Psalms 94:11

94:11 The Lord knows that

peoples’ thoughts are morally bankrupt. ¹ 

Isaiah 55:7

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ² 

and sinful people their plans. ³ 

They should return ⁴  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ⁵ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 4:14

4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil ⁷ 

so that you may yet be delivered.

How long will you continue to harbor up

wicked schemes within you?

Mark 7:21

7:21 For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder,

Mark 7:2

7:2 And they saw that some of Jesus’ disciples ate their bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed.

Colossians 1:5

1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ⁸  from the hope laid up ⁹  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ¹⁰ 

¹ tn Heb “the Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are emptiness.” The psalmist thinks specifically of the “thoughts” expressed in v. 7.

² tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

³ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

⁴ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

⁵ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn Heb “Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”

⁸ tn Col 1:3-8 form one long sentence in the Greek text and have been divided at the end of v. 4 and v. 6 and within v. 6 for clarity, in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English toward shorter sentences. Thus the phrase “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope” is literally “because of the hope.” The perfect tense “have arisen” was chosen in the English to reflect the fact that the recipients of the letter had acquired this hope at conversion in the past, but that it still remains and motivates them to trust in Christ and to love one another.

⁹ tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

¹⁰ tn The term “the gospel” (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, tou euangeliou) is in apposition to “the word of truth” (τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, tw logw th" alhqeia") as indicated in the translation.