'May' in the Bible

So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods punish me and do so severely if I don’t make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow!”

Then Ben-hadad sent messengers to him and said, “May the gods punish me and do so severely if Samaria’s dust amounts to a handful for each of the people who follow me.”

A prophet came to Ahab king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do you see this entire great army? Watch, I am handing it over to you today so that you may know that I am Yahweh.’”

Then Ben-hadad said to him, “I restore to you the cities that my father took from your father, and you may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, like my father set up in Samaria.”Ahab responded, “On the basis of this treaty, I release you.” So he made a treaty with him and released him.

Elijah responded to the captain of the 50, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 men.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50 men.

Elijah responded, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 men.” So a divine fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50 men.

However, in a particular matter may the Lord pardon your servant: When my master, the king of Aram, goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship and I, as his right-hand man, bow in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.”

He announced, “May God punish me and do so severely if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.”

You are to strike down the house of your master Ahab so that I may avenge the blood shed by the hand of Jezebel—the blood of My servants the prophets and of all the servants of the Lord.

“Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: ‘Make peace with me and surrender to me. Then every one of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and every one may drink water from his own cistern

until I come and take you away to a land like your own land—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey—so that you may live and not die. But don’t listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying: The Lord will deliver us.

Now, Lord our God, please save us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God—You alone.

“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest so that he may total up the money brought into the Lord’s temple—the money the doorkeepers have collected from the people.

David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you, but if you have come to betray me to my enemies even though my hands have done no wrong, may the God of our ancestors look on it and judge.”

Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before Him forever.”

He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levite families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it.

And say: “Save us, God of our salvation;gather us and rescue us from the nationsso that we may give thanks to Your holy nameand rejoice in Your praise.

May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praisedfrom everlasting to everlasting.”Then all the people said, “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”

I will establish a place for My people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they formerly have

Let Your name be confirmed and magnified forever in the saying, “Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, is God over Israel.” May the house of Your servant David be established before You.

So now, You have been pleased to bless Your servant’s house that it may continue before You forever. For You, Lord, have blessed it, and it is blessed forever.

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

Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply the number of His people a hundred times over! My lord the king, aren’t they all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”

Then David said to Ornan, “Give me this threshing-floor plot so that I may build an altar to the Lord on it. Give it to me for the full price, so the plague on the people may be stopped.”

Ornan said to David, “Take it! My lord the king may do whatever he wants. See, I give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering—I give it all.”

“Now, my son, may the Lord be with you, and may you succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as He said about you.

Above all, may the Lord give you insight and understanding when He puts you in charge of Israel so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.

in gold, silver, bronze, and iron—beyond number. Now begin the work, and may the Lord be with you.”

Now determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Get started building the Lord God’s sanctuary so that you may bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy articles of God to the temple that is to be built for the name of Yahweh.”

“So now in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and follow all the commands of the Lord your God so that you may possess this good land and leave it as an inheritance to your descendants forever.

Then David praised the Lord in the sight of all the assembly. David said,May You be praised, Lord God of our father Israel, from eternity to eternity.

Now grant me wisdom and knowledge so that I may lead these people, for who can judge this great people of Yours?”

God said to Solomon, “Since this was in your heart, and you have not requested riches, wealth, or glory, or for the life of those who hate you, and you have not even requested long life, but you have requested for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king,

Hiram also said:May the Lord God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, be praised! He gave King David a wise son with insight and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your craftsmen and the craftsmen of my lord, your father David.

He said:May the Lord God of Israel be praised!He spoke directly to my father David,and He has fulfilled the promiseby His power.He said,

Listen to Your servant’s prayer and his petition,Lord my God,so that You may hear the cry and the prayerthat Your servant prays before You,

so that Your eyes watch over this templeday and night,toward the place where You saidYou would put Your name;and so that You may hear the prayerYour servant prays toward this place.

Hear the petitions of Your servantand Your people Israel,which they pray toward this place.May You hear in Your dwelling place in heaven.May You hear and forgive.

may You hear in heaven and act.May You judge Your servants,condemning the wicked man by bringingwhat he has done on his own headand providing justice for the righteousby rewarding him according to his righteousness.

may You hear in heavenand forgive the sin of Your people Israel.May You restore them to the landYou gave them and their ancestors.

may You hear in heavenand forgive the sin of Your servantsand Your people Israel,so that You may teach them the good waythey should walk in.May You send rain on Your landthat You gave Your people for an inheritance.

may You hear in heaven, Your dwelling place,and may You forgive and repay the manaccording to all his ways, since You know his heart,for You alone know the human heart,

so that they may fear Youand walk in Your waysall the days they live on the landYou gave our ancestors.

may You hear in heaven in Your dwelling place,and do all the foreigner asks You.Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name,to fear You as Your people Israel doand know that this temple I have builtis called by Your name.

may You hear their prayer and petition in heavenand uphold their cause.

may You hear their prayer and petitions in heaven,Your dwelling place,and uphold their cause.May You forgive Your peoplewho sinned against You.

Now therefore:Arise, Lord God, come to Your resting place,You and Your powerful ark.May Your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation,and may Your godly people rejoice in goodness.

And I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My name may be there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there at all times.

May the Lord your God be praised! He delighted in you and put you on His throne as king for the Lord your God. Because Your God loved Israel enough to establish them forever, He has set you over them as king to carry out justice and righteousness.”

However, they will become his servants so that they may recognize the difference between serving Me and serving the kingdoms of other lands.”

Didn’t you banish the priests of Yahweh, the descendants of Aaron and the Levites, and make your own priests like the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to ordain himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods.

And now, may the terror of the Lord be on you. Watch what you do, for there is no injustice or partiality or taking bribes with the Lord our God.”

“Note that Amariah, the chief priest, is over you in all matters related to the Lord, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all matters related to the king, and the Levites are officers in your presence. Be strong; may the Lord be with those who do what is good.”

No one is to enter the Lord’s temple but the priests and those Levites who serve; they may enter because they are holy, but all the people are to obey the requirement of the Lord.

King Joash didn’t remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him, but killed his son. While he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see and demand an account.”

It is in my heart now to make a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel so that His burning anger may turn away from us.

So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the hand of the king and his officials, and according to the king’s command, saying, “Israelites, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped from the grasp of the kings of Assyria.

Don’t become obstinate now like your fathers did. Give your allegiance to Yahweh, and come to His sanctuary that He has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God so that He may turn His burning anger away from you,

A large number of the people—many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun—were ritually unclean, yet they had eaten the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah had interceded for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement on behalf of

This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build Him a temple at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever among you of His people may go up, and may the Lord his God be with him.

Whoever is among His people, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other leaders of Israel’s families answered them, “You may have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for Yahweh, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”

May the God who caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who dares to harm or interfere with this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out diligently.

I issue a decree that any of the Israelites in my kingdom, including their priests and Levites, who want to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.

You may do whatever seems best to you and your brothers with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God.

You may use the royal treasury to pay for anything else needed for the house of your God.

and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah and to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I may rebuild it.”

I also shook the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake from his house and property everyone who doesn’t keep this promise. May he be shaken out and have nothing!”The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the Lord. Then the people did as they had promised.

Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up. Praise Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting.”Praise Your glorious name,and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.

Let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom, so that they may assemble all the beautiful young women to the harem at the fortress of Susa. Put them under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women, and give them the required beauty treatments.

“If it pleases the king,” Esther replied, “may the king and Haman come today to the banquet I have prepared for them.”

If the king approves of me and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and perform my request, may the king and Haman come to the banquet I will prepare for them. Tomorrow I will do what the king has asked.”

You may write in the king’s name whatever pleases you concerning the Jews, and seal it with the royal signet ring. A document written in the king’s name and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.”

Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews who are in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s law, and may the bodies of Haman’s 10 sons be hung on the gallows.”

May the day I was born perish,and the night when they said,“A boy is conceived.”

If only that day had turned to darkness!May God above not care about it,or light shine on it.

May darkness and gloom reclaim it,and a cloud settle over it.May an eclipse of the sun terrify it.

If only darkness had taken that night away!May it not appear among the days of the yearor be listed in the calendar.

Yes, may that night be barren;may no joyful shout be heard in it.

May its morning stars grow dark.May it wait for daylight but have none;may it not see the breaking of dawn.

The lion may roar and the fierce lion growl,but the fangs of young lions are broken.

Earth, do not cover my blood;may my cry for help find no resting place.

then be afraid of the sword,because wrath brings punishment by the sword,so that you may know there is a judgment.

His bones may be full of youthful vigor,but will lie down with him in the grave.

Bear with me while I speak;then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking.

God reserves a person’s punishment for his children.Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it.

May my enemy be like the wickedand my opponent like the unjust.

he may heap it up, but the righteous will wear it,and the innocent will divide up his silver.

Food may come from the earth,but below the surface the earth is transformed as by fire.

He dams up the streams from flowingso that he may bring to light what is hidden.

For God speaks time and again,but a person may not notice it.

A person may be disciplined on his bed with painand constant distress in his bones,

in order to turn him back from the Pit,so he may shine with the light of life.

serve as His sign to all mankind,so that all men may know His work.

when I declared: “You may come this far, but no farther;your proud waves stop here”?

so it may seize the edges of the earthand shake the wicked out of it?

She forgets that a foot may crush themor that some wild animal may trample them.

She treats her young harshly, as if they were not her own,with no fear that her labor may have been in vain.