'Attention' in the Bible

The Angel of the Lord continued,“Behold, you are with child,And you will bear a son;And you shall name him Ishmael (God hears),Because the Lord has heard and paid attention to your persecution (suffering).

So Potiphar left all that he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with Joseph there he did not [need to] pay attention to anything except the food he ate.Now Joseph was handsome and attractive in form and appearance.

The warden paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s care because the Lord was with him; whatever Joseph did, the Lord made to prosper.

Let labor be heavier on the men, and let them work [hard] at it so that they will pay no attention to [their God’s] lying words.”

I will not drive them out before you in a single year, so that the land does not become desolate [due to lack of attention] and the [wild] animals of the field do not become too numerous for you.

the food on his table, the seating of his servants (court officials), the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, his stairway by which he went up to the house (temple) of the Lord, she was breathless and awed [by the wonder of it all].

As midday passed, they played the part of prophets and raved dramatically until the time for offering the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.

Then the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself and observe and see what you have to do; for at the first of next year the king of Aram (Syria) will come up against you.”

But Jehu did not take care to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin.

and the food of his table, the [vast] seating order of his officials, the attendance and service of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, she was breathless.

Now it happened when they had spoken to him day after day and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s reason [for his behavior] would stand [as valid]; for he had told them that he was a Jew.

“Listen carefully to my speech,And let this be the consolation.

“Will you keep to the ancient pathThat wicked men walked [in the time of Noah],

“But He knows the way that I take [and He pays attention to it].When He has tried me, I will come forth as [refined] gold [pure and luminous].

“I even paid close attention to [what] you [said],Indeed, not one of you convinced Job [nor could you refute him],Not one of you supplied [satisfactory] answers to his words.

Hear, O children, the instruction of a father,And pay attention [and be willing to learn] so that you may gain understanding and intelligent discernment.

Then [my enemies] said, “Come and let us work out schemes against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest [as Jeremiah predicts], nor the counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us strike him with our tongue [by making charges against him before the king], and let us ignore anything he says.”

“But who [among them] has stood in the council of the Lord,That he would perceive and hear His word?Who has marked His word [noticing and observing and paying attention to it] and has [actually] heard it?

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your [false] prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you; pay no attention and attach no significance to the dreams which they dream or to yours,

“Place for yourself road signs [toward Canaan],Make for yourself guideposts;Turn your thought and attention to the highway,To the way by which you went [into exile].Retrace your steps, O virgin of Israel,Return to these your cities.

There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”

Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, does not pay any attention to you, O king, or to the injunction which you have signed, but keeps praying [to his God] three times a day.”

After this, he (Antiochus III the Great, King of Syria) will turn his attention to the islands and coastlands and capture many [of them]. But a commander (Lucius Scipio Asiaticus of Rome) will put an end to his aggression [toward Rome’s territorial interests]; in fact, he will repay his insolence and turn his audacity back upon him.