Acts 9:11

9:11 Then the Lord told him, “Get up and go to the street called ‘Straight,’ ¹  and at Judas’ house look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying,

Deuteronomy 4:29-30

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. ²  4:30 In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, ³  if you return to the Lord your God and obey him ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 4:1

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances ⁵  I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ⁶  is giving you.

Deuteronomy 8:1

The Lord’s Provision in the Desert

8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments ⁷  I am giving ⁸  you today so that you may live, increase in number, ⁹  and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 8:1-2

The Lord’s Provision in the Desert

8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments ¹¹  I am giving ¹²  you today so that you may live, increase in number, ¹³  and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. ¹⁴  8:2 Remember the whole way by which he ¹⁵  has brought you these forty years through the desert ¹⁶  so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not.

Deuteronomy 33:12-13

Blessing on Benjamin

33:12 Of Benjamin he said:

The beloved of the Lord will live safely by him;

he protects him all the time,

and the Lord ¹⁷  places him on his chest. ¹⁸ 

Blessing on Joseph

33:13 Of Joseph he said:

May the Lord bless his land

with the harvest produced by the sky, ¹⁹  by the dew,

and by the depths crouching beneath;

Isaiah 55:6-7

55:6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; ²⁰ 

call to him while he is nearby!

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ²¹ 

and sinful people their plans. ²² 

They should return ²³  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ²⁴ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ²⁵ 

Amos 5:6

5:6 Seek the Lord so you can live!

Otherwise he will break out ²⁶  like fire against Joseph’s ²⁷  family; ²⁸ 

the fire ²⁹  will consume

and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ³⁰ 

Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, Seek, Knock

7:7 “Ask ³¹  and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door ³²  will be opened for you. 7:8 For everyone who asks ³³  receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Luke 11:9-13

11:9 “So ³⁴  I tell you: Ask, ³⁵  and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door ³⁶  will be opened for you. 11:10 For everyone who asks ³⁷  receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door ³⁸  will be opened. 11:11 What father among you, if your ³⁹  son asks for ⁴⁰  a fish, will give him a snake ⁴¹  instead of a fish? 11:12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ⁴²  11:13 If you then, although you are ⁴³  evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit ⁴⁴  to those who ask him!”

Revelation 3:17-18

3:17 Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, ⁴⁵  and need nothing,” but ⁴⁶  do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, ⁴⁷  poor, blind, and naked, 3:18 take my advice ⁴⁸  and buy gold from me refined by fire so you can become rich! Buy from me ⁴⁹  white clothing so you can be clothed and your shameful nakedness ⁵⁰  will not be exposed, and buy eye salve ⁵¹  to put on your eyes so you can see!

[9:11]  ¹ sn The noting of the detail of the locale, ironically called ‘Straight’ Street, shows how directive and specific the Lord was.

[4:29]  ² tn Or “mind and being.” See Deut 6:5.

[4:30]  ³ sn The phrase is not used here in a technical sense for the eschaton, but rather refers to a future time when Israel will be punished for its sin and experience exile. See Deut 31:29.

[4:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “hear his voice.” The expression is an idiom meaning “obey,” occurring in Deut 8:20; 9:23; 13:18; 21:18, 20; 26:14, 17; 27:10; 28:1-2, 15, 45, 62; 30:2, 8, 10, 20.

[4:1]  ⁵ tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.

[4:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).

[8:1]  ⁷ tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).

[8:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).

[8:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”

[8:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).

[8:1]  ¹¹ tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).

[8:1]  ¹² tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).

[8:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”

[8:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).

[8:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.

[33:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “between his shoulders.” This suggests the scene in John 13:23 with Jesus and the Beloved Disciple.

[33:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from the harvest of the heavens.” The referent appears to be good crops produced by the rain that falls from the sky.

[55:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “while he allows himself to be found.” The Niphal form has a tolerative force here.

[55:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ²² tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ²³ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ²⁴ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ²⁵ 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.

[5:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.

[5:6]  ²⁷ sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[5:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “house.”

[5:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “to/for Bethel.” The translation assumes that the preposition indicates advantage, “on behalf of.” Another option is to take the preposition as vocative, “O Bethel.”

[7:7]  ³¹ sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.

[7:7]  ³² 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.

[7:8]  ³³ sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 7 with the encouragement that God does respond.

[11:9]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai, from καγώ [kagw]) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion drawn from the preceding parable.

[11:9]  ³⁵ sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.

[11:9]  ³⁶ tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:10]  ³⁷ sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 9 with the encouragement that God does respond.

[11:10]  ³⁸ tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:11]  ³⁹ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[11:11]  ⁴⁰ tc Most mss (א A C D L W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy^c,p,h bo) have “bread, does not give him a stone instead, or” before “a fish”; the longer reading, however, looks like a harmonization to Matt 7:9. The shorter reading is thus preferred, attested by Ì^45,75 B 1241 pc sy^s sa.

[11:11]  ⁴¹ sn The snake probably refers to a water snake.

[11:12]  ⁴² sn The two questions of vv. 11-12 expect the answer, “No father would do this!”

[11:13]  ⁴³ tn The participle ὑπάρχοντες (Juparconte") has been translated as a concessive participle.

[11:13]  ⁴⁴ sn The provision of the Holy Spirit is probably a reference to the wisdom and guidance supplied in response to repeated requests. Some apply it to the general provision of the Spirit, but this would seem to look only at one request in a context that speaks of repeated asking. The teaching as a whole stresses not that God gives everything his children want, but that God gives the good that they need. The parallel account in Matthew (7:11) refers to good things where Luke mentions the Holy Spirit.

[3:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “and have become rich.” The semantic domains of the two terms for wealth here, πλούσιος (plousios, adjective) and πλουτέω (ploutew, verb) overlap considerably, but are given slightly different English translations for stylistic reasons.

[3:17]  ⁴⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[3:17]  ⁴⁷ tn All the terms in this series are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.

[3:18]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “I counsel you to buy.”

[3:18]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “rich, and.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation, repeating the words “Buy from me” to make the connection clear for the English reader.

[3:18]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “the shame of the nakedness of you,” which has been translated as an attributed genitive like καινότητι ζωῆς (kainothti zwh") in Rom 6:4 (ExSyn 89-90).

[3:18]  ⁵¹ sn The city of Laodicea had a famous medical school and exported a powder (called a “Phrygian powder”) that was widely used as an eye salve. It was applied to the eyes in the form of a paste the consistency of dough (the Greek term for the salve here, κολλούριον, kollourion [Latin collyrium], is a diminutive form of the word for a long roll of bread).