'Purposes' in the Bible

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are God Who Sees”; for she said, “Have I not even here [in the wilderness] remained alive after seeing Him [who sees me with understanding and compassion]?”

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].

And Aaron said, Let not my lord be angry; you have seen how the purposes of this people are evil.

And the fat of that which comes to a natural death, and the fat of that which is attacked by beasts, may be used for other purposes, but not in any way for food.

He took up his [third] discourse (oracle) and said:“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened [at last, to see clearly the purpose and will of God],

You must not make use of the name of the Lord your God for worthless purposes, for the Lord will not exonerate anyone who abuses his name that way.

Do not take into the house of the Lord your God, as an offering for an oath, the price of a loose woman or the money given to one used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods: for these two things are disgusting to the Lord your God.

Then it shall come about, when many evils and troubles have come on them, that this [sacred] song will confront them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten from the mouth of their descendants. For I know their inclination which is developing even now, before I bring them into the land which I have sworn to give them.”

And more than this, there were those in the land who were used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods, doing the same disgusting crimes as the nations which the Lord had sent out before the children of Israel.

Those used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods he sent out of the country, and he took away all the images which his fathers had made.

He put an end to the rest of those who were used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods, all those who were still in the land in the time of his father Asa.

And he had the houses pulled down of those who were used for sex purposes in the house of the Lord, where women were making robes for the Asherah.

LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our ancestors, keep your purposes and thoughts constantly in the hearts of your people and direct their hearts toward you,

Then Esther again came before the king, falling down at his feet, and made request to him with weeping, that he would put a stop to the evil purposes of Haman the Agagite and the designs which he had made against the Jews.

Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes.

He takes the wise in their secret designs, and the purposes of the twisted are cut off suddenly.

My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.

See, I am conscious of your thoughts, and of your violent purposes against me;

Your purposes will come about, and light will be shining on your ways.

They come to their end while they are still young, their life is short like that of those who are used for sex purposes in the worship of their gods.

Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked [following their advice and example],Nor stand in the path of sinners,Nor sit [down to rest] in the seat of scoffers (ridiculers).

His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and false words: under his tongue are evil purposes and dark thoughts.

May he give you your heart's desire, and put all your purposes into effect.

O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things; you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us. No one can thwart you! I want to declare them and talk about them, but they are too numerous to recount!

All day long people distort what I say; all their schemes against me are for evil purposes.

I will cry to God Most High,Who accomplishes all things on my behalf [for He completes my purpose in His plan].

The purposes of your hearts are evil; your hands are full of cruel doings on the earth.

So I gave them up to the desires of their hearts; that they might go after their evil purposes.

His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his purposes perish.

Wise purposes will be watching over you, and knowledge will keep you;

I have instructed you in the way of [skillful and godly] wisdom;I have led you in upright paths.

A heart that deviseth wicked purposes, Feet that are swift in running to mischief,

I, wisdom, have made wise behaviour my near relation; I am seen to be the special friend of wise purposes.

The thoughts and purposes of the [consistently] righteous are just (honest, reliable),But the counsels and schemes of the wicked are deceitful.

A man will be commended according to his insight and sound judgment,But the one who is of a perverse mind will be despised.

The wisdom of the sensible is to understand his way,But the foolishness of [shortsighted] fools is deceit.

Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellers they are established.

The purposes of the heart are of man, but the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah.

Roll unto Jehovah thy works, And established are thy purposes,

A man of twisted purposes is a cause of fighting everywhere: and he who says evil secretly makes trouble between friends.

He whose eyes are shut is a man of twisted purposes, and he who keeps his lips shut tight makes evil come about.

Nothing good comes to him whose heart is fixed on evil purposes: and he who has an evil tongue will come to trouble.

Many plans occupy the mind of a man, but the LORD's purposes will prevail.

Purposes by counsel thou dost establish, And with plans make thou war.

The purposes of the diligent are only to advantage, And of every hasty one, only to want.

For the purposes of their hearts are destruction, and their lips are talking of trouble.

He whose purposes are bad will be named a man of evil designs.

He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning,It will be counted as a curse to him [for it will either be annoying or his purpose will be suspect].

And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.

The land of Judah [Assyria’s ally] will become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the Lord of hosts which He is planning against Egypt.

O Lord, You are my God;I will exalt You, I will praise and give thanks to Your name;For You have done miraculous things,Plans formed long, long ago, [fulfilled] with perfect faithfulness.

But the noble-hearted man has noble purposes, and by these he will be guided.

Who makes the word of his servants certain, and gives effect to the purposes of his representatives; who says of Jerusalem, Her people will come back to her; and of the towns of Judah, I will give orders for their building, and will make her waste places fertile again:

All day my hands have been stretched out to an uncontrolled people, who go in an evil way, after the purposes of their hearts;

“Israel was holy [something set apart from ordinary purposes, consecrated] to the Lord,The first fruits of His harvest [in which no outsider was allowed to share].All who ate of it [injuring Israel] became guilty;Evil came on them,” says the Lord.’”

At that time Jerusalem will be named the seat of the Lord's kingdom; and all the nations will come together to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: and no longer will their steps be guided by the purposes of their evil hearts.

O Jerusalem, make your heart clean from evil, so that you may have salvation. How long are evil purposes to have a resting-place in you?

The Lord said, “Surely I will set you free for purposes of good;Surely I will cause the enemy to make supplication to youIn a time of disaster and a time of distress.

The Lord’s anger will not turn backuntil He has completely fulfilled the purposes of His heart.In time to come you will understand it clearly.

The Lord’s burning anger will not turn backuntil He has completely fulfilled the purposes of His heart.In time to come you will understand it.

You are great in regards to your purposes and mighty in regards to your works. Your eyes are open to everything that people do, and will reward each one according to their ways and just as their actions deserve.

As for me, I am going to stay at Mizpah to stand [for you] before the Chaldeans who come to us [ministering to them and looking after the king’s interests]; but as for you, gather in wine, summer fruit and oil and store them in your utensils [designed for such purposes], and live in your cities that you have taken over.”

Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.

Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.

The earth quakes and tremblesbecause the Lord’s intentions against Babylon stand:to make the land of Babylon an uninhabited desolation.

Therefore thus says the Lord God,‘Because you have imagined your mind [to be]Like the mind of God [having thoughts and plans like God Himself],

“Moreover, when you divide the land by lot for inheritance, you shall [set apart and] offer an allotment (contribution) to the Lord, a holy portion of the land [to be used for sacred purposes]. The length shall be 25,000 cubits, and the width shall be 20,000 cubits. It shall be holy (set apart for sacred use) within its every area.

But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the scroll until the end of time. Many will go back and forth and search anxiously [through the scroll], and knowledge [of the purpose of God as revealed by His prophets] will [greatly] increase.”

I will not give punishment to your daughters or your brides for their evil behaviour; for they make themselves separate with loose women, and make offerings with those who are used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods: the people who have no wisdom will be sent away.

"Truly the Lord GOD will do nothing he has mentioned without revealing his purposes to his servants the prophets.

One has gone out from you who is designing evil against the Lord, whose purposes are of no value.

And it will come about in that day that the prophets will be shamed, every man on account of his vision, when he is talking as a prophet; and they will not put on a robe of hair for purposes of deceit:

For from within, out of men's hearts, their evil purposes proceed--fornication, theft, murder, adultery,

All these evil things [schemes and desires] come from within and defile and dishonor the man.”

and a sword [of deep sorrow] will pierce through your own soul—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

They prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know all hearts [their thoughts, motives, desires], show us which one of these two You have chosen

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets [who spoke a new message of God to the people] and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod [Antipas] the tetrarch, and Saul.

and said, “You [Elymas] who are full of every [kind of] deceit, and every [kind of] fraud, you son of the devil, enemy of everything that is right and good, will you never stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?

Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets (divinely inspired spokesmen), encouraged and strengthened the believers with many words.

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,

And what if He has done so to make known the riches of His glory to the objects of His mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory,

Who has knowledge of the mind of the Lord? or who has taken part in his purposes?

For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ [to be guided by His thoughts and purposes].

So then, let us [who minister] be regarded as servants of Christ and stewards (trustees, administrators) of the mysteries of God [that He chooses to reveal].

So do not go on passing judgment before the appointed time, but wait until the Lord comes, for He will both bring to light the [secret] things that are hidden in darkness and disclose the motives of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.

But if any one say to you, This is offered to holy purposes, do not eat, for his sake that pointed it out, and conscience sake;

Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?

If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

If then I had such a purpose, did I seem to be changing suddenly? or am I guided in my purposes by the flesh, saying, Yes, today, and, No, tomorrow?

in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God].

For this reason, since the day we heard about it, we have not stopped praying for you, asking [specifically] that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [with insight into His purposes], and in understanding [of spiritual things],

We proclaim Him, warning and instructing everyone in all wisdom [that is, with comprehensive insight into the word and purposes of God], so that we may present every person complete in Christ [mature, fully trained, and perfect in Him—the Anointed].

in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge [regarding the word and purposes of God].

Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things [which are dishonorable—disobedient, sinful], he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified [set apart for a special purpose and], useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

And let our people go on with good works for necessary purposes, so that they may not be without fruit.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow, as it judges the thoughts and purposes of the heart.

The world is passing away, and with it its lusts [the shameful pursuits and ungodly longings]; but the one who does the will of God and carries out His purposes lives forever.

And I will kill her children (followers) with pestilence [thoroughly annihilating them], and all the churches will know [without any doubt] that I am He who searches the minds and hearts [the innermost thoughts, purposes]; and I will give to each one of you [a reward or punishment] according to your deeds.

"There shall be no further delay; but in the days when the seventh angel blows his trumpet--when he begins to do so--then the secret purposes of God are realized, in accordance with the good news which He gave to His servants the Prophets."

Here is the mind which has wisdom [and this is what it knows about the vision]. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits;