Thematic Bible: Motive


Thematic Bible




Whatever your hand finds to do--do [it] with [all] your might; for in Sheol--where you are going--no one works, plans, knows, or thinks about anything.


Yet he saved them for the sake of his name, to make known his might.

And I was concerned for {my holy name}, which, the house [of] Israel defiled among the nations {to which they went}. "Therefore thus say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{Not for your sake} [am] I about to act, house of Israel, {but} {for my holy name}, which you defiled among the nations {to which you went}.

[But] not for your sake [am] I acting," {declares} the Lord Yahweh. "Let it be known to you, be ashamed, and be put to shame because of your ways, house of Israel.


David said, "I will show loyal love with Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father showed loyal love with me." So David sent to console him concerning his father, by the hand of his servants. And the servants of David came to the land of the {Ammonites}. But the commanders of the {Ammonites} said to Hanun their master, "{In your opinion}, [is] David honoring your father because he has sent condolences to you? [Is] it not in order to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it [that] David sent his servants to you?"

But the princes of the {Ammonites} said to Hanun, "{Do you think} because David sent comforters to you [that] David honors your father? Is it not for the purpose of exploring [so as] to overthrow and spy out the land that his servants have come to you?" So Hanun took the servants of David and shaved them and cut off their garments at the middle, up to the buttocks, and sent them away.


Then Satan answered him and said, "Skin for skin! All that {that} man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bones and his flesh, [and see] {whether} he will {curse} you to your face."

Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a fence around him and his household and around {all that belongs to him} {on every side}? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock has increased in the land. But, on the other hand, stretch out your hand and touch {all that belongs to him} [and see] {whether} he will {curse} you to your face."


not as Cain, who was of the evil one and violently murdered his brother. And {for what reason} did he violently murder him? Because his deeds were evil and the [deeds] of his brother [were] righteous.

If you do well {will I not accept you}? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire [is] for you, but you must rule over it."


So the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned [home] and departed with the {Israelites} at Shiloh, which [is] in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead to the land of their possession, which they had acquired {according to the command of Yahweh} through the hand of Moses. And they came to the region of the Jordan that [is] in the land of Canaan, and the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar on the Jordan, {a large and imposing altar}. And the {Israelites} heard [it] said that the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar next to the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side [belonging to] the {Israelites}. read more.
When the {Israelites} heard [of it], the whole congregation of the {Israelites} gathered [at] Shiloh to go up against them for battle. And the {Israelites} sent to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, Phinehas the priest son of Eleazar, and ten leaders with him, {one leader for each} {family} from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one [was] the head of {his family} among the clans of Israel. They came to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, "Thus says all the congregation of Yahweh: 'What [is] this treachery that you have committed against the God of Israel by turning away today from following Yahweh, by building for yourselves an altar to rebel today against Yahweh? [Is] not the sin of Peor {enough for us}, from which we have not cleansed ourselves today, and for which a plague came to the congregation of Yahweh, that you must turn today from following Yahweh? [If] you rebel today against Yahweh, tomorrow he will be angry with all of the congregation of Israel; if, however, the land of your property [is] unclean, cross [over] to the land of Yahweh's property, where Yahweh's tabernacle resides, and take possession among us. But you must not rebel against Yahweh or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of Yahweh our God. Did not Achan son of Zerah commit treachery with devoted things, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? {And he alone} did not perish because of his iniquity.'" And the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh spoke with the heads of the clans of Israel, "Yahweh, God of gods! Yahweh, God of gods knows. And let Israel itself know, if [it was] in rebellion or treachery against Yahweh, do not spare us this day for building for ourselves an altar to turn away from Yahweh, or if [it was] to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, or fellowship offerings on it, may Yahweh himself take vengeance. But in fact, we have done this because of anxiety, because of a reason, saying, 'In the future your children may say to our children, '{What is the relationship between you and Yahweh the God of Israel}? Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, the descendants of Reuben and Gad; you have no portion in Yahweh.' So your children may put an end to our children worshiping Yahweh. So we said, 'Let us build immediately for ourselves an altar, not for burnt offerings or for sacrifices; instead, it [is] a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us for performing the serving of Yahweh in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings; so that your children may not say in the future to our children, "You have no portion in Yahweh." ' And we thought, if they say to us and to our children in the future, we can say, 'Look at this replica of the altar of Yahweh, which our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices; rather, it [is] a witness between us and you.' Far be it from us to rebel against Yahweh, to turn today from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices, instead of the altar of Yahweh our God that [is] before his tabernacle." Phinehas the priest, the leaders of the congregation, and the heads of the clans of Israel who [were] with him heard the words that the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh spoke, and {they were satisfied}. Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar, said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, "Today we know that Yahweh [is] among us, because you have not committed this treachery against Yahweh. Therefore you have rescued the {Israelites} from the hand of Yahweh." And Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar, and the leaders returned from the descendants of Reuben and Gad, from the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan to the {Israelites}, and {they gave them their report}. {The report satisfied the Israelites}; they blessed God, and they did not speak of going up for battle against them to destroy the land in which the descendants of Reuben and Gad were living. The descendants of Reuben and Gad called the altar Witness, "Because," [they said], "it [is] a witness between us that Yahweh [is] God."


The descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad had a very large number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold it [was] a place for livestock. The descendants of Gad and the descendants of Reuben came, and they said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the community, saying, "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, read more.
the land that Yahweh struck before the community of Israel, [is] a land of livestock, and your servants have livestock." They said, "If we have found favor in {your sight}, let this land be given to your servants as property; do not lead us [across] the Jordan." But Moses said to the descendants of Gad and to the descendants of Reuben, "Will your brothers go to war while you yourselves live here? Why are you discouraging the hearts of the {Israelites} from crossing into the land that Yahweh gave to them? This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. When they went up to the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the {Israelites} so that they did not come to the land that Yahweh gave to them. So {Yahweh's anger burned} on that day, and he swore an oath, saying, 'The men who went up from Egypt, from {those twenty years old} and above, will not see the land that I swore with an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because they have not wholly followed me, except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, because they followed Yahweh wholly.' And {Yahweh became angry}, and he made them wander in the desert forty years until the entire generation who did evil in the {sight of Yahweh} {had died}. Behold, you stand in the place of your fathers, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more {Yahweh's fierce anger} against Israel. If you turn from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you would have destroyed all these people." They came near to him and said, "We will build sheep pens here for [the] flock of our livestock and cities for our little children; but we ourselves will become armed [and] ready before the {Israelites} until we have brought them to their place, and our little children will live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our houses until the {Israelites} each obtain their inheritance for themselves. For we will not take possession with them from across the Jordan and beyond because our inheritance has come to us from across the Jordan to the east." So Moses said to them, "If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves {before} Yahweh for the war, and everyone of you armed cross the Jordan {before} Yahweh until he has driven out his enemies from before him, and the land is subdued {before} Yahweh, then afterward you will return and be free of obligation from Yahweh and from Israel, and this land will be your property {before} Yahweh. But if you do not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh, and know that your sin will find you. Build for yourselves cities for your little children and sheep pens for your flocks; what has gone out from your mouth you will do." So the descendants of Gad and the descendants of Reuben said to Moses, saying, "Your servants will do just as my lord commands. Our little children, our wives, our livestock, and all of our animals {will remain} in the cities of Gilead, but your servants, everyone who is armed for battle, will cross over {before} Yahweh to the war, just as my lord says." So Moses commanded them, Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the {families} of the tribes of the {Israelites}. Moses said to them, "If the descendants of Gad and the descendants of Reuben, everyone who is armed for the war, cross over the Jordan {before} Yahweh, and the land is subdued before you, you will give them the land of Gilead as property. But if they will not cross over with you armed, they will acquire land in your midst in Canaan." The descendants of Gad and the descendants of Reuben answered and said, "What Yahweh has commanded your servants, we will do. We ourselves will cross over armed {before} Yahweh to the land of Canaan, and the property of our inheritance [will remain] with us beyond the Jordan." So Moses gave to them, to the descendants of Gad and the descendants of Reuben, and to half of the tribe of Joseph's son Manasseh, the kingdom of Sihon the king of Amorites and the kingdom of Og the king of the Bashan, the land with its cities [and their] territories, the cities of the surrounding land.


So the king of Aram said, "Go, I will send a letter to the king of Israel." He went and took {with him} ten talents of silver, six thousand [shekels of] gold, and ten sets of clothing. So he brought the letter of the king to Israel, saying, "Now, when this letter comes to you, I have just sent Naaman my servant to you that you may cure him from his skin disease." It happened that when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God to cause death or to give life? This man [is] sending a man to me to cure his disease. Indeed! But know and see that he seeks an opportunity against me."


"And take care not to practice your righteousness before people to be seen by them; {otherwise} you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Therefore whenever you practice charitable giving, do not sound a trumpet in front of you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, in order that they may be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! But you, [when you] practice charitable giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, read more.
in order that your charitable giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to stand [and] pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, in order that they may be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! But whenever you pray, enter into your inner room and shut your door [and] pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "But [when you] pray, do not babble repetitiously like the pagans, for they think that because of their many words they will be heard. Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows {what you need} before you ask him. Therefore you pray in this way: "Our Father who is in heaven, may your name be treated as holy. May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as [it is] in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive people their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive people, neither will your Father forgive your sins. "Whenever you fast, do not be sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unrecognizable in order that they may be seen fasting by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! But [when] you are fasting, {put olive oil on your head} and wash your face so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.