the regional authorities, the governors, and those doing the king's work supported the Jewish people because the fear of Mordecai had come over them.

and all the work of his strength, and his might, and the explanation of the greatness of Mordecai with which the king made him great, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of Media and Persia?

Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

The work of his hands Thou hast blessed, and his substance hath spread in the land, and yet, put forth, I pray Thee, Thy hand, and strike against anything that he hath -- if not: to Thy face he doth bless Thee!'

He frustrates the plans of the crafty; so that what they work for never succeeds.

As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:

Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?

Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

"He will restore what he has attained from his work and won't consume it; he won't enjoy the profits from his business transactions,