'May' in the Bible

“Take him and look after him; do nothing to harm him, but rather deal with him just as he asks of you.”

Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, saying, “Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans; stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you.

Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, said to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, Let me now go and put Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, to death without anyone's knowledge: why let him take your life so that all the Jews who have come together to you may be sent in flight, and the rest of the men of Judah come to an end?

Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the Lord your God on our behalf, on behalf of this entire remnant (for few of us remain out of the many, as you can see with your own eyes),

That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.

Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have given ear to you; see, I will make prayer to the Lord your God, as you have said; and it will be that, whatever the Lord may say in answer to you, I will give you word of it, keeping nothing back.

And they said to Jeremiah, “As for every word the Lord your God sends you to tell us, if we don’t act accordingly, may the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us.

Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.

And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.

For you have been acting with deceit in your hearts; for you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, Make prayer for us to the Lord our God, and give us word of everything he may say, and we will do it.

but Baruch the son of Nerijah is setting thee on against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.

in that ye provoke me unto anger with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye are gone to sojourn; that ye may be cut off, and that ye may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:

But you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to bring disaster on all flesh,’ declares the Lord, ‘but I will give your life to you as booty in all the places where you may go.’”

Go up, you horses, and drive madly, you chariots,That the mighty men may march forward:Ethiopia and Put, that handle the shield,And the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.

For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

They will be cutting down her woods, for they may not be searched out; because they are like locusts, more than may be numbered.

“Flee, save your lives,That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.

Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.

I have had Esau searched out, uncovering his secret places, so that he may not keep himself covered: his seed is wasted and has come to an end, and there is no help from his neighbours.

The terror you inspire in others and the arrogance of your heart have deceived you. You may make your home in the clefts of the rocks; you may occupy the highest places in the hills. But even if you made your home where the eagles nest, I would bring you down from there," says the Lord.

Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction; they will come that they may join themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.

Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

“A sword against the oracle priests (the babbling liars), and they will become fools!A sword against her mighty warriors, and they will be shattered and destroyed!

“A sword against their horses and against their chariotsAnd against all the foreign troops that are in her midst,And they will become [as weak and defenseless as] women!A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!

“A drought on her waters, and they will dry up!For it is a land of [worthless] idols,And they are mad over fearsome idols [those objects of terror in which they foolishly trust].

Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

“I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow herAnd may devastate her land;For on every side they will be opposed to herIn the day of her calamity.

Go in flight out of Babylon, so that every man may keep his life; do not be cut off in her evil-doing: for it is the time of the Lord's punishment; he will give her her reward.

Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

May the violence done to me and my flesh be on Babylon," says the inhabitant of Zion. "May my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea," says Jerusalem.

In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.

May you not become cowardly and fearfulwhen the report is proclaimed in the land,for the report will come one year,and then another the next year.There will be violence in the landwith ruler against ruler.

“I will make her princes and her wise men drunk,Her governors, her prefects and her mighty men,That they may sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,”Declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.