1 Peter 3:12
New International Version
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

New Living Translation
The eyes of the LORD watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the LORD turns his face against those who do evil.”

English Standard Version
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Berean Standard Bible
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Berean Literal Bible
Because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears toward their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those doing evil."

King James Bible
For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

New King James Version
For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”

New American Standard Bible
“FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST EVILDOERS.”

NASB 1995
“FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”

NASB 1977
“FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE UPON THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”

Legacy Standard Bible
FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”

Amplified Bible
“FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE [looking favorably] UPON THE RIGHTEOUS (the upright), AND HIS EARS ARE ATTENTIVE TO THEIR PRAYER (eager to answer), BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO PRACTICE EVIL.”

Christian Standard Bible
because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their request. But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil.

American Standard Version
For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears unto their supplication: But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because the eyes of THE LORD JEHOVAH are upon the righteous and his ears hear them; the face of the Lord is against the evil.

Contemporary English Version
The Lord watches over everyone who obeys him, and he listens to their prayers. But he opposes everyone who does evil."

Douay-Rheims Bible
Because the eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and his ears unto their prayers: but the countenance of the Lord upon them that do evil things.

English Revised Version
For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears unto their supplication: But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The Lord's eyes are on those who do what he approves. His ears hear their prayer. The Lord confronts those who do evil."

Good News Translation
For the Lord watches over the righteous and listens to their prayers; but he opposes those who do evil."

International Standard Version
For the Lord watches the righteous, and he pays attention to their prayers. But the Lord opposes those who do wrong."

Literal Standard Version
because the eyes of the LORD [are] on the righteous, and His ears—to their supplication, but the face of the LORD [is] against those doing evil”;

Majority Standard Bible
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

New American Bible
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears turned to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against evildoers.”

NET Bible
For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the Lord's face is against those who do evil.

New Revised Standard Version
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

New Heart English Bible
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

Webster's Bible Translation
For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

Weymouth New Testament
For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their supplication; but the face of the Lord is set against evil-doers."

World English Bible
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Young's Literal Translation
because the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears -- to their supplication, and the face of the Lord is upon those doing evil;'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Turning from Evil
11He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. 12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 13Who can harm you if you are zealous for what is good?…

Cross References
Psalm 33:18
Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion

Psalm 34:15
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.

Psalm 34:16
But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to wipe out all memory of them from the earth.


Treasury of Scripture

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

the eyes.

Deuteronomy 11:12
A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

2 Chronicles 16:9
For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

Psalm 11:4
The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

his ears.

2 Chronicles 7:15
Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

Psalm 65:2
O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.

Proverbs 15:8,29
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight…

but.

Leviticus 17:10
And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

Leviticus 20:3,6
And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name…

Leviticus 26:17
And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.

against.

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Attend Attentive Ears Evil Evil-Doers Eyes Face Open Prayer Prayers Righteous Supplication Supplications Towards Upright
1 Peter 3
1. He teaches the duty of wives and husbands to each other;
8. exhorting all men to unity and love;
14. and to suffer persecution.
19. He declares also the benefits of Christ toward the old world.














(12) For.--Or, Because. In the Psalm there is no such connecting particle, but it is involved in the juxtaposition. The sense that the Lord's eyes are over you is a sufficient reason for self-restraint under provocation: especially, perhaps, when we see that by "the Lord" St. Peter understands Jesus Christ. That this is the case is clear from his use of the same Psalm in 1Peter 2:3. If Christ, the model of meekness under persecution (1Peter 2:23), is watching, we not only need no passionate self-defence, but should be ashamed to use it. Was St. Peter thinking how once, while he himself was cursing and swearing at those who accused him of being a Christian, he felt the eyes of the Lord turn upon him? The thought of His eyes being over Us is chiefly that of guardianship.

Open unto their prayers.--Rather, are towards their prayer--i.e., directed towards it. Here, as in 1Peter 2:3, the Prayer Book version has influenced our translation.

Against them that do evil.--There is no difference in the Greek between this preposition and that just rendered "over." But the countenance of the Lord is over them that do evil things. He marks what they are doing. This is sufficient comfort when men injure us (1Peter 2:23); sufficient warning not to injure in return. It is instructive now to turn and see the circumstances in which this lovely Psalm was composed. The moment was one of David's extremest peril among an infuriated heathen population. The danger and dread he was in are shown in Psalms 56. Yet nothing can be brighter and more serene than Psalms 34. He had obtained life and days; and it was all through confidence in God on the one hand, and inoffensive self-submission on the other. Had he used violence--"shown spirit," as we say--like the "young lions," he would have come worse off. It seems to be for this cause that St. Peter deemed the Psalm so appropriate to his readers, misjudged and suspiciously watched (Psalm 56:5-6) by unbelievers, who only waited the opportunity to shed their blood (Psalm 56:1-2). But the striking change is that, whereas David's trust in Jehovah was a trust simply in the Eternal Being without distinction of Persons, St. Peter bids the Hebrews of Asia read that Psalm into an act of faith in Jesus. We shall see the same thing in 1Peter 3:15, as we saw it in 1Peter 2:3. The force of the change will be felt by any one who reads through that Psalm, substituting (like the Rheims version) "our Lord" for "the Lord." . . .

Verse 12. - For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers. The apostle adds the conjunction "for" (ὅτι, because) to mark the connection. God's people must turn away from evil and do good, because the all-seeing eye is upon them; they will find strength to do so, because God heareth prayer. Perhaps when the apostle was writing these words he remembered how once "the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter." But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. The preposition in the two clauses is the same (ἐπί, over, or upon). The Lord's eye is upon the good and the evil. The apostle omits the words that follow in the psalm, "to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth," perhaps because he wishes us to regard the spiritual rather than the temporal consequences of our actions.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
For
ὅτι (hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

[the] eyes
ὀφθαλμοὶ (ophthalmoi)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3788: The eye; fig: the mind's eye. From optanomai; the eye; by implication, vision; figuratively, envy.

of [the] Lord
Κυρίου (Kyriou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2962: Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master.

[are] on
ἐπὶ (epi)
Preposition
Strong's 1909: On, to, against, on the basis of, at.

[the] righteous,
δικαίους (dikaious)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 1342: From dike; equitable; by implication, innocent, holy.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

His
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

ears
ὦτα (ōta)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3775: (a) the ear, (b) met: the faculty of perception. Apparently a primary word; the ear.

are inclined to
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

their
αὐτῶν (autōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

prayer.
δέησιν (deēsin)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1162: Supplication, prayer, entreaty. From deomai; a petition.

But
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

[the] face
πρόσωπον (prosōpon)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4383: From pros and ops; the front, i.e. The countenance, aspect, appearance, surface; by implication, presence, person.

of [the] Lord
Κυρίου (Kyriou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2962: Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master.

[is] against
ἐπὶ (epi)
Preposition
Strong's 1909: On, to, against, on the basis of, at.

those who do
ποιοῦντας (poiountas)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 4160: (a) I make, manufacture, construct, (b) I do, act, cause. Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do.

evil.”
κακά (kaka)
Adjective - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 2556: Bad, evil, in the widest sense. Apparently a primary word; worthless, i.e. depraved, or injurious.


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NT Letters: 1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord (1 Pet. 1P iP i Pet)
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