1 Samuel 3:18

3:18 So Samuel told him everything. He did not hold back anything from him. Eli ¹  said, “The Lord will do what he pleases.” ² 

Ayub 23:13

23:13 But he is unchangeable, ³  and who can change ⁴  him?

Whatever he ⁵  has desired, he does.

Mazmur 33:9-11

33:9 For he spoke, and it ⁶  came into existence,

he issued the decree, ⁷  and it stood firm.

33:10 The Lord frustrates ⁸  the decisions of the nations;

he nullifies the plans ⁹  of the peoples.

33:11 The Lord’s decisions stand forever;

his plans abide throughout the ages. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 115:3

115:3 Our God is in heaven!

He does whatever he pleases! ¹¹ 

Mazmur 135:6

135:6 He does whatever he pleases

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and all the ocean depths.

Yesaya 14:24-27

14:24 ¹² The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow:

“Be sure of this:

Just as I have intended, so it will be;

just as I have planned, it will happen.

14:25 I will break Assyria ¹³  in my land,

I will trample them ¹⁴  underfoot on my hills.

Their yoke will be removed from my people,

the burden will be lifted from their shoulders. ¹⁵ 

14:26 This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth;

my hand is ready to strike all the nations.” ¹⁶ 

14:27 Indeed, ¹⁷  the Lord who commands armies has a plan,

and who can possibly frustrate it?

His hand is ready to strike,

and who can possibly stop it? ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 46:10-11

46:10 who announces the end from the beginning

and reveals beforehand ¹⁹  what has not yet occurred,

who says, ‘My plan will be realized,

I will accomplish what I desire,’

46:11 who summons an eagle ²⁰  from the east,

from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.

Yes, I have decreed, ²¹ 

yes, I will bring it to pass;

I have formulated a plan,

yes, I will carry it out.

Matius 11:25-26

Jesus’ Invitation

11:25 At that time Jesus said, ²²  “I praise ²³  you, Father, Lord ²⁴  of heaven and earth, because ²⁵  you have hidden these things from the wise ²⁶  and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. 11:26 Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will. ²⁷ 

Kisah Para Rasul 4:28

4:28 to do as much as your power ²⁸  and your plan ²⁹  had decided beforehand ³⁰  would happen.

Efesus 1:11

1:11 In Christ ³¹  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ³²  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

Filipi 2:10-11

2:10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow

– in heaven and on earth and under the earth –

2:11 and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord

to the glory of God the Father.

[3:18]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:18]  ² tn Heb “what is good in his eyes.”

[23:13]  ³ tc The MT has “But he [is] in one.” Many add the word “mind” to capture the point that God is resolute and unchanging. Some commentators find this too difficult, and so change the text from בְאֶחָד (bÿ’ekhad, here “unchangeable”) to בָחָר (bakhar, “he has chosen”). The wording in the text is idiomatic and should be retained. R. Gordis (Job, 262) translates it “he is one, i.e., unchangeable, fixed, determined.” The preposition בּ (bet) is a bet essentiae – “and he [is] as one,” or “he is one” (see GKC 379 §119.i).

[23:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “cause him to return.”

[23:13]  ⁵ tn Or “his soul.”

[33:9]  ⁶ tn That is, “all the earth” in the first line of v. 8. The apparent antecedent of the masculine subject of the verbs in v. 9 (note וַיֶּהִי [vayyehiy] and וַיַּעֲמֹד [vayya’amod]) is “earth” or “world,” both of which are feminine nouns. However, כָּל (kol, “all”) may be the antecedent, or the apparent lack of agreement may be explained by the collective nature of the nouns involved here (see GKC 463 §145.e).

[33:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “he commanded.”

[33:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “breaks” or “destroys.” The Hebrew perfect verbal forms here and in the next line generalize about the Lord’s activity.

[33:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “thoughts.”

[33:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the thoughts of his heart for generation to generation.” The verb “abides” is supplied in the translation. The Lord’s “decisions” and “plans” here refer to his decrees and purposes.

[115:3]  ¹¹ sn He does whatever he pleases. Such sovereignty is characteristic of kings (see Eccl 8:3).

[14:24]  ¹² sn Having announced the downfall of the Chaldean empire, the Lord appends to this prophecy a solemn reminder that the Assyrians, the major Mesopotamian power of Isaiah’s day, would be annihilated, foreshadowing what would subsequently happen to Babylon and the other hostile nations.

[14:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “to break Assyria.”

[14:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “him.” This is a collective singular referring to the nation, or a reference to the king of Assyria who by metonymy stands for the entire nation.

[14:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and his [i.e., Assyria’s] yoke will be removed from them [the people?], and his [Assyria’s] burden from his [the nation’s?] shoulder will be removed.” There are no antecedents in this oracle for the suffixes in the phrases “from them” and “from his shoulder.” Since the Lord’s land and hills are referred to in the preceding line and the statement seems to echo 10:27, it is likely that God’s people are the referents of the suffixes; the translation uses “my people” to indicate this.

[14:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and this is the hand that is outstretched over all the nations.”

[14:27]  ¹⁷ tn Or “For” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[14:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “His hand is outstretched and who will turn it back?”

[46:10]  ¹⁹ tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.”

[46:11]  ²⁰ tn Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6).

[46:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”

[11:25]  ²² tn Grk “At that time, answering, Jesus said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[11:25]  ²³ tn Or “thank.”

[11:25]  ²⁴ sn The title Lord is an important name for God, showing his sovereignty, but it is interesting that it comes next to a reference to the Father, a term indicative of God’s care. The two concepts are often related in the NT; see Eph 1:3-6.

[11:25]  ²⁵ tn Or “that.”

[11:25]  ²⁶ sn See 1 Cor 1:26-31.

[11:26]  ²⁷ tn Grk “for (to do) thus was well-pleasing before you,” BDAG 325 s.v. ἔμπροσθεν 1.b.δ; speaking of something taking place “before” God is a reverential way of avoiding direct connection of the action to him.

[4:28]  ²⁸ tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.

[4:28]  ²⁹ tn Or “purpose,” “will.”

[4:28]  ³⁰ tn Or “had predestined.” Since the term “predestine” is something of a technical theological term, not in wide usage in contemporary English, the translation “decide beforehand” was used instead (see L&N 30.84). God’s direction remains as the major theme.

[1:11]  ³¹ tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

[1:11]  ³² tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.

[1:11]  sn God’s own possession. Although God is not mentioned explicitly in the Greek text, it is clear from the context that he has chosen believers for himself. Just as with the nation Israel, the church is God’s chosen portion or possession (cf. Deut 32:8-9).