<t /><p class="bodytext">You must not put the <sc>Lordsc> your God to the test as you did at Massah.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">Examine me, O <sc>Lordsc>, and test me!p> <p class="poetry">Evaluate my inner thoughts and motives!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">They willfully challenged God<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">by asking for food to satisfy their appetite.p>

<p class="poetry">They again challenged God,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and offended<n id="2" /> the Holy One of Israel.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving<n id="1" /> for meat;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">they challenged God<n id="3" /> in the desert.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;If someone<n id="1" /> should attempt<n id="2" /> a word with you,p> <p class="poetry">will you be impatient?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">But who can refrain from speaking<n id="4" />?p>

<p class="poetry">Yet they challenged and defied<n id="1" /> the sovereign God,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and did not obey<n id="3" /> his commands.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">where your ancestors challenged my authority,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.p>

But Ahaz responded, &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to ask; I don&#8217;t want to put the <sc>Lordsc> to a test.&#8221;<n id="1" />

So the warden<n id="1" /> agreed to their proposal<n id="2" /> and tested them for ten<n id="3" /> days.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon,<n id="1" /> she came to challenge<n id="2" /> him with difficult questions.<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="poetry">I have examined all this by wisdom;p> <p class="poetry">I said, &#8220;I am determined<n id="1" /> to comprehend this&#8221;<n id="2" /> &#8211; but it was beyond my grasp.<n id="3" />p>

David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire and tried to walk around, but he was not used to them.<n id="1" /> David said to Saul, &#8220;I can&#8217;t walk in these things, for I&#8217;m not used to them.&#8221; So David removed them.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Some time after these things God tested<n id="1" /> Abraham. He said to him, &#8220;Abraham!&#8221; &#8220;Here I am!&#8221; Abraham<n id="2" /> replied.

He cried out to the <sc>Lordsc>, and the <sc>Lordsc> showed him<n id="1" /> a tree.<n id="2" /> When Moses<n id="3" /> threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Lord<n id="4" /> made for them<n id="5" /> a binding ordinance,<n id="6" /> and there he tested<n id="7" /> them.

fed you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you<n id="1" /> and eventually bring good to you.

<t /><p class="poetry">Of Levi he said:p> <p class="poetry">Your Thummim and Urim<n id="1" /> belong to your godly one,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">whose authority you challenged at Massah,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and with whom you argued at the waters of Meribah.<n id="4" />p>

Joshua left those nations<n id="1" /> to test<n id="2" /> Israel. I wanted to see<n id="3" /> whether or not the people<n id="4" /> would carefully walk in the path<n id="5" /> marked out by<n id="6" /> the <sc>Lordsc>, as their ancestors<n id="7" /> were careful to do.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">These were the nations the <sc>Lordsc> permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel &#8211; he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites.<n id="1" />

They were left to test Israel, so the <sc>Lordsc> would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses.<n id="1" />p>