Before

They have made it a desolation; desolate before Me, it mourns. All the land is laid waste, but no man takes it to heart.

Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.

Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.

Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go!

For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom.

I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity.”

Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them.

But You, O LORD, know all their deadly plots against me. Do not wipe out their guilt or blot out their sin from Your sight. Let them be overthrown before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger.

And in this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hands of those who seek their lives, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.

For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. And I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away to Babylon and put them to the sword.

Furthermore, you are to tell this people that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

And you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘If you do not listen to Me and walk in My law, which I have set before you,

This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you lies in My name: “I will deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes.

Their children will be as in days of old, and their congregation will be established before Me; and I will punish all their oppressors.

“Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, declares the LORD, would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.”

So this city will bring Me renown, joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I do for it. They will tremble in awe because of all the goodness and prosperity that I will provide for it.

…nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices.”

As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.”

Recently you repented and did what pleased Me; each of you proclaimed freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before Me in the house that bears My Name.

And those who have transgressed My covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces.

Then I set pitchers full of wine and some cups before the men of the house of the Rechabites, and I said to them, “Drink some wine.”

…this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Jonadab son of Rechab will never fail to have a man to stand before Me.’”

Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD, and each one will turn from his wicked way; for great are the anger and fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people.”

Now in the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a fast before the LORD was proclaimed to all the people of Jerusalem and all who had come there from the cities of Judah.

Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters with a fire burning before him.

But now please listen, O my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”

So the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and pull Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the nobles of Judah.

“Go and tell Ebed-melech the Cushite that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to fulfill My words against this city for harm and not for good, and on that day they will be fulfilled before your eyes.

But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains that were on your wrists. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look, the whole land is before you. Wherever it seems good and right to you, go there.”

But before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan added, “Return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people, or go anywhere else that seems right.” Then the captain of the guard gave him a ration and a gift and released him.

As for me, I will stay in Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine grapes, summer fruit, and oil, place them in your storage jars, and live in the cities you have taken.”

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

To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed My instruction or the statutes that I set before you and your fathers.

This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines before Pharaoh struck down Gaza.

So I will shatter Elam before their foes, before those who seek their lives. I will bring disaster upon them, even My fierce anger,” declares the LORD. “I will send out the sword after them until I finish them off.

So I will shatter Elam before their foes, before those who seek their lives. I will bring disaster upon them, even My fierce anger,” declares the LORD. “I will send out the sword after them until I finish them off.

I laid a snare for you, O Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it. You were found and captured because you challenged the LORD.

For Israel and Judah have not been abandoned by their God, the LORD of Hosts, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.”

Before your very eyes I will repay Babylon and all the dwellers of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion,” declares the LORD.

There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the officials of Judah.

Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. For the LORD has brought her grief because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the enemy.

Let all their wickedness come before You, and deal with them as You have dealt with me because of all my transgressions. For my groans are many, and my heart is faint.

…to deny a man justice before the Most High,

…which He unrolled before me. And written on the front and back of it were words of lamentation, mourning, and woe.

Now if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for his blood.

“Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you, and draw on it the city of Jerusalem.

Because of all your abominations, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again.

Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will cast down your slain before your idols.

I will lay the corpses of the Israelites before their idols and scatter your bones around your altars.

In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; and there the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me.

Before them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.

Slaughter the old men, the young men and maidens, the women and children; but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

Then some of the elders of Israel came and sat down before me.

“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I consult with them in any way?

Therefore speak to them and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him according to his great idolatry,

For when any Israelite or any foreigner dwelling in Israel separates himself from Me, sets up idols in his heart, and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I the LORD will answer him Myself.

You took your embroidered garments to cover them, and you set My oil and incense before them.

And you set before them as a pleasing aroma the food I had given you—the fine flour, oil, and honey that I had fed you. That is what happened, declares the Lord GOD.

…therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you before them, and they will see you completely naked.

Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them, as you have seen.

…before your wickedness was uncovered? Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all those around her, and by the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you.

In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me.

And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’

But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt.

But you, son of man, groan! Groan before their eyes with a broken heart and bitter grief.

I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.

You sat on a couch of luxury with a table spread before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil,

Your heart grew proud of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor; so I cast you to the earth; I made you a spectacle before kings.

I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king and place My sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, who will groan before him like a mortally wounded man.

I will cause many peoples to be appalled over you, and their kings will shudder in horror because of you when I brandish My sword before them. On the day of your downfall each of them will tremble every moment for his life.’

Now the evening before the fugitive arrived, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.

Now the evening before the fugitive arrived, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.

So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.

I will fill you with people and animals, and they will multiply and be fruitful. I will make you as inhabited as you once were, and I will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

“Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds. Their behavior before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman’s impurity.

I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.

You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.

…and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, the only Levites who may approach the LORD to minister before Him.”

There was an altar of wood three cubits high and two cubits square. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. And the man told me, “This is the table that is before the LORD.”

Once the priests have entered the holy area, they must not go out into the outer court until they have left behind the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they approach the places that are for the people.”

You are to give a young bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are of the family of Zadok, who approach Me to minister before Me, declares the Lord GOD.

You must present them before the LORD; the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the LORD.

Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and ministering there. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and stand before them to minister to them.

Because they ministered before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I swore with an uplifted hand concerning them that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity, declares the Lord GOD.

But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD.

But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD.

They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge.

No priest may drink wine before he enters the inner court.

It will be a holy portion of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who draw near to minister before the LORD. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary.

On the Sabbaths and New Moons the people of the land are also to bow in worship before the LORD at the entrance to that gateway.

When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, whoever enters by the north gate to worship must go out by the south gate, and whoever enters by the south gate must go out by the north gate. No one is to return through the gate by which he entered, but each must go out by the opposite gate.

…but he said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men your age? You would endanger my head before the king!”

So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to explain his dreams. When they came and stood before the king,

If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one decree for you. You have conspired to speak before me false and fraudulent words, hoping the situation will change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I will know that you can give me its interpretation.”

Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will give him the interpretation.”

Arioch hastily brought Daniel before the king and said to him, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who will tell the king the interpretation.”

As you, O king, were watching, a great statue appeared. A great and dazzling statue stood before you, and its form was awesome.

So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.

Then Nebuchadnezzar, furious with rage, summoned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king,