'Words' in the Bible

Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah! Listen to me! You wives of Lamech, hear my words! I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for hurting me.

When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord.

They blessed Rebekah with these words: "Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands! May your descendants possess the strongholds of their enemies."

When Esau heard his father's words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. He said to his father, "Bless me too, my father!"

One of you must go and get your brother, while the rest of you remain in prison. In this way your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!"

But you must bring your youngest brother to me. Then your words will be verified and you will not die." They did as he said.

When the man overtook them, he spoke these words to them.

When we returned to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

Naphtali is a free running doe, he speaks delightful words.

"So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you must do.

Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him and all the signs that he had commanded him.

Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people,

Make the work harder for the men so they will keep at it and pay no attention to lying words!"

and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites."

So Moses came and summoned the elders of Israel. He set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him,

and all the people answered together, "All that the Lord has commanded we will do!" So Moses brought the words of the people back to the Lord.

The Lord said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and so that they will always believe in you." And Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

God spoke all these words:

"You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and subverts the words of the righteous.

Moses came and told the people all the Lord's words and all the decisions. All the people answered together, "We are willing to do all the words that the Lord has said,"

and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Early in the morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and arranged twelve standing stones -- according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

So Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words."

The Lord said to Moses, "Cut out two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you smashed.

The Lord said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel."

So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

So they placed him in custody until they were able to make a clear legal decision for themselves based on words from the mouth of the Lord.

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. He then gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tabernacle.

The Lord said, "Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream.

When he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open,

So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fee for divination in their hand. They came to Balaam and reported to him the words of Balak.

the oracle of the one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, although falling flat on the ground with eyes open:

the oracle of the one who hears the words of God, and who knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, although falling flat on the ground with eyes open:

So it was in the Transjordan, in Moab, that Moses began to deliver these words:

From heaven he spoke to you in order to teach you, and on earth he showed you his great fire from which you also heard his words.

The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all he said. Then he inscribed the words on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind,

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."

The Lord then wrote on the tablets the same words, the ten commandments, which he had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he gave them to me.

Fix these words of mine into your mind and being, and tie them as a reminder on your hands and let them be symbols on your forehead.

You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him with all your mind and being.

You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort the words of the righteous.

It must be with him constantly and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and observe all the words of this law and these statutes and carry them out.

I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command.

I will personally hold responsible anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet speaks in my name.

Then you must inscribe on them all the words of this law when you cross over, so that you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to you.

You must inscribe on the stones all the words of this law, making them clear."

Cursed is the one who refuses to keep the words of this law.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

"If you refuse to obey all the words of this law, the things written in this scroll, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God,

These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.

When such a person hears the words of this oath he secretly blesses himself and says, "I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit." This will destroy the watered ground with the parched.

Secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendants forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law.

Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.

Gather the people -- men, women, and children, as well as the resident foreigners in your villages -- so they may hear and thus learn about and fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the words of this law.

When Moses finished writing on a scroll the words of this law in their entirety,

Then Moses recited the words of this song from start to finish in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel.

Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Then Moses went with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song to the people.

When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel

he said to them, "Keep in mind all the words I am solemnly proclaiming to you today; you must command your children to observe carefully all the words of this law.

Surely he loves the people; all your holy ones are in your power. And they sit at your feet, each receiving your words.

Joshua told the Israelites, "Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God!"

Then Joshua read aloud all the words of the law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the law scroll.

So now, look, the Lord has preserved my life, just as he promised, these past forty-five years since the Lord spoke these words to Moses, during which Israel traveled through the wilderness. Now look, I am today eighty-five years old.

Joshua wrote these words in the Law Scroll of God. He then took a large stone and set it up there under the oak tree near the Lord's shrine.

When the Lord's messenger finished speaking these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly.

When Zebul, the city commissioner, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was furious.

Zebul said to him, "Where now are your bragging words, 'Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?' Are these not the men you insulted? Go out now and fight them!"

So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.

The Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and he became very angry.

When Saul and all the Israelites heard these words of the Philistine, they were upset and very afraid.

When David's words were overheard and reported to Saul, he called for him.

So Saul's servants spoke these words privately to David. David replied, "Is becoming the king's son-in-law something insignificant to you? I'm just a poor and lightly-esteemed man!"

David restrained his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. Then Saul left the cave and started down the road.

When David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, "Is that your voice, my son David?" Then Saul wept loudly.

So David's servants went and spoke all these words to Nabal in David's name. Then they paused.

Falling at his feet, she said, "My lord, I accept all the guilt! But please let your female servant speak with my lord! Please listen to the words of your servant!

So let my lord the king now listen to the words of his servant. If the Lord has incited you against me, may he take delight in an offering. But if men have instigated this, may they be cursed before the Lord! For they have driven me away this day from being united with the Lord's inheritance, saying, 'Go on, serve other gods!'

Saul quickly fell full length on the ground and was very afraid because of Samuel's words. He was completely drained of energy, not having eaten anything all that day and night.

These words of Ish-bosheth really angered Abner and he said, "Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah? This very day I am demonstrating loyalty to the house of Saul your father and to his relatives and his friends! I have not betrayed you into the hand of David. Yet you have accused me of sinning with this woman today!

Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him.

Now, O sovereign Lord, you are the true God! May your words prove to be true! You have made this good promise to your servant!

David said to the messenger, "Tell Joab, 'Don't let this thing upset you. There is no way to anticipate whom the sword will cut down. Press the battle against the city and conquer it.' Encourage him with these words."

The king said, "Did Joab put you up to all of this?" The woman answered, "As surely as you live, my lord the king, there is no deviation to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has said. For your servant Joab gave me instructions. He has put all these words in your servant's mouth.

When he approached her, the woman asked, "Are you Joab?" He replied, "I am." She said to him, "Listen to the words of your servant." He said, "Go ahead. I'm listening."

David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord rescued him from the power of all his enemies, including Saul.

These are the final words of David: "The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man raised up as the ruler chosen by the God of Jacob, Israel's beloved singer of songs:

Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel. When his sons came home, they told their father everything the prophet had done in Bethel that day and all the words he had spoken to the king.

When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He slept in sackcloth and walked around dejected.

Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, "Look, the prophets are in complete agreement that the king will succeed. Your words must agree with theirs; you must predict success."

But the chief adviser said to them, "My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you."

When the king heard the words of the law scroll, he tore his clothes.

"Go, seek an oracle from the Lord for me and the people -- for all Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord's fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do."

Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: "This is what the Lord God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard:

The king went up to the Lord's temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord's temple.

Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him.

When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he was encouraged. He removed the detestable idols from the entire land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had seized in the Ephraimite hill country. He repaired the altar of the Lord in front of the porch of the Lord's temple.

Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, "Look, the prophets are in complete agreement that the king will succeed. Your words must agree with theirs; you must predict success!"

He has with him mere human strength, but the Lord our God is with us to help us and fight our battles!" The army was encouraged by the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.

He wrote letters mocking the Lord God of Israel and insulting him with these words: "The gods of the surrounding nations could not rescue their people from my power. Neither can Hezekiah's god rescue his people from my power."

The rest of the events of Manasseh's reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the prophets spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Israel.