Is this the way you should treat the LORD, you foolish, senseless people? He is your father, your Creator, he made you into a nation.

What can I offer the LORD for all his goodness to me?

I will bring a wine offering to the LORD, to thank him for saving me.

Return to the LORD, and let this prayer be your offering to him: "Forgive all our sins and accept our prayer, and we will praise you as we have promised.

Jesus spoke up, "There were ten who were healed; where are the other nine?

Why is this foreigner the only one who came back to give thanks to God?"

and even when the Babylonian ambassadors came to inquire about the unusual event that had happened in the land, God let Hezekiah go his own way only in order to test his character.

Now Amaziah, you boast that you have defeated the Edomites, but I advise you to stay at home. Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and your people?"

But when King Uzziah became strong, he grew arrogant, and that led to his downfall. He defied the LORD his God by going into the Temple to burn incense on the altar of incense.

When you have all you want to eat and have built good houses to live in

be sure that you do not become proud and forget the LORD your God who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves.

Now Amaziah, you have defeated the Edomites, and you are filled with pride. Be satisfied with your fame and stay at home. Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and your people?"

Hezekiah welcomed the messengers and showed them his wealth---his silver and gold, his spices and perfumes, and all his military equipment. There was nothing in his storerooms or anywhere in his kingdom that he did not show them.

"Mortal man," he said, "tell the ruler of Tyre what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to him: Puffed up with pride, you claim to be a god. You say that like a god you sit on a throne, surrounded by the seas. You may pretend to be a god, but, no, you are mortal, not divine.

You made clever business deals and kept on making profits. How proud you are of your wealth!

You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings.

But because he became proud, stubborn, and cruel, he was removed from his royal throne and lost his place of honor.

You acted against the Lord of heaven and brought in the cups and bowls taken from his Temple. You, your noblemen, your wives, and your concubines drank wine out of them and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone---gods that cannot see or hear and that do not know anything. But you did not honor the God who determines whether you live or die and who controls everything you do.

And this is the message: 'Those who are evil will not survive, but those who are righteous will live because they are faithful to God.' "

But to keep me from being puffed up with pride because of the many wonderful things I saw, I was given a painful physical ailment, which acts as Satan's messenger to beat me and keep me from being proud.

He must be mature in the faith, so that he will not swell up with pride and be condemned, as the Devil was.

In the same way you younger people must submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you must put on the apron of humility, to serve one another; for the scripture says, "God resists the proud, but shows favor to the humble."

Humble yourselves, then, under God's mighty hand, so that he will lift you up in his own good time.

And so the people stopped worshiping in the Temple of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and began to worship idols and the images of the goddess Asherah. Their guilt for these sins brought the LORD's anger on Judah and Jerusalem.

On another occasion the LORD was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The LORD said to him, "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah."

But after David had taken the census, his conscience began to hurt, and he said to the LORD, "I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly."

(SEE 24:11)

David answered, "I am in a desperate situation! But I don't want to be punished by people. Let the LORD himself be the one to punish us, for he is merciful."

When the LORD's angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD changed his mind about punishing the people and said to the angel who was killing them, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.

Three years of famine? Or three months of running away from the armies of your enemies? Or three days during which the LORD attacks you with his sword and sends an epidemic on your land, using his angel to bring death throughout Israel? What answer shall I give the LORD?"

So the LORD sent an epidemic on the people of Israel, and seventy thousand of them died.

David saw the angel standing in midair, holding his sword in his hand, ready to destroy Jerusalem. Then David and the leaders of the people---all of whom were wearing sackcloth---bowed low, with their faces touching the ground.