'Look' in the Bible

“But when I look [on the pagan prophets and priests], there is no one [who could predict these events],And there is no counselor among them,Who, if I ask, can give an answer.

Hear, you deaf!And look, you blind, that you may see.

“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;For I am God, and there is no other.

“Kings will be your attendants,And their princesses your nurses.They will bow down to you with their faces to the earthAnd lick the dust of your feet;And you shall know [with an understanding based on personal experience] that I am the Lord;For they shall not be put to shame who wait and hope expectantly for Me.

“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness (right standing with God),Who seek and inquire of the Lord:Look to the rock from which you were cutAnd to the excavation of the quarry from which you were dug.

“Look to Abraham your fatherAnd to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;For I called him when he was but one,Then I blessed him and made him many.”

“Lift up your eyes to the heavens,Then look to the earth beneath;For the heavens will be torn to pieces and vanish like smoke,And the earth will wear out like a garmentAnd its inhabitants will die in like manner.But My salvation will be forever,And My righteousness (justice) [and faithfully fulfilled promise] will not be broken.

For He [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a tender shoot (plant),And like a root out of dry ground;He has no stately form or majestic splendorThat we would look at Him,Nor [handsome] appearance that we would be attracted to Him.

We all groan and growl like bears,And coo sadly like doves;We hope for justice, but there is none,For salvation, but it is far from us.

Look down from heaven and see from Your lofty dwelling place, holy and glorious.Where are Your zeal and Your mighty acts [Your miracles which you did for Your people]?The stirring of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained and withheld from me.

“For all these things My hand has made,So all these things came into being [by and for Me],” declares the Lord.“But to this one I will look [graciously],To him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who [reverently] trembles at My word and honors My commands.

“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,I have not gone after [man-made gods like] the Baals’?Look at your way in the valley;Know [without any doubt] what you have done!You are a swift and restless young [female] camel [in the heat of her passion] running here and there,

Go and proclaim these words toward the north [where the ten tribes have been taken as captives] and say,‘Return, faithless Israel,’ says the Lord;‘I will not look on you in anger.For I am gracious and merciful,’ says the Lord;‘I will not be angry forever.

And you, O desolate one, what will you do?Though you clothe yourself in scarlet,Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,Though you enlarge your eyes with paint,You make yourself beautiful in vain.Your lovers (allies) despise you;They seek your life.

O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth?You [have seen their faithless heart and] have stricken them,But they did not weaken;You have consumed them,But they refused to take correction or instruction.They have made their faces harder than rock;They have refused to repent and return to You.

Thus says the Lord,“Stand by the roads and look; ask for the ancient paths,Where the good way is; then walk in it,And you will find rest for your souls.But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’

For thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; they will fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; he will carry them away to Babylon as captives and will slaughter them with the sword.

“Take him and look after him; do nothing to harm him, but rather deal with him just as he asks of you.”

But now, listen carefully, [because of your innocence] I am freeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you [carefully]; but if you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, then do not do so. Look, all the land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right (convenient) for you to go.”

“Why have I seen it?They are terrifiedAnd have turned back,And their warriors are beaten down.They take flight in hasteWithout looking back;Terror is on every side!”Says the Lord.

“Because of the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of the war-horses [of the Babylonian king],The rattling of his chariots, and the rumbling of his wheels,The fathers have not looked and turned back for their children,So weak are their hands [with terror]

Her (ceremonial) uncleanness was on her skirts;She did not [seriously] consider her future.Therefore she has come down [from throne to slavery] in an astonishing manner;She has no comforter.“O Lord” [cries Jerusalem], “look at my affliction,For the enemy has magnified himself [in triumph]!”

“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass this way?Look and see if there is any pain like my painWhich was severely dealt out to me,Which the Lord has inflicted [on me] on the day of His fierce anger.

“The Lord is righteous and just;For I have rebelled against His commandment (His word).Hear now, all you peoples,And look at my pain;My virgins and my young menHave gone into captivity.

Look at their sitting and their rising [their actions and secret counsels];I am their mocking song [the subject of their ridicule].

Their appearance is [now] blacker than soot [because of the prolonged famine];They are not recognized in the streets;Their skin clings to their bones;It is withered, and it has become [dry] like wood.

The presence of the Lord scattered them [among the nations];He will not continue to look after them.They did not honor the priests;They did not favor the elders.

O Lord, remember what has come upon us;Look, and see our reproach (national disgrace)!

because bread and water will be scarce; and they will look at one another in dismay and waste away [in punishment] for their wickedness.

The man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and set your heart on all that I am going to show you; for you have been brought here that I may show it to you. Declare to the house of Israel all that you see.”

O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and look at our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You because of our own merits and righteousness, but because of Your great mercy and compassion.

Even though they bring up their children,Yet I will bereave them until not one is left.Indeed, woe (judgment is coming) to them when I look away and withdraw [My blessing] from them!

“Even though you offer Me your burnt offerings and your grain offerings,I will not accept them;And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fattened animals.

“Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight.Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’

But as for me, I will look expectantly for the Lord and with confidence in Him I will keep watch;I will wait [with confident expectation] for the God of my salvation.My God will hear me.

“Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts,“And I will lift up your skirts over your face,And I will let the nations look at your nakedness [O Nineveh]And the kingdoms at your disgrace.

“And it will come about that all who see youWill shrink back and run from you and say,‘Nineveh is completely ruined!Who will grieve for her?’Where will I seek comforters for you?”

Why do You make me see iniquity,And cause me to look on wickedness?For destruction and violence are before me;Strife continues and contention arises.

[The Lord replied,] “Look among the nations! See!Be astonished! Wonder!For I am doing something in your days—You would not believe it if you were told.

Your eyes are too pure to approve evil,And You cannot look favorably on wickedness.Why then do You look favorablyOn those who act treacherously?Why are you silent when the wicked (Chaldean oppressors) destroyThose more righteous than they?

“Look at the proud one,His soul is not right within him,But the righteous will live by his faith [in the true God].

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you who make your neighbors drink,Who mix in your venom to make them drunkSo that you may look at their nakedness!

Then say to Joshua, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold (look, keep in sight, watch), a Man (Messiah) whose name is Branch, for He shall branch out from His place (Israel, the Davidic line); and He shall build the [ultimate] temple of the Lord.

“I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace (unmerited favor) and supplication. And they will look at Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him as one who weeps bitterly over a firstborn.

“And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they put on a sad and dismal face [like actors, discoloring their faces with ashes or dirt] so that their fasting may be seen by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full.

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops] into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?

In them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,‘You will hear and keep on hearing, but never understand;And you will look and keep on looking, but never comprehend;

And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and has a threatening look.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but cannot interpret the signs of the times?

“See that you do not despise or think less of one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven [are in the presence of and] continually look upon the face of My Father who is in heaven.

“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which look beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.

Now after the Sabbath, near dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

The Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

so that they will continually look but not see, and they will continually hear but not understand, otherwise they might turn [from their rejection of the truth] and be forgiven.”

And he looked up and said, “I see people, but [they look] like trees, walking around.”

And remembering, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi (Master), look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered!”

As He was coming out of the temple [grounds], one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, look what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”

“But be on your guard; they will turn you over to courts, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand [as accused] before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them.

Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not believe it;

But be on your guard; I have told you everything in advance.

“This is how the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor on me, to take away my disgrace among men.”

And He answered, “Why did you have to look for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

John called two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One (the Messiah), or should we look for someone else?”

So the men came to Jesus and said, “John the Baptist sent us to You to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One (the Messiah), or should we look for someone else?’”

And a man from the crowd shouted for help, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he is my only child;

And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had an illness caused by a spirit (demon). She was bent double, and could not straighten up at all.

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins [each one equal to a day’s wages] and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?

But he said to his father, ‘Look! These many years I have served you, and I have never neglected or disobeyed your command. Yet you have never given me [so much as] a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;

nor will people say, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For the kingdom of God is among you [because of My presence].”

They will say to you, ‘Look [the Messiah is] there!’ or ‘Look [He is] here!’ Do not go away [to see Him], and do not run after them.

“As for all these things which you see, the time will come when there will not be one stone left on another that will not be torn down.”

Now when these things begin to occur, stand tall and lift up your heads [in joy], because [suffering ends as] your redemption is drawing near.”

Then He told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees;

They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”

and as the women were terrified and were bowing their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why are you looking for the living One among the dead?

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

and he looked at Jesus as He walked along, and said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”

Do you not say, ‘It is still four months until the harvest comes?’ Look, I say to you, raise your eyes and look at the fields and see, they are white for harvest.

I do not receive glory and approval from men;

You will look for Me, and will not [be able to] find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

What does this statement of His mean, ‘You will look for Me, and will not [be able to] find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man [on the cross], you will know then [without any doubt] that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own authority, but I say these things just as My Father taught Me.

“Do not fear, Daughter of Zion; Behold, Your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

Little children, I am with you [only] a little longer. You will look for Me and, as I told the Jews, so I tell you now, ‘Where I am going, you are not able to come.’

And again another Scripture says, “They shall look at Him whom they have pierced.”

But Peter, along with John, stared at him intently and said, “Look at us!”

Therefore, brothers, choose from among you seven men with good reputations [men of godly character and moral integrity], full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

and he said, “Look! I see the heavens opened up [in welcome] and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

‘Look, you mockers, and marvel, and perish and vanish away;For I am doing a work in your days,A work which you will never believe, even if someone describes it to you [telling you about it in detail].’”

The apostles and the elders came together to consider this matter.

came to [see] me, and standing near, he said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I [recovered my sight and] looked up at him.

having [the same] hope in God which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of [the dead], both of the righteous and of the wicked.

‘Go to this people and say,“You will keep on hearing, but will not understand,You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

The one who eats [everything] is not to look down on the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat must not criticize or pass judgment on the one who eats [everything], for God has accepted him.

But you, why do you criticize your brother? Or you again, why do you look down on your [believing] brother or regard him with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God [who alone is judge].

Now if the ministry of death, engraved in letters on stones [the covenant of the Law which led to death because of sin], came with such glory and splendor that the Israelites were not able to look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, [a brilliance] that was fading,

So we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen; for the things which are visible are temporal [just brief and fleeting], but the things which are invisible are everlasting and imperishable. Cross references: 2 Corinthians 4:6 : Gen 1:3 2 Corinthians 4:13 : Ps 116:10 end of crossrefs

For [you can look back and] see what an earnestness and authentic concern this godly sorrow has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves [against charges that you tolerate sin], what indignation [at sin], what fear [of offending God], what longing [for righteousness and justice], what passion [to do what is right], what readiness to punish [those who sin and those who tolerate sin]! At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in the matter.

You are looking [only] at the outward appearance of things. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, he should reflect and consider this, that just as he is Christ’s, so too are we.

Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose, and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people],