Psalms 73:13
Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands.
BSB
ASV
Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, And washed my hands in innocency;
KJV
Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.
Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain. Poor Asaph! he questions the value of holiness when its wages are paid in the coin of affliction. With no effect has he been sincere; no advantage has come to him through his purity, for the filthy hearted are exalted and fed on the fat of the land. Thus foolishly will the wisest of men argue, when faith is napping.
Written to them
topics/doubtVerily I have cleansed my heart in vain: Asaph
MannaFest topical index (legacy import; verified against ASV text 2026-07-21; founder-approved batch)
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
James 4:8Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
leads to
The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But…
So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’
Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
Through
Job 21:15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
leads to
But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
Through
Job 34:9For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight in God.’
leads to
You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.