'Indeed' in the Bible

But God said, “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed, and you shall name him Isaac (laughter); and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him.

His brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Are you really going to rule and govern us as your subjects?” So they hated him even more for [telling them about] his dreams and for his [arrogant] words.

[“You shall do this,” said the Lord,] “so that the elders may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has [most certainly] appeared to you.”

But if you will indeed listen to and truly obey His voice and do everything that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

Behold, its blood was not brought into the Holy Place; you certainly should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary, just as I commanded.”

and they said, “Has the Lord really spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken also through us?” And the Lord heard it.

So Israel made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed hand over these people to me, then I will utterly destroy their cities.”

So Balaam said to Balak, “Indeed I have come to you now, but am I able to say anything at all? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I shall speak.”

Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the Ammonites into my hand,

She made a vow, saying, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction (suffering) of Your maidservant and remember, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life; a razor shall never touch his head.”

Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid. You have [indeed] done all this evil; yet do not turn away from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built!

You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has lifted you up [in pride]. Enjoy your glory but stay at home; for why should you plunge into misery so that you, even you, would fall [at my hand], and Judah with you?”

David said to God, “Is it not I who commanded the people to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done evil; but as for these sheep [the people of Israel], what have they done? O Lord my God, please let Your hand be against me and my father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”

For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands. Indeed, the officials and chief men have been foremost in this unfaithful act and direct violation [of God’s will].”

and the Sabeans attacked and swooped down on them and took away the animals. They also killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

“Indeed, you are doing away with fear,And you are diminishing meditation before God.

“Behold, God puts no trust in His holy ones (angels);Indeed, the heavens are not pure in His sight—

“If indeed you [braggarts] vaunt and magnify yourselves over meAnd prove my disgrace (humiliation) to me,

“Men of understanding will tell me,Indeed, every wise man who hears me [will agree],

“Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress and confinement,Into a broad place where there is no constraint or distress;And that which was set on your table was full of fatness (rich food).

“Indeed, at His thundering my heart tremblesAnd leaps out of its place.

“I have spoken once, but I will not reply again—Indeed, twice [I have answered], and I will add nothing further.”

“His heart is as hard as a stone,Indeed, as solid as a lower millstone.

Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods (heavenly beings)?Do you judge fairly, O sons of men?

May his name endure forever;May his name continue as long as the sun;And let men bless themselves by him;Let all nations call him blessed.

I said, “You are gods;Indeed, all of you are sons of the Most High.

These six things the Lord hates;Indeed, seven are repulsive to Him:

For she has cast down many [mortally] wounded;Indeed, all who were killed by her were strong.

Why has my pain been perpetualAnd my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?Will you indeed be to me like a deceptive brookWith water that is unreliable?

For if you will indeed obey this word, then kings will enter through the gates of this palace, sitting in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people.

“Now when this people or a prophet or a priest asks you [in jest], ‘What is the oracle of the Lord [the burden to be lifted up and carried]?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘What oracle [besides the one that declares you people to be the burden]!’ The Lord says, ‘I will unburden Myself and I will abandon you.’

Behold, you are [imagining yourself] wiser than Daniel;There is no secret [you think] that is hidden from you;

Furthermore, what the king demands is an unusual and difficult thing indeed! No one except the gods can reveal it to the king, and their dwelling is not with [mortal] flesh.”

Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to tread out the grain,But I will come over her fair neck with a heavy yoke [for hard field work].I will harness Ephraim;Judah will plow and Jacob will harrow and rake for himself.

For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, My name shall be great among the nations. In every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name shall be great among the nations,” says the Lord of hosts.

“As for me, I baptize you with water because of [your] repentance [that is, because you are willing to change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret your sin and live a changed life], but He (the Messiah) who is coming after me is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to remove [even as His slave]; He will baptize you [who truly repent] with the Holy Spirit and [you who remain unrepentant] with fire (judgment).

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the workers are few.

If [the family living in] the house is worthy [welcoming you and your message], give it your [blessing of] peace [that is, a blessing of well-being and prosperity, the favor of God]. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace.

Or how can anyone go into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first overpowers and ties up the strong man? Then he will ransack and rob his house.

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 the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands and grasps it; he indeed bears fruit and yields, some a hundred times [as much as was sown], some sixty [times as much], and some thirty.”

All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables, and He said nothing to them without [using] a parable.

“But his master answered him, ‘You wicked, lazy servant, you knew that I reap [the harvest] where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter seed.

Keep actively watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

But no one can go into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first overpowers and ties up the strong man, and then he will ransack and rob his house.

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.”

Keep [actively] watching and praying so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

And when he learned from the centurion [that Jesus was in fact dead], he gave the body to Joseph [by granting him permission to remove it].

He was saying to them, “The harvest is abundant [for there are many who need to hear the good news about salvation], but the workers [those available to proclaim the message of salvation] are few. Therefore, [prayerfully] ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.

No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and indeed, He has done nothing to deserve death.

We are suffering justly, because we are getting what we deserve for what we have done; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”

Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he began praising and honoring God, saying, “Certainly this Man was innocent.”

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Here is an Israelite indeed [a true descendant of Jacob], in whom there is no guile nor deceit nor duplicity!”

But a time is coming and is already here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit [from the heart, the inner self] and in truth; for the Father seeks such people to be His worshipers.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant and Son Jesus [doing Him this honor], the One whom you handed over and disowned and rejected before Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.

Indeed, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also announced these days.

Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without a trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now they are sending us out secretly? No! Let them come here themselves and bring us out!”

as the high priest and all the Council of the elders (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) can testify; because from them I received letters to the brothers, and I was on my way to Damascus in order to bring those [believers] who were there to Jerusalem in chains to be punished.

So the commander came and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.”

“So then, I [once] thought to myself that it was my duty to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

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

Circumcision [the sign of the covenant of Abraham] is indeed of value if you practice the Law; but if you habitually break the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision [it is meaningless in God’s sight].

Thanks be to God [for my deliverance] through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind serve the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness, my sinful capacity—I serve] the law of sin.

the mind of the flesh [with its sinful pursuits] is actively hostile to God. It does not submit itself to God’s law, since it cannot,

But I say, did they not hear? Indeed they have;“Their voice [that of creation bearing God’s message] has gone out to all the earth,And their words to the [farthest] ends of the world.”

Do not, for the sake of food, tear down the work of God. All things indeed are [ceremonially] clean, but they are wrong for the person who eats and offends [another’s conscience in the process].

Yet we do speak wisdom among those spiritually mature [believers who have teachable hearts and a greater understanding]; but [it is a higher] wisdom not [the wisdom] of this present age nor of the rulers and leaders of this age, who are passing away;

Your boasting [over the supposed spirituality of your church] is not good [indeed, it is vulgar and inappropriate]. Do you not know that [just] a little leaven ferments the whole batch [of dough, just as a little sin corrupts a person or an entire church]?

For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,

Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the sentence of death [and were convinced that we would die, but this happened] so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.

Indeed, what had glory [the Law], in this case no longer has glory because of the glory that surpasses it [the gospel].

For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our [immortal, eternal] celestial dwelling,

The signs that indicate a genuine apostle were performed among you fully and most patiently—signs and wonders and miracles.

For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a [direct] revelation of Jesus Christ.

For you, my brothers, were called to freedom; only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the sinful nature (worldliness, selfishness), but through love serve and seek the best for one another.

for I know [with confidence] that this will turn out for my deliverance and spiritual well-being, through your prayers and the [superabundant] supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ [which upholds me].

I rejoiced greatly in the Lord, that now at last you have renewed your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned about me before, but you had no opportunity to show it.

which has come to you. Indeed, just as in the whole world the gospel is constantly bearing fruit and spreading [by God’s power], just as it has been doing among you ever since the day you first heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth [becoming thoroughly and deeply acquainted with it].

These practices indeed have the appearance [that popularly passes as that] of wisdom in self-made religion and mock humility and severe treatment of the body (asceticism), but are of no value against sinful indulgence [because they do not honor God].

For you are [indeed] our glory and our joy!

Finally, believers, we ask and admonish you in the Lord Jesus, that you follow the instruction that you received from us about how you ought to walk and please God (just as you are actually doing) and that you excel even more and more [pursuing a life of purpose and living in a way that expresses gratitude to God for your salvation].

For indeed you already do practice it toward all the believers throughout Macedonia [by actively displaying your love and concern for them]. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, that you excel [in this matter] more and more,

We ought always and indeed are morally obligated [as those in debt] to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is fitting, because your faith is growing ever greater, and the [unselfish] love of each one of you toward one another is continually increasing.

Indeed, we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined and inappropriate life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies [meddling in other people’s business].

But women will be preserved (saved) through [the pain and dangers of] the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control and discretion.

But godliness actually is a source of great gain when accompanied by contentment [that contentment which comes from a sense of inner confidence based on the sufficiency of God].

In this way storing up for themselves the enduring riches of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Indeed, all who delight in pursuing righteousness and are determined to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be hunted and persecuted [because of their faith].

The Lord will rescue me from every evil assault, and He will bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Once he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you as well as to me.

For indeed we have had the good news [of salvation] preached to us, just as the Israelites also [when the good news of the promised land came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not united with faith [in God] by those who heard.

And we will do this [that is, proceed to maturity], if God permits.

Indeed men swear [an oath] by one greater than themselves, and with them [in all disputes] the oath serves as confirmation [of what has been said] and is an end of the dispute.

For he considered [it reasonable to believe] that God was able to raise Isaac even from among the dead. [Indeed, in the sense that he was prepared to sacrifice Isaac in obedience to God] Abraham did receive him back [from the dead] figuratively speaking.

for our God is [indeed] a consuming fire.

If, however, you are [really] fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, if you have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit]” you are doing well.

Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them and are established in the truth which is held firmly in your grasp.

For I was greatly pleased when [some of the] brothers came [from time to time] and testified to your [faithfulness to the] truth [of the gospel message], that is, how you are walking in truth.