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Matthew 7:7-9
New English Translation
Matthew 7:7-9
New English Translation
Ask, Seek, Knock
7 “Ask[a] and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door[b] will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks[c] receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Is[d] there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 7:7 tn The three present imperatives in this verse are best viewed as iterative (Wallace, ExSyn 722, lists the verse as an example of this usage), calling for repeated action.sn Many interpreters see the three present imperatives (Ask…seek…knock) as mainly limited to persistence in prayer (cf. v. 11), though others see them referring more generally to taking the initiative with God in various ways.
- Matthew 7:7 tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation here and in v. 8 for clarity.
- Matthew 7:8 sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 7 with the additional encouragement that God does respond to such requests/actions.
- Matthew 7:9 tn Grk “Or is there.”
New English Translation (NET)
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