Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.
And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;
Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is our's: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?
Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.
The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.
And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.
In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.
Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:
For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead.
Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD.
Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.
I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.
Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?
Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.
Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.
Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.
Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply.
And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty.
O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.
Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them.
Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place.
Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day?
And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.
And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.
For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.
For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.
Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another:
Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.
Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.
He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.