'May' in the Bible

Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem,That you may be saved.How long will your wicked thoughtsLodge within you?

‘They are fat, they are sleek,They also excel in deeds of wickedness;They do not plead the cause,The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper;And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

To whom shall I speak and give warningThat they may hear?Behold, their ears are closedAnd they cannot listen.Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them;They have no delight in it.

“I have made you an assayer and a tester among My people,That you may know and assay their way.”

then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—that you may do all these abominations?

But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’

Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through?

Thus says the Lord of hosts,“Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come;And send for the wailing women, that they may come!

“Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us,That our eyes may shed tearsAnd our eyelids flow with water.

For thus says the Lord,“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the landAt this time,And will cause them distress,That they may be found.”

“For even your brothers and the household of your father,Even they have dealt treacherously with you,Even they have cried aloud after you.Do not believe them, although they may say nice things to you.”

“So I Myself have also stripped your skirts off over your face,That your shame may be seen.

Therefore, thus says the Lord,“If you return, then I will restore you—Before Me you will stand;And if you extract the precious from the worthless,You will become My spokesman.They for their part may turn to you,But as for you, you must not turn to them.

May an outcry be heard from their houses,When You suddenly bring raiders upon them;For they have dug a pit to capture meAnd hidden snares for my feet.

Yet You, O Lord, knowAll their deadly designs against me;Do not forgive their iniquityOr blot out their sin from Your sight.But may they be overthrown before You;Deal with them in the time of Your anger!

For I have heard the whispering of many,“Terror on every side!Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!”All my trusted friends,Watching for my fall, say:“Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may prevail against himAnd take our revenge on him.”

“Please inquire of the Lord on our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is warring against us; perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all His wonderful acts, so that the enemy will withdraw from us.”

O house of David, thus says the Lord:“Administer justice every morning;And deliver the person who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor,That My wrath may not go forth like fireAnd burn with none to extinguish it,Because of the evil of their deeds.

“But I will punish you according to the results of your deeds,” declares the Lord,“And I will kindle a fire in its forestThat it may devour all its environs.”’”

The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord.

Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.’

for I have not sent them,” declares the Lord, “but they prophesy falsely in My name, in order that I may drive you out and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

But if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, let them now entreat the Lord of hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon.

and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord confirm your words which you have prophesied to bring back the vessels of the Lord’s house and all the exiles, from Babylon to this place.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him. And I have also given him the beasts of the field.”’”

Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease.

Because of them a curse will be used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,

“I have surely heard Ephraim grieving,‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised,Like an untrained calf;Bring me back that I may be restored,For You are the Lord my God.

‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time.”

and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers.

You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed and you shall not plant a vineyard or own one; but in tents you shall dwell all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’

But now, please listen, O my lord the king; please let my petition come before you and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I may not die there.”

But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you and you may live.

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.

that the Lord your God may tell us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.”

Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the Lord your God will send you to us.

Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”

but Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to give us over into the hand of the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon.”

This will be the sign to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will surely stand against you for harm.’

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.

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

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 will vigorously plead their caseSo that He may bring rest to the earth,But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

“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.

Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;Wail over her!Bring balm for her pain;Perhaps she may be healed.

“May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,”The inhabitant of Zion will say;And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”Jerusalem will say.

“When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquetAnd make them drunk, that they may become jubilantAnd may sleep a perpetual sleepAnd not wake up,” declares the Lord.

“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.