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 28:2

28:2 King David rose to his feet and said: “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I wanted to build a temple where the ark of the Lord’s covenant could be placed as a footstool for our God. ⁴  I have made the preparations for building it.

1 Chronicles 15:2

15:2 Then David said, “Only the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to serve before him perpetually.

1 Chronicles 19:3

19:3 the Ammonite officials said to Hanun, “Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy? ⁵  No, his servants have come to you so they can get information and spy out the land!” ⁶ 

1 Chronicles 1:19

1:19 Two sons were born to Eber: the first was named Peleg, for during his lifetime the earth was divided; ⁷  his brother’s name was Joktan.

1 Chronicles 1:21

1:21 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,

Psalms 22:26

22:26 Let the oppressed eat and be filled! ⁸ 

Let those who seek his help praise the Lord!

May you ⁹  live forever!

Psalms 27:8

27:8 My heart tells me to pray to you, ¹⁰ 

and I do pray to you, O Lord. ¹¹ 

Psalms 69:32

69:32 The oppressed look on – let them rejoice!

You who seek God, ¹²  may you be encouraged! ¹³ 

Psalms 105:3

105:3 Boast about his holy name!

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

Psalms 119:2

119:2 How blessed are those who observe his rules,

and seek him with all their heart,

Isaiah 26:9

26:9 I ¹⁴  look for ¹⁵  you during the night,

my spirit within me seeks you at dawn,

for when your judgments come upon the earth,

those who live in the world learn about justice. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 55:6

55:6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; ¹⁷ 

call to him while he is nearby!

Hosea 10:12

10:12 Sow righteousness for yourselves,

reap unfailing love.

Break up the unplowed ground for yourselves,

for it is time to seek the Lord,

until he comes and showers deliverance ¹⁸  on you.

¹ tn Heb “know.”

² tn Heb “with a complete heart and a willing being.”

³ tn Heb “he will allow himself to be found by you.”

⁴ tn Heb “I, with my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for a stool of the feet of our God.”

⁵ tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”

⁶ tc Heb “Is it not to explore and to overturn and to spy out the land (that) his servants have come to you?” The Hebrew term לַהֲפֹךְ (lahafakh, “to overturn”) seems misplaced in the sequence. Some emend the form to לַחְפֹּר (lakhpor, “to spy out”). The sequence of three infinitives may be a conflation of alternative readings.

⁷ sn Perhaps this refers to the scattering of the people at Babel (Gen 11:1-9).

⁸ sn Eat and be filled. In addition to praising the Lord, the psalmist also offers a thank offering to the Lord and invites others to share in a communal meal.

⁹ tn Heb “may your heart[s].”

¹⁰ tc Heb “concerning you my heart says, ‘Seek my face.’” The verb form “seek” is plural, but this makes no sense here, for the psalmist is addressed. The verb should be emended to a singular form. The first person pronominal suffix on “face” also makes little sense, unless it is the voice of the Lord he hears. His “heart” is viewed as speaking, however, so it is better to emend the form to פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”).

¹¹ tn Heb “your face, O Lord, I seek.” To “seek the Lord’s face” means to seek his favor through prayer (see 2 Sam 21:1; Pss 24:6; 105:4).

¹² sn You who seek God refers to those who seek to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him (see Ps 53:2).

¹³ tn Heb “may your heart[s] live.” See Ps 22:26.

¹⁴ tn Heb “with my soul I.” This is a figure for the speaker himself (“I”).

¹⁵ tn Or “long for, desire.” The speaker acknowledges that he is eager to see God come in judgment (see vv. 8, 9b).

¹⁶ tn The translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “those who live in the world learn to live in a righteous manner” (cf. NCV).

¹⁷ tn Heb “while he allows himself to be found.” The Niphal form has a tolerative force here.

¹⁸ tn Or “righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “justice.”