All Judah was happy about the oath, because they made the vow with their whole heart. They willingly sought the Lord and he responded to them. ¹  He made them secure on every side. ² 

But Amaziah did not heed the warning, ¹  for God wanted to hand them over to Joash because they followed the gods of Edom. ² 

He looked for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria. ¹  They brought him to Jehu and then executed him. They did give him a burial, for they reasoned, ²  “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with his whole heart.” There was no one in Ahaziah’s family strong enough to rule in his place. ³ 

He said to the people of Judah: ¹  “Let’s build these cities and fortify them with walls, towers, and barred gates. ²  The land remains ours because we have followed ³  the Lord our God and he has made us secure on all sides.” ⁴  So they built the cities ⁵  and prospered.

With all my heart I seek you. Do not allow me to stray from your commands!

How the people of Esau ¹  will be thoroughly plundered! ²  Their ³  hidden valuables will be ransacked! ⁴ 

So ¹  Judas ²  agreed and began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus ³  when no crowd was present. ⁴ 

For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. ¹ 

At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, ¹  they sought out the Levites from all the places they lived ²  to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication joyfully with songs of thanksgiving and songs accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.

When the king and all his bodyguards ¹  and officials heard what he was prophesying, ²  the king sought to have him executed. But Uriah found out about it and fled to Egypt out of fear. ³ 

For you know that ¹  later when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance, although he sought the blessing ²  with tears.

When Pharaoh heard ¹  about this event, ²  he sought to kill Moses. So Moses fled ³  from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, ⁴  and he settled ⁵  by a certain well. ⁶ 

David stayed in the strongholds that were in the desert and in the hill country of the desert of Ziph. Saul looked for him all the time, ¹  but God did not deliver David ²  into his hand.

Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt and found refuge with King Shishak of Egypt. ¹  He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.

All the kings of the earth wanted to visit Solomon to see him display his God-given wisdom. ¹ 

This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright, but they have sought many evil schemes.

“I will arise ¹  and look all around ²  throughout the town, and throughout the streets ³  and squares; I will search for my beloved.” I searched for him but I did not find him. ⁴ 

¹ Moses took ²  the tent ³  and pitched it outside the camp, at a good distance ⁴  from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. Anyone ⁵  seeking ⁶  the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp.

“I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; ¹  I appeared to those who did not look for me. ²  I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ to a nation that did not invoke ³  my name.

But now your kingdom will not continue! The Lord has sought out ¹  for himself a man who is loyal to him ²  and the Lord has appointed ³  him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you.”