“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Are you coming to seek me? As surely as I live, I will not allow you to seek me, ¹  declares the sovereign Lord.’

When you present your sacrifices ¹  – when you make your sons pass through the fire – you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. Will I allow you to seek me, ²  O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me! ³ 

¹ When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ²  he did not go as at the other times ³  to seek for omens, ⁴  but he set his face ⁵  toward the wilderness.

Gilead stayed put ¹  beyond the Jordan River. As for Dan – why did he seek temporary employment in the shipyards? ²  Asher remained ³  on the seacoast, he stayed ⁴  by his harbors. ⁵ 

Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard:

if my people, who belong to me, ¹  humble themselves, pray, seek to please me, ²  and repudiate their sinful practices, ³  then I will respond ⁴  from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. ⁵ 

In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a foot disease. ¹  Though his disease was severe, he did not seek the Lord, but only the doctors. ² 

King Joash disregarded ¹  the loyalty his father Jehoiada had shown him and killed Jehoiada’s ²  son. As Zechariah ³  was dying, he said, “May the Lord take notice and seek vengeance!” ⁴ 

Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard:

The Israelites who were returning from the exile ate it, along with all those who had joined them ¹  in separating themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel.

I called for a fast there by the Ahava Canal, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and seek from him a safe journey ¹  for us, our children, and all our property.

And why do you not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust, ¹  and you will seek me diligently, ²  but I will be gone.”

Let none who rely on you be disgraced because of me, O sovereign Lord and king! ¹  Let none who seek you be ashamed because of me, O God of Israel!

The Maidens to the Beloved: Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned? Tell us, ¹  that we may seek him with you. ² 

Therefore, the sovereign Lord who commands armies, ¹  the powerful ruler of Israel, ²  says this: “Ah, I will seek vengeance ³  against my adversaries, I will take revenge against my enemies. ⁴ 

The Egyptians will panic, ¹  and I will confuse their strategy. ²  They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead, from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. ³ 

The one who lives ¹  uprightly ²  and speaks honestly; the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures and rejects a bribe; ³  the one who does not plot violent crimes ⁴  and does not seek to harm others ⁵  –

I have not spoken in secret, in some hidden place. ¹  I did not tell Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain!’ ²  I am the Lord, the one who speaks honestly, who makes reliable announcements. ³ 

Among the smooth stones of the stream are the idols you love; they, they are the object of your devotion. ¹  You pour out liquid offerings to them, you make an offering. Because of these things I will seek vengeance. ² 

“When that time comes,” says the Lord, ¹  “the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together. They will come back with tears of repentance as they seek the Lord their God. ²