Deuteronomy 4:29

4:29 But if you seek the Lord your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul. ¹ 

Deuteronomy 4:2

4:2 Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to ²  you.

Deuteronomy 21:1

Laws Concerning Unsolved Murder

21:1 If a homicide victim ³  should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, ⁴  and no one knows who killed ⁵  him,

Psalms 27:8

27:8 My heart tells me to pray to you, ⁶ 

and I do pray to you, O Lord. ⁷ 

Isaiah 55:6-7

55:6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; ⁸ 

call to him while he is nearby!

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ⁹ 

and sinful people their plans. ¹⁰ 

They should return ¹¹  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ¹² 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ¹³ 

Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, Seek, Knock

7:7 “Ask ¹⁴  and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door ¹⁵  will be opened for you. 7:8 For everyone who asks ¹⁶  receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹ tn Or “mind and being.” See Deut 6:5.

² tn Heb “commanding.”

³ tn Heb “slain [one].” The term חָלָל (khalal) suggests something other than a natural death (cf. Num 19:16; 23:24; Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15; 30:24; 31:17-18).

⁴ tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Heb “struck,” but in context a fatal blow is meant; cf. NLT “who committed the murder.”

⁶ 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”).

⁷ 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).

⁸ tn Heb “while he allows himself to be found.” The Niphal form has a tolerative force here.

⁹ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

¹¹ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

¹² tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

¹³ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

¹⁴ sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.

¹⁵ tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation here and in v. 8 for clarity.

¹⁶ sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 7 with the encouragement that God does respond.