'First' in the Bible

"'On the first day of the seventh month, you are to hold a holy assembly. You must not do your ordinary work, for it is a day of blowing trumpets for you.

They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the Israelites went out defiantly in plain sight of all the Egyptians.

Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at the command of the Lord, and he died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month.

However, it was not until the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year that Moses addressed the Israelites just as the Lord had instructed him to do.

You have been rebelling against him from the very first day I knew you!

At that same time the Lord said to me, "Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark.

I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark."

So I made an ark of acacia wood and carved out two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands.

As for me, I stayed at the mountain as I did the first time, forty days and nights. The Lord listened to me that time as well and decided not to destroy you.

Instead, you must kill him without fail! Your own hand must be the first to strike him, and then the hands of the whole community.

There must not be a scrap of yeast within your land for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning.

The witnesses must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.

her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. You must not bring guilt on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Then the first son she bears will continue the name of the dead brother, thus preventing his name from being blotted out of Israel.

you must take the first of all the ground's produce you harvest from the land the Lord your God is giving you, place it in a basket, and go to the place where he chooses to locate his name.

So now, look! I have brought the first of the ground's produce that you, Lord, have given me." Then you must set it down before the Lord your God and worship before him.

The people went up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped in Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.

The first lot belonged to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans. Their allotted territory was between Judah and Joseph.

The first lot belonged to the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest were allotted thirteen cities from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

They were assigned to the Kohathite clans of the Levites who were descendants of Aaron, for the first lot belonged to them.

then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites -- he will belong to the Lord and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice."

So I am legally informing you: Acquire it before those sitting here and before the leaders of my people! If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so. But if not, then tell me so I will know. For you possess the first option to redeem it; I am next in line after you." He replied, "I will redeem it."

He had two wives; the name of the first was Hannah and the name of the second was Peninnah. Now Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.

If the individual said to him, "First let the fat be burned away, and then take for yourself whatever you wish," he would say, "No! Hand it over right now! If you don't, I will take it forcibly!"

Saul's watchmen at Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin looked on as the crowd of soldiers seemed to melt away first in one direction and then in another.

Then Saul built an altar for the Lord; it was the first time he had built an altar for the Lord.

So Achish summoned David and said to him, "As surely as the Lord lives, you are an honest man, and I am glad to have you serving with me in the army. I have found no fault with you from the day that you first came to me until the present time. But in the opinion of the leaders, you are not reliable.

But David said to Achish, "What have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day that I first came into your presence until the present time, that I shouldn't go and fight the enemies of my lord the king?"

At this very moment he is hiding out in one of the caves or in some other similar place. If it should turn out that he attacks our troops first, whoever hears about it will say, 'Absalom's army has been slaughtered!'

The watchman said, "It appears to me that the first runner is Ahimaaz son of Zadok." The king said, "He is a good man, and he comes with good news."

For I, your servant, know that I sinned, and I have come today as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king."

The men of Israel replied to the men of Judah, "We have ten shares in the king, and we have a greater claim on David than you do! Why do you want to curse us? Weren't we the first to suggest bringing back our king?" But the comments of the men of Judah were more severe than those of the men of Israel.

Amasa did not protect himself from the knife in Joab's other hand, and Joab stabbed him in the abdomen, causing Amasa's intestines to spill out on the ground. There was no need to stab him again; the first blow was fatal. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bicri.

He turned them over to the Gibeonites, and they executed them on a hill before the Lord. The seven of them died together; they were put to death during harvest time -- during the first days of the beginning of the barley harvest.

The other woman said, "No! My son is alive; your son is dead!" But the first woman replied, "No, your son is dead; my son is alive." Each presented her case before the king.

The king responded, "Give the first woman the living child; don't kill him. She is the mother."

Each of the first cherub's wings was seven and a half feet long; its entire wingspan was 15 feet.

The second cherub also had a wingspan of 15 feet; it was identical to the first in measurements and shape.

He put the cherubs in the inner sanctuary of the temple. Their wings were spread out. One of the first cherub's wings touched one wall and one of the other cherub's wings touched the opposite wall. The first cherub's other wing touched the second cherub's other wing in the middle of the room.

Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go and do as you planned. But first make a small cake for me and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son.

Elijah told the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls for yourselves and go first, for you are the majority. Invoke the name of your god, but do not light a fire."

So he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, "Say this to my master, the king, 'I will give you everything you demanded at first from your servant, but I am unable to agree to this latest demand.'" So the messengers went back and gave their report.

Then Jehoshaphat added, "First seek an oracle from the Lord."

When they first moved in, they did not worship the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them and the lions were killing them.

In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, King Evil-Merodach of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison.

Two sons were born to Eber: the first was named Peleg, for during his lifetime the earth was divided; his brother's name was Joktan.

These were the areas where Aaron's descendants lived: The following belonged to the Kohathite clan, for they received the first allotment:

The first to resettle on their property and in their cities were some Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants.

David said, "Whoever attacks the Jebusites first will become commanding general!" So Joab son of Zeruiah attacked first and became commander.

They crossed the Jordan River in the first month, when it was overflowing its banks, and routed those living in all the valleys to the east and west.

The first time you did not carry it; that is why the Lord God attacked us, because we did not ask him about the proper way to carry it."

That day David first gave to Asaph and his colleagues this song of thanks to the Lord:

The first lot went to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah,

The first lot went to Asaph's son Joseph and his relatives and sons -- twelve in all, the second to Gedaliah and his relatives and sons -- twelve in all,

Jashobeam son of Zabdiel was in charge of the first division, which was assigned the first month. His division consisted of 24,000 men.

He was a descendant of Perez; he was in charge of all the army officers for the first month.

The combined wing span of the cherubs was 30 feet. One of the first cherub's wings was seven and one-half feet long and touched one wall of the temple; its other wing was also seven and one-half feet long and touched one of the second cherub's wings.

Likewise one of the second cherub's wings was seven and one-half feet long and touched the other wall of the temple; its other wing was also seven and one-half feet long and touched one of the first cherub's wings.

Then Jehoshaphat added, "First seek an oracle from the Lord."

In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the Lord's temple and repaired them.

On the first day of the first month they began consecrating; by the eighth day of the month they reached the porch of the Lord's temple. For eight more days they consecrated the Lord's temple. On the sixteenth day of the first month they were finished.

Josiah observed a Passover festival for the Lord in Jerusalem. They slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month.

In the first year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfillment of the promise he delivered through Jeremiah, the Lord moved King Cyrus of Persia to issue a written decree throughout his kingdom.

In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the Lord's message spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord stirred the mind of King Cyrus of Persia. He disseminated a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom, announcing in a written edict the following:

From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. However, the Lord's temple was not at that time established.

And during the reign of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their colleagues wrote to King Artaxerxes of Persia. This letter was first written in Aramaic but then translated. [Aramaic:]

But in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, King Cyrus enacted a decree to rebuild this temple of God.

In the first year of his reign, King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: 'Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place. Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety feet,

The exiles observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

On the first day of the first month he had determined to make the ascent from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived at Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him.

On the twelfth day of the first month we began traveling from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from our enemy and from bandits along the way.

So the exiles proceeded accordingly. Ezra the priest separated out by name men who were leaders in their family groups. They sat down to consider this matter on the first day of the tenth month,

and on the first day of the first month they finished considering all the men who had married foreign wives.

So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard. (This happened on the first day of the seventh month.)

Ezra read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the first day to the last. They observed the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly as was required.

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.

In the first month (that is, the month of Nisan), in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus' reign, pur (that is, the lot) was cast before Haman in order to determine a day and a month. It turned out to be the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar).

So the royal scribes were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month. Everything Haman commanded was written to the king's satraps and governors who were in every province and to the officials of every people, province by province according to its script and people by people according to its language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the king's signet ring.

Let its morning stars be darkened; let it wait for daylight but find none, nor let it see the first rays of dawn,

"Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?

"For God speaks, the first time in one way, the second time in another, though a person does not perceive it.

It ranks first among the works of God, the One who made it has furnished it with a sword.

So the Lord blessed the second part of Job's life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.

The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-Happuch.

The first to state his case seems right, until his opponent begins to cross-examine him.

A voice says, "Cry out!" Another asks, "What should I cry out?" The first voice responds: "All people are like grass, and all their promises are like the flowers in the field.

I first decreed to Zion, 'Look, here's what will happen!' I sent a herald to Jerusalem.

This is what the Lord, Israel's king, says, their protector, the Lord who commands armies: "I am the first and I am the last, there is no God but me.

Approach me! Listen to this! From the very first I have not spoken in secret; when it happens, I am there." So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit.

In fact, I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby. It is the cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath, reaching out for help, saying, "I am done in! My life is ebbing away before these murderers!"

In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah. (That was the same as the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon.)

"People of Judah, get out of Babylon quickly! Leave the land of Babylonia! Be the first to depart! Be like the male goats that lead the herd.

"The people of Israel are like scattered sheep which lions have chased away. First the king of Assyria devoured them. Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones.

In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, Evil-Merodach, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison.

Each of the cherubim had four faces: The first was the face of a cherub, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.

In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:

In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:

In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:

In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:

In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: