3 You have looked deep into my heart.\par You were with me all night.\par You questioned me\par and found nothing wrong.\par I didn’t plan any bad thing.\par
3 Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; Thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
3 You have proved my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and find nothing [no evil purpose in me]; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
3 Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited me in the night; Thou hast tried me, and findest nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
3 The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my liberator. My God is my helper, and I hope in him: my protector, and the horn of my salvation, and my support.
3 The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer. My God is my helper, and in him will I put my trust. My protector and the horn of my salvation, and my support.
“And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father. Serve God with a pure heart. Be happy in your heart (mind) to serve God. Why? Because the Lord knows what is in every person’s heart (mind). The Lord understands everything you think. If you go to the Lord for help, you will get an answer. But if you turn away from the Lord, he will leave you forever.
My God, I know that you test people,\par and that you are happy\par when people do good.\par I gladly give you all these things\par with a pure, honest heart.\par I see your people gathered here.\par And I see that they are happy\par about giving these things to you.\par
I said,\par “I will be careful about the things I say.\par I will not let my tongue cause me to sin.\par I will keep my mouth closed {\cf2\super [235]} when I am around wicked people.”\par
But you know my heart, Lord.\par You see me and test my mind.\par Drag those evil people away\par like sheep to be butchered.\par Choose them for the day of slaughter.\par
The Lord says,\par “At that time, people will try hard\par to find Israel’s guilt.\par But there will be no guilt.\par People will try to find Judah’s sins,\par but no sins will be found.\par Why? Because I am saving a few\par survivors {\cf2\super [410]} from Israel and Judah.\par And I am forgiving them\par for all of their sins.”\par
The people make their secret plans.\par Their hearts burn with excitement\par like an oven.\par Their excitement burns all night.\par And in the morning it is like a hot fire.\par
Trouble will come to people\par that make plans to sin.\par Those people lie on their beds\par making their evil plans\par Then when the morning light comes,\par they do the bad things they planned.\par Why? Simply because they have the power\par to do what they want.\par
Then I will test those survivors. I will give them many troubles. The troubles will be like the fire a man uses to prove silver is pure. I will test them the way a person tests gold. Then they will call to me for help, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘You are my people.’ And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”
“No person can prepare for that time. No person can stand against him when he comes. He will be like a burning fire. He will be like the strong soap people use to make things clean.
That night Paul saw a vision. {\cf2\super [334]} In this vision, a man from the country of Macedonia came to Paul. The man stood there and begged, “Come across to Macedonia. Help us!”
This is what we are proud of, and I can say with all my heart that it is true: In all the things we have done in the world, we have done everything with an honest and pure heart from God. And this is even more true in the things we have done with you. We did this by God’s grace (kindness), not by the kind of wisdom the world has.
We all make many mistakes. If there were a person who never said anything wrong, then that person would be perfect. A person like that would be able to control their whole body, too.
Why do these troubles happen? To prove that your faith is pure (true). This purity of faith is worth more than gold. Gold can be proved to be pure by fire, but gold will ruin. The purity of your faith will bring you praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ appears (comes).
{I don’t want to hurt you!} You can see that with your own eyes! The Lord let me have you today in the cave. But I refused to kill you. I was merciful to you. I said, ‘I won’t hurt my master. Saul is the Lord’s chosen king!’
The Lord pays every man for the things he does—he rewards him if he does right, and he punishes him if he does wrong. The Lord let me defeat you today, but I wouldn’t hurt the Lord’s chosen king.