2 Chronicles 6:30

6:30 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, ¹  and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of their motives. ²  (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.) ³ 

Psalms 7:9

7:9 May the evil deeds of the wicked ⁴  come to an end! ⁵ 

But make the innocent ⁶  secure, ⁷ 

O righteous God,

you who examine ⁸  inner thoughts and motives! ⁹ 

Psalms 44:21

44:21 would not God discover it,

for he knows ¹⁰  one’s thoughts? ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 17:10

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

I examine people’s hearts. ¹² 

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

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

John 2:24-25

2:24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people. ¹³  2:25 He did not need anyone to testify about man, ¹⁴  for he knew what was in man. ¹⁵ 

John 21:17

21:17 Jesus ¹⁶  said ¹⁷  a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed ¹⁸  that Jesus ¹⁹  asked ²⁰  him a third time, “Do you love me?” and said, ²¹  “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus ²²  replied, ²³  “Feed my sheep.

Hebrews 4:13

4:13 And no creature is hidden from God, ²⁴  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 ²⁵  with a deadly disease, ²⁶  and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will repay ²⁷  each one of you ²⁸  what your deeds deserve. ²⁹ 

[6:30]  ¹ tn The words “their sin” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarification.

[6:30]  ² tn Heb “and act and give to each one according to all his ways because you know his heart.” In the Hebrew text vv. 28-30a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided up for stylistic reasons.

[6:30]  ³ tn Heb “Indeed you know, you alone, the heart of all the sons of mankind.”

[7:9]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.

[7:9]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.

[7:9]  ⁸ tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 11:4; 26:2; 139:23.

[7:9]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn The active participle describes what is characteristically true.

[44:21]  ¹¹ 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.

[17:10]  ¹² 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.

[2:24]  ¹³ tn Grk “all.” The word “people” has been supplied for clarity, since the Greek word πάντας (pantas) is masculine plural (thus indicating people rather than things).

[2:25]  ¹⁴ tn The masculine form has been retained here in the translation to maintain the connection with “a man of the Pharisees” in 3:1, with the understanding that the reference is to people of both genders.

[2:25]  ¹⁵ tn See previous note on “man” in this verse.

[21:17]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

[21:17]  ¹⁸ tn Or “was sad.”

[21:17]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “said to.”

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

[21:17]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[4:13]  ²⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:23]  ²⁵ tn Grk “her children,” but in this context a reference to this woman’s followers or disciples is more likely meant.

[2:23]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Grk “I will give.” The sense of δίδωμι (didwmi) in this context is more “repay” than “give.”

[2:23]  ²⁸ sn This pronoun and the following one are plural in the Greek text.

[2:23]  ²⁹ tn Grk “each one of you according to your works.”