6,7 Seek God while he’s here to be found,

pray to him while he’s close at hand.

Let the wicked abandon their way of life

and the evil their way of thinking.

Let them come back to God, who is merciful,

come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.

6,7 Seek God while he’s here to be found,

pray to him while he’s close at hand.

Let the wicked abandon their way of life

and the evil their way of thinking.

Let them come back to God, who is merciful,

come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.

1-7 "I’ve made myself available

to those who haven’t bothered to ask.

I’m here, ready to be found

by those who haven’t bothered to look.

I kept saying ‘I’m here, I’m right here’

to a nation that ignored me.

I reached out day after day

to a people who turned their backs on me,

People who make wrong turns,

who insist on doing things their own way.

They get on my nerves,

are rude to my face day after day,

Make up their own kitchen religion,

a potluck religious stew.

They spend the night in tombs

to get messages from the dead,

Eat forbidden foods

and drink a witch’s brew of potions and charms.

They say, ‘Keep your distance.

Don’t touch me. I’m holier than thou.’

These people gag me.

I can’t stand their stench.

Look at this! Their sins are all written out—

I have the list before me.

I’m not putting up with this any longer.

I’ll pay them the wages

They have coming for their sins.

And for the sins of their parents lumped in,

a bonus." God says so.

"Because they’ve practiced their blasphemous worship,

mocking me at their hillside shrines,

I’ll let loose the consequences

and pay them in full for their actions."

* * *

27-31 Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,

or, whine, Israel, saying,

"God has lost track of me.

He doesn’t care what happens to me"?

Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?

God doesn’t come and go. God lasts.

He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.

He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.

And he knows everything, inside and out.

He energizes those who get tired,

gives fresh strength to dropouts.

For even young people tire and drop out,

young folk in their prime stumble and fall.

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.

They spread their wings and soar like eagles,

They run and don’t get tired,

they walk and don’t lag behind.

8-19 Thank God! Call out his Name!

Tell the whole world who he is and what he’s done!

Sing to him! Play songs for him!

Broadcast all his wonders!

Revel in his holy Name,

God-seekers, be jubilant!

Study God and his strength,

seek his presence day and night;

Remember all the wonders he performed,

the miracles and judgments that came out of his mouth.

Seed of Israel his servant!

Children of Jacob, his first choice!

He is God, our God;

wherever you go you come on his judgments and decisions.

He keeps his commitments across thousands

of generations, the covenant he commanded,

The same one he made with Abraham,

the very one he swore to Isaac;

He posted it in big block letters to Jacob,

this eternal covenant with Israel:

"I give you the land of Canaan,

this is your inheritance;

Even though you’re not much to look at,

a few straggling strangers."

8-19 Thank God! Call out his Name!

Tell the whole world who he is and what he’s done!

Sing to him! Play songs for him!

Broadcast all his wonders!

Revel in his holy Name,

God-seekers, be jubilant!

Study God and his strength,

seek his presence day and night;

Remember all the wonders he performed,

the miracles and judgments that came out of his mouth.

Seed of Israel his servant!

Children of Jacob, his first choice!

He is God, our God;

wherever you go you come on his judgments and decisions.

He keeps his commitments across thousands

of generations, the covenant he commanded,

The same one he made with Abraham,

the very one he swore to Isaac;

He posted it in big block letters to Jacob,

this eternal covenant with Israel:

"I give you the land of Canaan,

this is your inheritance;

Even though you’re not much to look at,

a few straggling strangers."

9,10 "And you, Solomon my son, get to know well your father’s God; serve him with a whole heart and eager mind, for God examines every heart and sees through every motive. If you seek him, he’ll make sure you find him, but if you abandon him, he’ll leave you for good. Look sharp now! God has chosen you to build his holy house. Be brave, determined! And do it!"

12-18 God appeared to Solomon that very night and said, "I accept your prayer; yes, I have chosen this place as a temple for sacrifice, a house of worship. If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I’ll be there ready for you: I’ll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health. From now on I’m alert day and night to the prayers offered at this place. Believe me, I’ve chosen and sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I’ve set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I’ll back your kingly rule over Israel—make it a sure thing on a sure foundation. The same covenant guarantee I gave to David your father I’m giving to you, namely, ‘You can count on always having a descendant on Israel’s throne.’

1-6 Then Azariah son of Obed, moved by the Spirit of God, went out to meet Asa. He said, "Listen carefully, Asa, and listen Judah and Benjamin: God will stick with you as long as you stick with him. If you look for him he will let himself be found; but if you leave him he’ll leave you. For a long time Israel didn’t have the real God, nor did they have the help of priest or teacher or book. But when they were in trouble and got serious, and decided to seek God, the God of Israel, God let himself be found. At that time it was a dog-eat-dog world; life was constantly up for grabs—no one, regardless of country, knew what the next day might bring. Nation battered nation, city pummeled city. God let loose every kind of trouble among them.

1-6 Then Azariah son of Obed, moved by the Spirit of God, went out to meet Asa. He said, "Listen carefully, Asa, and listen Judah and Benjamin: God will stick with you as long as you stick with him. If you look for him he will let himself be found; but if you leave him he’ll leave you. For a long time Israel didn’t have the real God, nor did they have the help of priest or teacher or book. But when they were in trouble and got serious, and decided to seek God, the God of Israel, God let himself be found. At that time it was a dog-eat-dog world; life was constantly up for grabs—no one, regardless of country, knew what the next day might bring. Nation battered nation, city pummeled city. God let loose every kind of trouble among them.

7 "But it’s different with you: Be strong. Take heart. Payday is coming!"

8,9 Asa heard the prophecy of Azariah son of Obed, took a deep breath, then rolled up his sleeves, and went to work: He cleaned out the obscene and polluting sacred shrines from the whole country of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim. He spruced up the Altar of God that was in front of The Temple porch. Then he called an assembly for all Judah and Benjamin, including those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were living there at the time (for many from Israel had left their homes and joined forces with Asa when they saw that God was on his side).

10-15 They all arrived in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign for a great assembly of worship. From their earlier plunder they offered sacrifices of seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep for the worship. Then they bound themselves in a covenant to seek God, the God of their fathers, wholeheartedly, holding nothing back. And they agreed that anyone who refused to seek God, the God of Israel, should be killed, no matter who it was, young or old, man or woman. They shouted out their promise to God, a joyful sound accompanied with blasts from trumpets and rams’ horns. The whole country felt good about the covenant promise—they had given their promise joyfully from the heart. Anticipating the best, they had sought God—and he showed up, ready to be found. God gave them peace within and without—a most peaceable kingdom!

16-19 In his cleanup of the country, Asa went so far as to remove his mother, Queen Maacah, from her throne because she had built a shockingly obscene image of the sex goddess Asherah. Asa tore it down, smashed it, and burned it up in the Kidron Valley. Unfortunately he didn’t get rid of the local sex-and-religion shrines. But he was well-intentioned—his heart was in the right place, loyal to God. All the gold and silver vessels and artifacts that he and his father had consecrated for holy use he installed in The Temple of God. There wasn’t a trace of war up to the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

13,14 "When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.

"Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed." God’s Decree.

"I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you"—God’s Decree—"bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.

13,14 "When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.

"Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed." God’s Decree.

"I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you"—God’s Decree—"bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.

28,29 "You prophets who do nothing but dream—

go ahead and tell your silly dreams.

But you prophets who have a message from me—

tell it truly and faithfully.

What does straw have in common with wheat?

Nothing else is like God’s Decree.

Isn’t my Message like fire?" God’s Decree.

"Isn’t it like a sledgehammer busting a rock?

29-31 But even there, if you seek God, your God, you’ll be able to find him if you’re serious, looking for him with your whole heart and soul. When troubles come and all these awful things happen to you, in future days you will come back to God, your God, and listen obediently to what he says. God, your God, is above all a compassionate God. In the end he will not abandon you, he won’t bring you to ruin, he won’t forget the covenant with your ancestors which he swore to them.

1-8 You’re blessed when you stay on course,

walking steadily on the road revealed by God.

You’re blessed when you follow his directions,

doing your best to find him.

That’s right—you don’t go off on your own;

you walk straight along the road he set.

You, God, prescribed the right way to live;

now you expect us to live it.

Oh, that my steps might be steady,

keeping to the course you set;

Then I’d never have any regrets

in comparing my life with your counsel.

I thank you for speaking straight from your heart;

I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.

I’m going to do what you tell me to do;

don’t ever walk off and leave me.

* * *

1-8 You’re blessed when you stay on course,

walking steadily on the road revealed by God.

You’re blessed when you follow his directions,

doing your best to find him.

That’s right—you don’t go off on your own;

you walk straight along the road he set.

You, God, prescribed the right way to live;

now you expect us to live it.

Oh, that my steps might be steady,

keeping to the course you set;

Then I’d never have any regrets

in comparing my life with your counsel.

I thank you for speaking straight from your heart;

I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.

I’m going to do what you tell me to do;

don’t ever walk off and leave me.

* * *

9-16 How can a young person live a clean life?

By carefully reading the map of your Word.

I’m single-minded in pursuit of you;

don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted.

I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart

so I won’t sin myself bankrupt.

Be blessed, God;

train me in your ways of wise living.

I’ll transfer to my lips

all the counsel that comes from your mouth;

I delight far more in what you tell me about living

than in gathering a pile of riches.

I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you,

I attentively watch how you’ve done it.

I relish everything you’ve told me of life,

I won’t forget a word of it.

* * *

25-32 I’m feeling terrible—I couldn’t feel worse!

Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember?

When I told my story, you responded;

train me well in your deep wisdom.

Help me understand these things inside and out

so I can ponder your miracle-wonders.

My sad life’s dilapidated, a falling-down barn;

build me up again by your Word.

Barricade the road that goes Nowhere;

grace me with your clear revelation.

I choose the true road to Somewhere,

I post your road signs at every curve and corner.

I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me;

God, don’t let me down!

I’ll run the course you lay out for me

if you’ll just show me how.

* * *

41-48 Let your love, God, shape my life

with salvation, exactly as you promised;

Then I’ll be able to stand up to mockery

because I trusted your Word.

Don’t ever deprive me of truth, not ever—

your commandments are what I depend on.

Oh, I’ll guard with my life what you’ve revealed to me,

guard it now, guard it ever;

And I’ll stride freely through wide open spaces

as I look for your truth and your wisdom;

Then I’ll tell the world what I find,

speak out boldly in public, unembarrassed.

I cherish your commandments—oh, how I love them!—

relishing every fragment of your counsel.

* * *

1-6 Hallelujah!

Thank God! Pray to him by name!

Tell everyone you meet what he has done!

Sing him songs, belt out hymns,

translate his wonders into music!

Honor his holy name with Hallelujahs,

you who seek God. Live a happy life!

Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works;

be alert for signs of his presence.

Remember the world of wonders he has made,

his miracles, and the verdicts he’s rendered—

O seed of Abraham, his servant,

O child of Jacob, his chosen.

1-6 Hallelujah!

Thank God! Pray to him by name!

Tell everyone you meet what he has done!

Sing him songs, belt out hymns,

translate his wonders into music!

Honor his holy name with Hallelujahs,

you who seek God. Live a happy life!

Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works;

be alert for signs of his presence.

Remember the world of wonders he has made,

his miracles, and the verdicts he’s rendered—

O seed of Abraham, his servant,

O child of Jacob, his chosen.

7-9 Listen, God, I’m calling at the top of my lungs:

"Be good to me! Answer me!"

When my heart whispered, "Seek God,"

my whole being replied,

"I’m seeking him!"

Don’t hide from me now!

1 God—you’re my God!

I can’t get enough of you!

I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God,

traveling across dry and weary deserts.

7-11 "Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?

9 "Here’s what I’m saying:

Ask and you’ll get;

Seek and you’ll find;

Knock and the door will open.

10-13 "Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing—you’re at least decent to your own children. And don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?"

9 "Here’s what I’m saying:

Ask and you’ll get;

Seek and you’ll find;

Knock and the door will open.

29-32 "What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.

9,10 Jesus said, "Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost."

9,10 God’s a safe-house for the battered,

a sanctuary during bad times.

The moment you arrive, you relax;

you’re never sorry you knocked.

9,10 God’s a safe-house for the battered,

a sanctuary during bad times.

The moment you arrive, you relax;

you’re never sorry you knocked.

4 God met me more than halfway,

he freed me from my anxious fears.

10 Young lions on the prowl get hungry,

but God-seekers are full of God.

3,4 Get insurance with God and do a good deed,

settle down and stick to your last.

Keep company with God,

get in on the best.

2 God sticks his head out of heaven.

He looks around.

He’s looking for someone not stupid—

one man, even, God-expectant,

just one God-ready woman.

1-6 God, investigate my life;

get all the facts firsthand.

I’m an open book to you;

even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.

You know when I leave and when I get back;

I’m never out of your sight.

You know everything I’m going to say

before I start the first sentence.

I look behind me and you’re there,

then up ahead and you’re there, too—

your reassuring presence, coming and going.

This is too much, too wonderful—

I can’t take it all in!

5,6 God is at their side;

with God’s help they make it.

This, Jacob, is what happens

to God-seekers, God-questers.

4,5 God’s Message to the family of Israel:

"Seek me and live.

Don’t fool around at those shrines of Bethel,

Don’t waste time taking trips to Gilgal,

and don’t bother going down to Beer-sheba.

Gilgal is here today and gone tomorrow

and Bethel is all show, no substance."

4,5 God’s Message to the family of Israel:

"Seek me and live.

Don’t fool around at those shrines of Bethel,

Don’t waste time taking trips to Gilgal,

and don’t bother going down to Beer-sheba.

Gilgal is here today and gone tomorrow

and Bethel is all show, no substance."

14 Seek good and not evil—

and live!

You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,

being your best friend.

Well, live like it,

and maybe it will happen.

14-19 My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

10-12 And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no weekend war that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

9-12 Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven’t stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.

5-7 That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.

5,6 By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. "They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him." We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken "he pleased God." It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

5,6 By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. "They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him." We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken "he pleased God." It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

7,8 He told them, "You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world."

11,12 Boaz answered her, "I’ve heard all about you—heard about the way you treated your mother-in-law after the death of her husband, and how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth and have come to live among a bunch of total strangers. God reward you well for what you’ve done—and with a generous bonus besides from God, to whom you’ve come seeking protection under his wings."

5,6 Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother. When he got to the vineyards of Timnah, a young lion came at him, roaring. The Spirit of God came on him powerfully and he ripped it open barehanded, like tearing a young goat. But he didn’t tell his parents what he had done.

28 And Samson cried out to God:

Master, God!

Oh, please, look on me again,

Oh, please, give strength yet once more.

God!

With one avenging blow let me be avenged

On the Philistines for my two eyes!

5-16 Pushed to the wall, I called to God;

from the wide open spaces, he answered.

God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid;

who would dare lay a hand on me?

God’s my strong champion;

I flick off my enemies like flies.

Far better to take refuge in God

than trust in people;

Far better to take refuge in God

than trust in celebrities.

Hemmed in by barbarians,

in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;

Hemmed in and with no way out,

in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;

Like swarming bees, like wild prairie fire, they hemmed me in;

in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt.

I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall,

when God grabbed and held me.

God’s my strength, he’s also my song,

and now he’s my salvation.

Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs

in the camp of the saved?

"The hand of God has turned the tide!

The hand of God is raised in victory!

The hand of God has turned the tide!"

22 Find a good spouse, you find a good life—

and even more: the favor of God!

13,14 Eat honey, dear child—it’s good for you—

and delicacies that melt in your mouth.

Likewise knowledge,

and wisdom for your soul—

Get that and your future’s secured,

your hope is on solid rock.