Deuteronomy 6:5

6:5 You must love ¹  the Lord your God with your whole mind, ²  your whole being, ³  and all your strength. ⁴ 

Ecclesiastes 9:10

9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, ⁵ 

do it with all your might,

because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, ⁶ 

the place where you will eventually go. ⁷ 

Colossians 3:23

3:23 Whatever you are doing, ⁸  work at it with enthusiasm, ⁹  as to the Lord and not for people, ¹⁰ 

[6:5]  ¹ tn The verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) in this setting communicates not so much an emotional idea as one of covenant commitment. To love the Lord is to be absolutely loyal and obedient to him in every respect, a truth Jesus himself taught (cf. John 14:15). See also the note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.

[6:5]  ² tn Heb “heart.” In OT physiology the heart (לֵב, לֵבָב; levav, lev) was considered the seat of the mind or intellect, so that one could think with one’s heart. See A. Luc, NIDOTTE 2:749-54.

[6:5]  ³ tn Heb “soul”; “being.” Contrary to Hellenistic ideas of a soul that is discrete and separate from the body and spirit, OT anthropology equated the “soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) with the person himself. It is therefore best in most cases to translate נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) as “being” or the like. See H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 10-25; D. Fredericks, NIDOTTE 3:133-34.

[6:5]  ⁴ sn For NT variations on the Shema see Matt 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-30; Luke 10:27.

[9:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “Whatever your hand finds to do.”

[9:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “Sheol.”

[9:10]  ⁷ tn Or “where you are about to go.”

[3:23]  ⁸ tn The present progressive “are doing” was used in the translation of ποιῆτε (poihte) to bring out the idea that Paul is probably referring to what they already do for work.

[3:23]  ⁹ tn Grk “from the soul.”

[3:23]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “men”; here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is used in a generic sense and refers to people in general.