'Thought' in the Bible

Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. He said, "Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them.

Abraham replied, "Because I thought, 'Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.'

Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot away; for she thought, "I refuse to watch the child die." So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably.

When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, "She is my sister." He was afraid to say, "She is my wife," for he thought to himself, "The men of this place will kill me to get Rebekah because she is very beautiful."

So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac replied, "Because I thought someone might kill me to get her."

Then Jacob woke up and thought, "Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!"

"I left secretly because I was afraid!" Jacob replied to Laban. "I thought you might take your daughters away from me by force.

"If Esau attacks one camp," he thought, "then the other camp will be able to escape."

You must also say, 'In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.'" Jacob thought, "I will first appease him by sending a gift ahead of me. After that I will meet him. Perhaps he will accept me."

Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Live as a widow in your father's house until Shelah my son grows up." For he thought, "I don't want him to die like his brothers." So Tamar went and lived in her father's house.

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face.

So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph's care; he gave no thought to anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well built and good-looking.

But he refused, saying to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not give any thought to his household with me here, and everything that he owns he has put into my care.

So Moses thought, "I will turn aside to see this amazing sight. Why does the bush not burn up?"

I thought this was a good idea, so I sent twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.

Also, your infants, who you thought would die on the way, and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad, will go there; I will give them the land and they will possess it.

Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite and you do not lend him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned.

Her father said, "I really thought you absolutely despised her, so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more attractive than she is. Take her instead!"

She said, "The Philistines are here, Samson!" He woke up and thought, "I will do as I did before and shake myself free." But he did not realize that the Lord had left him.

Go back home, my daughters! For I am too old to get married again. Even if I thought that there was hope that I could get married tonight and conceive sons,

So she slept beside him until morning. She woke up while it was still dark. Boaz thought, "No one must know that a woman visited the threshing floor."

Now Hannah was speaking from her heart. Although her lips were moving, her voice was inaudible. Eli therefore thought she was drunk.

The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp. They said, "Too bad for us! We've never seen anything like this!

I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord's favor.' So I felt obligated to offer the burnt offering."

This made Saul very angry. The statement displeased him and he thought, "They have attributed to David tens of thousands, but to me they have attributed only thousands. What does he lack, except the kingdom?"

Then Saul said to David, "Here's my oldest daughter, Merab. I want to give her to you in marriage. Only be a brave warrior for me and fight the battles of the Lord." For Saul thought, "There's no need for me to raise my hand against him. Let it be the hand of the Philistines!"

Taking an oath, David again said, "Your father is very much aware of the fact that I have found favor with you, and he has thought, 'Don't let Jonathan know about this, or he will be upset.' But as surely as the Lord lives and you live, there is about one step between me and death!"

However, Saul said nothing about it that day, for he thought, "Something has happened to make him ceremonially unclean. Yes, he must be unclean."

David thought about what they said and was very afraid of King Achish of Gath.

David thought to himself, "One of these days I'm going to be swept away by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of searching for me through all the territory of Israel and I will escape from his hand."

when someone told me that Saul was dead -- even though he thought he was bringing good news -- I seized him and killed him in Ziklag. That was the good news I gave to him!

He replied, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, 'Perhaps the Lord will show pity and the child will live.

They crossed at the ford in order to help the king's household cross and to do whatever he thought appropriate. Now after he had crossed the Jordan, Shimei son of Gera threw himself down before the king.

Jeroboam then thought to himself: "Now the Davidic dynasty could regain the kingdom.

At noon Elijah mocked them, "Yell louder! After all, he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or perhaps he stepped out for a moment or has taken a trip. Perhaps he is sleeping and needs to be awakened."

Naaman went away angry. He said, "Look, I thought for sure he would come out, stand there, invoke the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the area, and cure the skin disease.

Gehazi, the prophet Elisha's servant, thought, "Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him. As certainly as the Lord lives, I will run after him and accept something from him."

He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus whom he thought had defeated him. He reasoned, "Since the gods of the kings of Damascus helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me." But they caused him and all Israel to stumble.

But the thought of striking out against Mordecai alone was repugnant to him, for he had been informed of the identity of Mordecai's people. So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews (that is, the people of Mordecai) who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

So Haman came in, and the king said to him, "What should be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?" Haman thought to himself, "Who is it that the king would want to honor more than me?"

When the days of their feasting were finished, Job would send for them and sanctify them; he would get up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job thought, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's customary practice.

"Then I thought, 'I will die in my own home, my days as numerous as the grains of sand.

Break the arm of the wicked and evil man! Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds, which he thought you would not discover.

my anxiety intensified. As I thought about it, I became impatient. Finally I spoke these words:

When you did these things, I was silent, so you thought I was exactly like you. But now I will condemn you and state my case against you!

I thought about the days of old, about ancient times.

Then I said, "I am sickened by the thought that the sovereign One might become inactive.

I thought, 'You are gods; all of you are sons of the Most High.'

A song of ascents. When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion, we thought we were dreaming.

I thought to myself, "I have become much wiser than any of my predecessors who ruled over Jerusalem; I have acquired much wisdom and knowledge."

I thought to myself, "Come now, I will try self-indulgent pleasure to see if it is worthwhile." But I found that it also is futile.

I thought deeply about the effects of indulging myself with wine (all the while my mind was guiding me with wisdom) and the effects of behaving foolishly, so that I might discover what is profitable for people to do on earth during the few days of their lives.

So I thought to myself, "The fate of the fool will happen even to me! Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively wise?" So I lamented to myself, "The benefits of wisdom are ultimately meaningless!"

I thought to myself, "God will judge both the righteous and the wicked; for there is an appropriate time for every activity, and there is a time of judgment for every deed.

I also thought to myself, "It is for the sake of people, so God can clearly show them that they are like animals.

"I thought, 'In the middle of my life I must walk through the gates of Sheol, I am deprived of the rest of my years.'

"I thought, 'I will no longer see the Lord in the land of the living, I will no longer look on humankind with the inhabitants of the world.

Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The Lord's word which you have announced is appropriate." Then he thought, "For there will be peace and stability during my lifetime."

You were complacent in your evil deeds; you thought, 'No one sees me.' Your self-professed wisdom and knowledge lead you astray, when you say, 'I am unique! No one can compare to me!'

But I thought, "I have worked in vain; I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing." But the Lord will vindicate me; my God will reward me.

But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain; even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.

Yet even after she had done all that, I thought that she might come back to me. But she did not. Her sister, unfaithful Judah, saw what she did.

"I thought to myself, 'Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! What a joy it would be for me to give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!' I thought you would call me, 'Father' and would never cease being loyal to me.

I thought, "Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. They do not know what their God requires of them.

And I cried out, "We are doomed! Our wound is severe! We once thought, 'This is only an illness. And we will be able to bear it!'

I said, "Lord, you know how I suffer. Take thought of me and care for me. Pay back for me those who have been persecuting me. Do not be so patient with them that you allow them to kill me. Be mindful of how I have put up with their insults for your sake.

The waters closed over my head; I thought I was about to die.

(Lamed) Neither the kings of the earth nor the people of the lands ever thought that enemy or foe would enter the gates of Jerusalem.

(Resh) Our very life breath -- the Lord's anointed king -- was caught in their traps, of whom we thought, "Under his protection we will survive among the nations."

I thought I had been banished from your sight, that I would never again see your holy temple!

He prayed to the Lord and said, "Oh, Lord, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by attempting to escape to Tarshish! -- because I knew that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment.

This is how the once-proud city will end up -- the city that was so secure. She thought to herself, "I am unique! No one can compare to me!" What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live! Everyone who passes by her taunts her and shakes his fist.

I thought, 'Certainly you will respect me! Now you will accept correction!' If she had done so, her home would not be destroyed by all the punishments I have threatened. But they eagerly sinned in everything they did.