When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people ¹  of Seir and made them his personal gods. ²  He bowed down before them and offered them sacrifices.

He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire, ¹  a horrible sin practiced by the nations ²  whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites.

They said to them, “Don’t bring those captives here! Are you planning on making us even more sinful and guilty before the Lord? ¹  Our guilt is already great and the Lord is very angry at Israel.” ² 

“This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, the details of which are recorded in the scroll which they read before the king of Judah.

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.

Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem, ¹  in the storerooms of the temple of the Lord.”

While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself to the ground before the temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelites – men, women, and children alike – gathered around him. The people wept loudly. ¹ 

Our adversaries also boasted, ¹  “Before they are aware or anticipate ²  anything, we will come in among them and kill them, and we will bring this work to a halt!”

So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard. (This happened on the first day of the seventh month.)

You split the sea before them, and they crossed through ¹  the sea on dry ground! But you threw their pursuers ²  into the depths, like a stone into surging ³  waters.

On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate ¹  of Haman, that adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Now Mordecai had come before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her.

All of the thriving people ¹  of the earth will join the celebration and worship; ²  all those who are descending into the grave ³  will bow before him, including those who cannot preserve their lives. ⁴ 

Written by David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away. ²  I will praise ³  the Lord at all times; my mouth will continually praise him. ⁴ 

The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord. O Lord, hear my prayer! Pay attention to my cry for help! ² 

Do not be rash with your mouth or hasty in your heart to bring up a matter before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth! Therefore, let your words be few.

Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes ¹  and still live a long time, ²  yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people ³  – for they stand in fear ⁴  before him.

So remember ¹  your Creator in the days of your youth – before ²  the difficult ³  days come, and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;

before the silver cord is removed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the well, ¹  or the water wheel ²  is broken at the cistern –

It was reported to the family ¹  of David, “Syria has allied with ²  Ephraim.” They and their people were emotionally shaken, just as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. ³ 

Here is why this will be so: ¹  Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose what is right, the land ²  whose two kings you fear will be desolate. ³