'Heart' in the Bible

Why should you be stricken and punished again [since no change results from it]?You [only] continue to rebel.The whole head is sickAnd the whole heart is faint and sick.

“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me [without your repentance]?”Says the Lord.“I have had enough of [your] burnt offerings of ramsAnd the fat of well-fed cattle [without your obedience];And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls or lambs or goats [offered without repentance].

“Make the heart of this people insensitive,Their ears dull,And their eyes dim,Otherwise they might see with their eyes,Hear with their ears,Understand with their hearts,And return and be healed.”

When the house of David (Judah) was told, “Aram is allied with Ephraim (Israel),” the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.

And all the people know it,That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria [its capital],Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:

So when the Lord has completed all His work [of judgment] on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit [the thoughts, the declarations, and the actions] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the haughtiness of his pride.”

Therefore all hands will fall limp,And every man’s heart will melt.

“But you said in your heart,‘I will ascend to heaven;I will raise my throne above the stars of God;I will sit on the mount of assemblyIn the remote parts of the north.

My heart cries out for Moab;His fugitives are [fleeing] as far as Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah.For they go up the ascent of Luhith weeping;For on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress over their destruction.

Therefore my heart sounds like a harp [in mournful compassion] for Moab,And my inner being mourns for Kir-hareseth.

You will have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept,And joy of heart as when one marches [in procession] with a flute,To go to the [temple on the] mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.

Say to those with an anxious and panic-stricken heart,“Be strong, fear not!Indeed, your God will come with vengeance [for the ungodly];The retribution of God will come,But He will save you.”

and said, “Please, O Lord, just remember how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth, and with a whole heart [absolutely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept greatly.

“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,And call out to her, that her time of compulsory service in warfare is finished,That her wickedness has been taken away [since her punishment is sufficient],That she has received from the Lord’s handDouble [punishment] for all her sins.”

Therefore He poured out on Israel the heat of His angerAnd the fierceness of battle;And engulfed him in fire,Yet he did not recognize [the lesson of repentance which the Assyrian conquest was intended to teach];It burned him, but he did not take it to heart.

“Remember this, and take courage;Take it to heart, you rebellious and disloyal people.

“Listen to Me, you stiff-necked people,You who are far from righteousness (right standing with God).

“And you said, ‘I shall be a queen forevermore.’You did not consider these things,Nor did you [seriously] remember the [ultimate] outcome of such conduct.

“For you [Babylon] have trusted and felt confident in your wickedness; you have said,‘No one sees me.’Your wisdom and your knowledge have led you astray,And you have said in your heart (mind),‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’

“Then [Zion], you will say in your heart,‘Who has borne me these children,Since I have been bereaved of my childrenAnd am barren, an exile and a wanderer?And who has reared these?Indeed, I was left alone;From where then did these children come?’”

Who is among you who fears the Lord,Who obeys the voice of His Servant,Yet who walks in darkness and has no light?Let him trust and be confident in the name of the Lord and let him rely on his God.

“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness (right standing with God),The people in whose heart is My law and instruction;Do not fear the reproach and taunting of man,Nor be distressed at their reviling.

The righteous man perishes [at the hand of evil], and no one takes it to heart;Faithful and devout men are taken away, while no one understandsThat the righteous person is taken away [to be spared] from disaster and evil.

For the high and exalted OneHe who inhabits eternity, Whose name is Holy says this,“I dwell on the high and holy place,But also with the contrite and humble in spiritIn order to revive the spirit of the humbleAnd to revive the heart of the contrite [overcome with sorrow for sin].

“Because of the wickedness of his unjust gain I was angry and struck him;I hid My face and was angry,And he went on turning away and backsliding, in the way of his [own willful] heart.

“Is a fast such as this what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself [with sorrow in his soul]?Is it only to bow down his head like a reedAnd to make sackcloth and ashes as a bed [pretending to have a repentant heart]?Do you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord?

Rebelling against and denying the Lord,Turning away from [following] our God,Speaking oppression and revolt,Conceiving and muttering from the heart lying words.

“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you [writing the law of God on the heart], and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouths of your [true, spiritual] children, nor from the mouth of your children’s children,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

“Then you will see and be radiant,And your heart will tremble [with joy] and rejoiceBecause the abundant wealth of the seas will be brought to you,The wealth of the nations will come to you.

“For the day of vengeance [against ungodliness] was in My heart,And My year of redemption [of those who put their trust in Me—the year of My redeemed] has come.

Look down from heaven and see from Your lofty dwelling place, holy and glorious.Where are Your zeal and Your mighty acts [Your miracles which you did for Your people]?The stirring of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained and withheld from me.

“Indeed, My servants will shout for joy from a happy heart,But you will cry out with a heavy heart,And you shall wail and howl from a broken spirit.

When you see this, your heart will rejoice;Your bones will flourish like new grass.And the [powerful] hand of the Lord will be revealed to His servants,But His indignation will be toward His enemies.