and caused me to turn against them and send them into exile in the land of their enemies. At last, when your descendants are humbled and they have paid the penalty for their sin and rebellion,

So Samuel told him everything; he did not keep anything back. Eli said, "He is the LORD; he will do whatever seems best to him."

And David said to Abishai and to all his officials, "My own son is trying to kill me; so why should you be surprised at this Benjaminite? The LORD told him to curse; so leave him alone and let him do it.

Perhaps the LORD will notice my misery and give me some blessings to take the place of his curse."

David saw the angel who was killing the people, and said to the LORD, "I am the guilty one. I am the one who did wrong. What have these poor people done? You should punish me and my family."

Job, have you confessed your sins to God and promised not to sin again?

Have you asked God to show you your faults, and have you agreed to stop doing evil?

"But the LORD is just, for I have disobeyed him. Listen to me, people everywhere; look at me in my pain. My young men and women have been taken away captive.

Why should we ever complain when we are punished for our sin?

Let us open our hearts to God in heaven and pray,

I will get up and go to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against God and against you.

I am no longer fit to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired workers." '

Because the Lord corrects everyone he loves, and punishes everyone he accepts as a child."

Endure what you suffer as being a father's punishment; your suffering shows that God is treating you as his children. Was there ever a child who was not punished by his father?

The LORD will judge, and he will decide which one of us is wrong. May he look into the matter, defend me, and save me from you."

When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, "Praise the LORD! He has taken revenge on Nabal for insulting me and has kept me his servant from doing wrong. The LORD has punished Nabal for his evil." Then David sent a proposal of marriage to Abigail.

By the living LORD," David continued, "I know that the LORD himself will kill Saul, either when his time comes to die a natural death or when he dies in battle.

Rise in your anger, O LORD! Stand up against the fury of my enemies; rouse yourself and help me! Justice is what you demand,

O God, declare me innocent, and defend my cause against the ungodly; deliver me from lying and evil people!

The LORD says, "The people of Israel are like sheep, chased and scattered by lions. First, they were attacked by the emperor of Assyria, and then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia gnawed on their bones.

I will restore the people of Israel to their land. They will eat the food that grows on Mount Carmel and in the region of Bashan, and they will eat all they want of the crops that grow in the territories of Ephraim and Gilead.

Let the people of Zion say, "May Babylonia be held responsible for the violence done to us!" Let the people of Jerusalem say, "May Babylonia be held responsible for what we have suffered!"

And so the LORD said to the people of Jerusalem, "I will take up your cause and will make your enemies pay for what they did to you. I will dry up the source of Babylonia's water and make its rivers go dry.

They shouted in a loud voice, "Almighty Lord, holy and true! How long will it be until you judge the people on earth and punish them for killing us?"

Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the complete number of other servants and believers were killed, as they had been.

Be glad, heaven, because of her destruction! Be glad, God's people and the apostles and prophets! For God has condemned her for what she did to you!

Yet God knows every step I take; if he tests me, he will find me pure.

he will make your righteousness shine like the noonday sun.

Once again my people will see the difference between what happens to the righteous and to the wicked, to the person who serves me and the one who does not."

So you should not pass judgment on anyone before the right time comes. Final judgment must wait until the Lord comes; he will bring to light the dark secrets and expose the hidden purposes of people's minds. And then all will receive from God the praise they deserve.

All of this proves that God's judgment is just and as a result you will become worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering.

and he will give relief to you who suffer and to us as well. He will do this when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with his mighty angels,

They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from his glorious might,

And now there is waiting for me the victory prize of being put right with God, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day---and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for him to appear.