אֵיךְ

Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”

No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”

We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found in the mouths of our sacks. Why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?

For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery that would overwhelm him.”

But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?”

But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “Since I am unskilled in speech, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes all by myself?

You may say in your heart, “These nations are greater than we are; how can we drive them out?”

…be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”

You may ask in your heart, “How can we recognize a message that the LORD has not spoken?”

How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?

But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell near us. How can we make a treaty with you?”

“How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of your great strength!”

(Meanwhile the Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this wicked thing happen?”

“Wait, my daughter,” said Naomi, “until you find out how things go, for he will not rest unless he has resolved the matter today.”

“How can I go?” Samuel asked. “Saul will hear of it and kill me!” The LORD answered, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’

Then David asked the young man who had brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

So David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”

“Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!

How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights.

How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war have perished!”

Once again, Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How could I show my face to your brother Joab?”

That day David feared the LORD and asked, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?”

On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.”

Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked.

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, behold, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?”

But they were terrified and reasoned, “If two kings could not stand against him, how can we?”

Thus one of the priests they had carried away came and lived in Bethel, and he began to teach them how they should worship the LORD.

For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?

Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked.

For how could I bear to see the disaster that would befall my people? How could I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”

So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”

For the choirmaster. Of David. In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain!

The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”

How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!

How can we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?

…and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!

For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!

Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?

Tell me, O one I love, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest them at midday? Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions?

I have taken off my robe—must I put it back on? I have washed my feet—must I soil them again?

See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!

…you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!

How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.

The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?

And on that day the dwellers of this coastland will say, ‘See what has happened to our source of hope, those to whom we fled for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’”

For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?