1 Chronicles 28:9

28:9 “And you, Solomon my son, obey ¹  the God of your father and serve him with a submissive attitude and a willing spirit, ²  for the Lord examines all minds and understands every motive of one’s thoughts. If you seek him, he will let you find him, ³  but if you abandon him, he will reject you permanently.

1 Chronicles 29:17

29:17 I know, my God, that you examine thoughts ⁴  and are pleased with integrity. With pure motives ⁵  I contribute all this; and now I look with joy as your people who have gathered here contribute to you.

Psalms 7:9

7:9 May the evil deeds of the wicked ⁶  come to an end! ⁷ 

But make the innocent ⁸  secure, ⁹ 

O righteous God,

you who examine ¹⁰  inner thoughts and motives! ¹¹ 

Psalms 44:21

44:21 would not God discover it,

for he knows ¹²  one’s thoughts? ¹³ 

Proverbs 17:3

17:3 The crucible ¹⁴  is for refining ¹⁵  silver and the furnace ¹⁶  is for gold,

likewise ¹⁷  the Lord tests ¹⁸  hearts.

Jeremiah 11:20

11:20 So I said to the Lord, ¹⁹ 

“O Lord who rules over all, ²⁰  you are a just judge!

You examine people’s hearts and minds. ²¹ 

I want to see you pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.” ²² 

Jeremiah 17:10

17:10 I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds.

I examine people’s hearts. ²³ 

I deal with each person according to how he has behaved.

I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.

Jeremiah 20:12

20:12 O Lord who rules over all, ²⁴  you test and prove the righteous.

You see into people’s hearts and minds. ²⁵ 

Pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.

Matthew 6:8

6:8 Do ²⁶  not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

John 21:17

21:17 Jesus ²⁷  said ²⁸  a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed ²⁹  that Jesus ³⁰  asked ³¹  him a third time, “Do you love me?” and said, ³²  “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus ³³  replied, ³⁴  “Feed my sheep.

Acts 1:24

1:24 Then they prayed, ³⁵  “Lord, you know the hearts of all. Show us which one of these two you have chosen

Acts 15:8

15:8 And God, who knows the heart, ³⁶  has testified ³⁷  to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, ³⁸ 

Acts 15:1

The Jerusalem Council

15:1 Now some men came down from Judea ³⁹  and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised ⁴⁰  according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Acts 2:4

2:4 All ⁴¹  of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages ⁴²  as the Spirit enabled them. ⁴³ 

Hebrews 4:13

4:13 And no creature is hidden from God, ⁴⁴  but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

Revelation 2:23

2:23 Furthermore, I will strike her followers ⁴⁵  with a deadly disease, ⁴⁶  and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will repay ⁴⁷  each one of you ⁴⁸  what your deeds deserve. ⁴⁹ 

[28:9]  ¹ tn Heb “know.”

[28:9]  ² tn Heb “with a complete heart and a willing being.”

[28:9]  ³ tn Heb “he will allow himself to be found by you.”

[29:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “a heart.”

[29:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “with integrity of heart.”

[7:9]  ⁶ tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.

[7:9]  ⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.

[7:9]  ⁸ tn Or “the godly” (see Ps 5:12). The singular form is collective (see the plural “upright in heart” in v. 10), though it may reflect the personal focus of the psalmist in this context.

[7:9]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.

[7:9]  ¹⁰ tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 11:4; 26:2; 139:23.

[7:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and [the one who] tests hearts and kidneys, just God.” The translation inverts the word order to improve the English style. The heart and kidneys were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.

[44:21]  ¹² tn The active participle describes what is characteristically true.

[44:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “would not God search out this, for he knows the hidden things of [the] heart?” The expression “search out” is used metonymically here, referring to discovery, the intended effect of a search. The “heart” (i.e., mind) is here viewed as the seat of one’s thoughts. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he would!” The point seems to be this: There is no way the Israelites who are the speakers in the psalm would reject God and turn to another god, for the omniscient God would easily discover such a sin.

[17:3]  ¹⁴ sn The noun מַצְרֵף (matsref) means “a place or instrument for refining” (cf. ASV, NASB “the refining pot”). The related verb, which means “to melt, refine, smelt,” is used in scripture literally for refining and figuratively for the Lord’s purifying and cleansing and testing people.

[17:3]  ¹⁵ tn The term “refining” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[17:3]  ¹⁶ sn The term כּוּר (cur) describes a “furnace” or “smelting pot.” It can be used figuratively for the beneficial side of affliction (Isa 48:10).

[17:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and.” Most English versions treat this as an adversative (“but”).

[17:3]  ¹⁸ sn The participle בֹּחֵן (bokhen, “tests”) in this emblematic parallelism takes on the connotations of the crucible and the furnace. When the Lord “tests” human hearts, the test, whatever form it takes, is designed to improve the value of the one being tested. Evil and folly will be removed when such testing takes place.

[11:20]  ¹⁹ tn The words “So I said to the Lord” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift in address.

[11:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “Lord of armies, just judge, tester of kidneys and heart.” The sentence has been broken up to avoid a long and complex English sentence. The translation is more in keeping with contemporary English style. In Hebrew thought the “kidneys” were thought of as the seat of the emotions and passions and the “heart” was viewed as the seat of intellect, conscience, and will. The “heart” and the “kidneys” are often used figuratively for the thoughts, emotions, motives, and drives that are thought to be seated in them.

[11:20]  ²² tn Heb “Let me see your retribution [i.e., see you exact retribution] from them because I reveal my cause [i.e., plea for justice] to you.”

[17:10]  ²³ tn The term rendered “mind” here and in the previous verse is actually the Hebrew word for “heart.” However, in combination with the word rendered “heart” in the next line, which is the Hebrew for “kidneys,” it is best rendered “mind” because the “heart” was considered the center of intellect, conscience, and will and the “kidneys” the center of emotions.

[20:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[20:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Lord of armies, the one who tests the righteous, who sees kidneys and heart.” The sentence has been broken up to avoid a long and complex English sentence. The translation is more in keeping with contemporary English style.

[6:8]  ²⁶ tn Grk “So do not.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

[21:17]  ²⁷ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ²⁸ tn Grk “said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.

[21:17]  ²⁹ tn Or “was sad.”

[21:17]  ³⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ³¹ tn Grk “said to.”

[21:17]  ³² tn Grk “and said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.

[21:17]  ³³ tc ‡ Most witnesses, especially later ones (A Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï), read ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsou", “Jesus”) here, while B C have ᾿Ιησοῦς without the article and א D W ˹ 33 565 al lat lack both. Because of the rapid verbal exchange in this pericope, “Jesus” is virtually required for clarity, providing a temptation to scribes to add the name. Further, the name normally occurs with the article. Although it is possible that B C accidentally omitted the article with the name, it is just as likely that they added the simple name to the text for clarity’s sake, while other witnesses added the article as well. The omission of ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς thus seems most likely to be authentic. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating some doubts as to their authenticity.

[21:17]  ³⁴ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[1:24]  ³⁵ tn Grk “And praying, they said.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[15:8]  ³⁶ sn The expression who knows the heart means “who knows what people think.”

[15:8]  ³⁷ tn Or “has borne witness.”

[15:8]  ³⁸ sn By giving them…just as he did to us. The allusion is to the events of Acts 10-11, esp. 10:44-48 and Peter’s remarks in 11:15-18.

[15:1]  ³⁹ sn That is, they came down from Judea to Antioch in Syria.

[15:1]  ⁴⁰ tc Codex Bezae (D) and a few other witnesses have “and walk” here (i.e., instead of τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως [tw eqei tw Mwu>sew"] they read καὶ τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως περιπατῆτε [kai tw eqei tw Mwu>sew" peripathte]). This is a decidedly stronger focus on obedience to the Law. As well, D expands vv. 1-5 in various places with the overall effect of being “more sympathetic to the local tradition of the church at Jerusalem” while the Alexandrian witnesses are more sympathetic to Paul (TCGNT 377). Codex D is well known for having a significantly longer text in Acts, but modern scholarship is generally of the opinion that the text of D expands on the original wording of Acts, with a theological viewpoint that especially puts Peter in a more authoritarian light. The expansion in these five verses is in keeping with that motif even though Peter is not explicitly in view.

[2:4]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “And all.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[2:4]  ⁴² tn The Greek term is γλώσσαις (glwssai"), the same word used for the tongues of fire.

[2:4]  ⁴³ tn Grk “just as the spirit gave them to utter.” The verb ἀποφθέγγομαι (apofqengomai) was used of special utterances in Classical Greek (BDAG 125 s.v.).

[4:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “her children,” but in this context a reference to this woman’s followers or disciples is more likely meant.

[2:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “I will kill with death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).

[2:23]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “I will give.” The sense of δίδωμι (didwmi) in this context is more “repay” than “give.”

[2:23]  ⁴⁸ sn This pronoun and the following one are plural in the Greek text.

[2:23]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “each one of you according to your works.”