'Myself' in the Bible
Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.”
and said, “By Myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son,
Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.”
I did not bring you any of the flock torn by wild beasts; I myself bore the loss. You demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or by night.
my father made me take an oath, saying, ‘I am about to die. You must bury me there in the tomb that I made for myself in the land of Canaan.’ Now let me go and bury my father. Then I will return.”
because every firstborn belongs to Me. At the time I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated every firstborn in Israel to Myself, both man and animal. They are Mine; I am Yahweh.”
For they have been exclusively assigned to Me from the Israelites. I have taken them for Myself in place of all who come first from the womb, every Israelite firstborn.
For every firstborn among the Israelites is Mine, both man and animal. I consecrated them to Myself on the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt.
I can’t carry all these people by myself. They are too much for me.
He said:“Listen to what I say:If there is a prophet among you from the Lord,I make Myself known to him in a vision;I speak with him in a dream.
The staff of the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the Israelites’ complaints that they have been making about you.”
But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes by myself?
The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many people for Me to hand the Midianites over to you, or else Israel might brag: ‘I did it myself.’
Then she cried, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” When he awoke from his sleep, he said, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.
The redeemer replied, “I can’t redeem it myself, or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I can’t redeem it.”
A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Didn’t I reveal Myself to your ancestral house when it was in Egypt and belonged to Pharaoh’s palace?
“‘Then I will raise up a faithful priest for Myself. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. I will establish a lasting dynasty for him, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time.
I thought: The Philistines will now descend on me at Gilgal, and I haven’t sought the Lord’s favor. So I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.”
Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that Doeg the Edomite was there that day and that he was sure to report to Saul. I myself am responsible for the lives of everyone in your father’s family.
Your discernment is blessed, and you are blessed. Today you kept me from participating in bloodshed and avenging myself by my own hand.
and I will humble myself even more and humiliate myself. I will be honored by the slave girls you spoke about.”
“My lord the king,” he replied, “my servant Ziba betrayed me. Actually your servant said: ‘I’ll saddle the donkey for myself so that I may ride it and go with the king’—for your servant is lame.
I was blameless before Himand kept myself from sinning.
I will give one tribe to his son, so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city I chose for Myself to put My name there.
But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I don’t have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.”
Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, today I will present myself to Ahab.”
But the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal attire.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
But Naaman got angry and left, saying, “I was telling myself: He will surely come out, stand and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and will wave his hand over the spot and cure the skin disease.
because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I Myself have heard you—this is the Lord’s declaration—
Now I am building a temple for the name of Yahweh my God in order to dedicate it to Him for burning fragrant incense before Him, for displaying the rows of the bread of the Presence continuously, and for sacrificing burnt offerings for the morning and the evening, the Sabbaths and the New Moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is ordained for Israel forever.
Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him:I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a temple of sacrifice.
But the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal attire.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.
because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I Myself have heard’—this is the Lord’s declaration.
Instead, I devoted myself to the construction of the wall, and all my subordinates were gathered there for the work. We didn’t buy any land.
Since I cannot help myself,the hope for success has been banished from me.
Though I am blameless,I no longer care about myself;I renounce my life.
Why do I put myself at riskand take my life in my own hands?
I will see Him myself;my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.My heart longs within me.
I clothed myself in righteousness,and it enveloped me;my just decisions were like a robe and a turban.
I was blameless toward Himand kept myself from sinning.
Yet when they were sick,my clothing was sackcloth;I humbled myself with fasting,and my prayer was genuine.
Instead, I have calmed and quieted myselflike a little weaned child with its mother;I am like a little child.
I said to myself, “Look, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has thoroughly grasped wisdom and knowledge.”
I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile.
I increased my achievements. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
I made gardens and parks for myself and planted every kind of fruit tree in them.
I constructed reservoirs of water for myself from which to irrigate a grove of flourishing trees.
I also amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered male and female singers for myself, and many concubines, the delights of men.
All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them. I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles.
So I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will also happen to me. Why then have I been overly wise?” And I said to myself that this is also futile.
So I began to give myself over to despair concerning all my work that I had labored at under the sun.
I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every work.”
I said to myself, “This happens concerning people, so that God may test them and they may see for themselves that they are like animals.”
There is a person without a companion, without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches. “So who am I struggling for,” he asks, “and depriving myself from good?” This too is futile and a miserable task.
I will ascend above the highest clouds;I will make myself like the Most High.”
“Now I will rise up,” says the Lord.“Now I will lift Myself up.Now I will be exalted.
“I have kept silent from ages past;I have been quiet and restrained Myself.But now, I will groan like a woman in labor,gasping breathlessly.
The people I formed for Myselfwill declare My praise.
This is what the Lord, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb, says:I am Yahweh, who made everything;who stretched out the heavens by Myself;who alone spread out the earth;
By Myself I have sworn;Truth has gone from My mouth,a word that will not be revoked:Every knee will bow to Me,every tongue will swear allegiance.
I will delay My anger for the honor of My name,and I will restrain Myself for your benefit and for My praise,so that you will not be destroyed.
But I myself said: I have labored in vain,I have spent my strength for nothing and futility;yet my vindication is with the Lord,and my reward is with my God.
Then you will say within yourself,‘Who fathered these for me?I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive,exiled and wandering—but who brought them up?See, I was left by myself—but these, where did they come from?’”
Should I not punish them for these things?This is the Lord’s declaration.Should I not avenge Myselfon such a nation as this?
Should I not punish them for these things?This is the Lord’s declaration.Should I not avenge Myselfon such a nation as this?
But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“that this house will become a ruin.”
who says, “I will build myself a massive palace,with spacious upper rooms.”He will cut windows in it,and it will be paneled with cedarand painted with vermilion.
For by Myself I have sworn”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will become ruins forever.”
For when anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside in Israel separates himself from Me, setting up idols in his heart and putting a sinful stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I, Yahweh, will answer him Myself.
“Then I passed by you and saw you, and you were indeed at the age for love. So I spread the edge of My garment over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.
Say to them: This is what the Lord God says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore an oath to the descendants of Jacob’s house and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore to them, saying: I am Yahweh your God.
But I acted because of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations they were living among, in whose sight I had made Myself known to Israel by bringing them out of Egypt.
Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:Woe to the city of bloodshed!I Myself will make the pile of kindling large.
Speak to him and say: This is what the Lord God says:Look, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,the great monster lying in the middle of his Nile,who says, ‘My Nile is my own;I made it for myself.’
“For this is what the Lord God says: See, I Myself will search for My flock and look for them.
“Therefore, this is what the Lord God says to them: See, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
therefore, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“I will treat you according to the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred of them. I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.
You boasted against Me with your mouth, and spoke many words against Me. I heard it Myself!
You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the last days, Gog, that I will bring you against My land so that the nations may know Me, when I show Myself holy through you in their sight.
I will display My greatness and holiness, and will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.
“This is the end of the interpretation. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts terrified me greatly, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself.”
I will sow her in the land for Myself,and I will have compassionon No Compassion;I will say to Not My People:You are My people,and he will say, “You are My God.”
But Ephraim says:“How rich I have become;I made it all myself.In all my earnings,no one can find any crime in methat I can be punished for!”
I will stand at my guard postand station myself on the lookout tower.I will watch to see what He will say to meand what I should reply about my complaint.