Spoude denotes earnest, committed effort in exhortation and service, and prompt action in narrative settings.

The predominant use concerns earnest, active commitment: it is named among responses to godly grief, qualities to abound in, and conduct opposed to laziness. In two narrative scenes, it accompanies immediate movement or a request made at once, showing promptness of action.

1. Earnest commitment in response or service · dominant

   In 2 Corinthians 7:11 the accusative singular occurs among the outcomes produced by grief according to God; the APB renders the list with “diligence” alongside defense, indignation, fear, longing, zeal, and vengeance. In 2 Peter 1:5 the APB renders “after supplying all diligence” before a sequence of supplied qualities, while Hebrews 6:11 speaks of showing the same “earnestness” toward full assurance of hope. Romans 12:11 places the term in an instruction rendered “In diligence not lazy,” and Jude 1:3 describes the writer as making “every effort” to write and urge contention for the faith.

   2 Corinthians 7:112 Peter 1:5Hebrews 6:11Romans 12:11Jude 1:32 Corinthians 8:16
2. Promptness in carrying out an action · occasional

   In Luke 1:39, the genitive singular accompanies Mary’s rising and going into the hill country; the APB renders her going “with diligence.” In Mark 6:25, the same form occurs as she goes in immediately and asks the king for John the Baptist’s head; the APB renders the scene with “haste” and “at once.”

   Luke 1:39Mark 6:25

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB varies its presentation among “diligence,” “earnestness,” “every effort,” and “haste,” as in 2 Corinthians 7:11, Hebrews 6:11, Jude 1:3, and Mark 6:25. These renderings confirm the verses’ overall contexts rather than establish separate English equivalents.