'God' in the Bible

We will also bring the firstborn of our sons and our livestock, as prescribed by the law, and will bring the firstborn of our herds and flocks to the house of our God, to the priests who serve in our God’s house.

We will bring a loaf from our first batch of dough to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God. We will also bring the firstfruits of our grain offerings, of every fruit tree, and of the new wine and oil. A tenth of our land’s produce belongs to the Levites, for the Levites are to collect the one-tenth offering in all our agricultural towns.

A priest of Aaronic descent must accompany the Levites when they collect the tenth, and the Levites must take a tenth of this offering to the storerooms of the treasury in the house of our God.

For the Israelites and the Levites are to bring the contributions of grain, new wine, and oil to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are kept and where the priests who minister are, along with the gatekeepers and singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.

and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the leaders of the Levites, who supervised the work outside the house of God;

The leaders of the Levites—Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, along with their relatives opposite them—gave praise and thanks, division by division, as David the man of God had prescribed.

as well as his relatives—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David, the man of God. Ezra the scribe went in front of them.

The two thanksgiving processions stood in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials accompanying me,

On that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy. The women and children also celebrated, and Jerusalem’s rejoicing was heard far away.

They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had prescribed.

For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were leaders of the singers and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

At that time the book of Moses was read publicly to the people. The command was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,

because they did not meet the Israelites with food and water. Instead, they hired Balaam against them to curse them, but our God turned the curse into a blessing.

Now before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was a relative of Tobiah

I ordered that the rooms be purified, and I had the articles of the house of God restored there, along with the grain offering and frankincense.

Therefore, I rebuked the officials, saying, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts.

Remember me for this, my God, and don’t erase the deeds of faithful love I have done for the house of my God and for its services.

Didn’t your ancestors do the same, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling His anger against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!”

Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.Remember me for this also, my God, and look on me with compassion in keeping with Your abundant, faithful love.

I rebuked them, cursed them, beat some of their men, and pulled out their hair. I forced them to take an oath before God and said: “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or yourselves!

Didn’t King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations. He was loved by his God and God made him king over all Israel, yet foreign women drew him into sin.

Why then should we hear about you doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”

Remember them, my God, for defiling the priesthood as well as the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

I also arranged for the donation of wood at the appointed times and for the firstfruits.Remember me, my God, with favor.

There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil.

Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought: Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts. This was Job’s regular practice.

One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”

Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing?

Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.

One day the sons of God came again to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before the Lord.

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him, to destroy him without just cause.”

His wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”

“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.

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

Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden,whom God has hedged in?

They perish at a single blast from Godand come to an end by the breath of His nostrils.

“Can a person be more righteous than God,or a man more pure than his Maker?”

If God puts no trust in His servantsand He charges His angels with foolishness,

However, if I were you, I would appeal to Godand would present my case to Him.

See how happy the man is God corrects;so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.

If only my request would be grantedand God would provide what I hope for:

Does God pervert justice?Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

But if you earnestly seek Godand ask the Almighty for mercy,

Such is the destiny of all who forget God;the hope of the godless will perish.

Look, God does not reject a person of integrity,and He will not support evildoers.

Yes, I know what you’ve said is true,but how can a person be justified before God?

If one wanted to take Him to court,he could not answer God once in a thousand times.

God is wise and all-powerful.Who has opposed Him and come out unharmed?

God does not hold back His anger;Rahab’s assistants cringe in fear beneath Him!

I will say to God:“Do not declare me guilty!Let me know why You prosecute me.

But if only God would speakand declare His case against you,

He would show you the secrets of wisdom,for true wisdom has two sides.Know then that God has chosen to overlook some of your sin.

Can you fathom the depths of Godor discover the limits of the Almighty?

I am a laughingstock to my friends,by calling on God, who answers me.The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.

The tents of robbers are safe,and those who provoke God are secure;God’s power provides this.

Wisdom and strength belong to God;counsel and understanding are His.

Yet I prefer to speak to the Almightyand argue my case before God.

Only grant these two things to me, God,so that I will not have to hide from Your presence:

But you even undermine the fear of Godand hinder meditation before Him.

Do you listen in on the council of God,or have a monopoly on wisdom?

as you turn your anger against Godand allow such words to leave your mouth?

If God puts no trust in His holy onesand the heavens are not pure in His sight,

For he has stretched out his hand against Godand has arrogantly opposed the Almighty.

God hands me over to unjust men;He throws me into the hands of the wicked.

My friends scoff at meas I weep before God.

I wish that someone might arbitratebetween a man and Godjust as a man pleads for his friend.

Indeed, such is the dwelling of the unjust man,and this is the place of the one who does not know God.

then understand that it is God who has wronged meand caught me in His net.

Why do you persecute me as God does?Will you never get enough of my flesh?

Even after my skin has been destroyed,yet I will see God in my flesh.

He swallows wealth but must vomit it up;God will force it from his stomach.

When he fills his stomach,God will send His burning anger against him,raining it down on him while he is eating.

This is the wicked man’s lot from God,the inheritance God ordained for him.

Their homes are secure and free of fear;no rod from God strikes them.

Yet they say to God: “Leave us alone!We don’t want to know Your ways.

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

Can anyone teach God knowledge,since He judges the exalted ones?

Can a man be of any use to God?Can even a wise man be of use to Him?

Isn’t God as high as the heavens?And look at the highest stars—how lofty they are!

Yet you say: “What does God know?Can He judge through thick darkness?

They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone!”and “What can the Almighty do to us?”

Come to terms with God and be at peace;in this way good will come to you.

Then you will delight in the Almightyand lift up your face to God.

When others are humiliated and you say, “Lift them up,”God will save the humble.

God has made my heart faint;the Almighty has terrified me.

From the city, men groan;the mortally wounded cry for help,yet God pays no attention to this crime.

Yet God drags away the mighty by His power;when He rises up, they have no assurance of life.

How can a person be justified before God?How can one born of woman be pure?

Sheol is naked before God,and Abaddon has no covering.

As God lives, who has deprived me of justice,and the Almighty who has made me bitter,

as long as my breath is still in meand the breath from God remains in my nostrils,

For what hope does the godless man have when he is cut off,when God takes away his life?

Will God hear his crywhen distress comes on him?

Will he delight in the Almighty?Will he call on God at all times?

This is a wicked man’s lot from God,the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.

But God understands the way to wisdom,and He knows its location.

When God fixed the weight of the windand limited the water by measure,

If only I could be as in months gone by,in the days when God watched over me,

Because God has loosened my bowstring and oppressed me,they have cast off restraint in my presence.