1 Peter 2:15

2:15 For God wants you ¹  to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.

Esther 4:16

4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I ²  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ³  If I perish, I perish!”

Jeremiah 26:11-15

26:11 Then the priests and the prophets made their charges before the officials and all the people. They said, ⁴  “This man should be condemned to die ⁵  because he prophesied against this city. You have heard him do so ⁶  with your own ears.”

26:12 Then Jeremiah made his defense before all the officials and all the people. ⁷  “The Lord sent me to prophesy everything you have heard me say against this temple and against this city. 26:13 But correct the way you have been living and do what is right. ⁸  Obey the Lord your God. If you do, the Lord will forgo destroying you as he threatened he would. ⁹  26:14 As to my case, I am in your power. ¹⁰  Do to me what you deem fair and proper. 26:15 But you should take careful note of this: If you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves and this city and those who live in it the guilt of murdering an innocent man. For the Lord has sent me to speak all this where you can hear it. That is the truth!” ¹¹ 

Daniel 3:16-18

3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, ¹²  “We do not need to give you a reply ¹³  concerning this. 3:17 If ¹⁴  our God whom we are serving exists, ¹⁵  he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well. 3:18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we don’t serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

Daniel 6:10-11

6:10 When Daniel realized ¹⁶  that a written decree had been issued, he entered his home, where the windows ¹⁷  in his upper room opened toward Jerusalem. ¹⁸  Three ¹⁹  times daily he was ²⁰  kneeling ²¹  and offering prayers and thanks to his God just as he had been accustomed to do previously. 6:11 Then those officials who had gone to the king ²²  came by collusion and found Daniel praying and asking for help before his God.

Daniel 6:22

6:22 My God sent his angel and closed the lions’ mouths so that they have not harmed me, because I was found to be innocent before him. Nor have I done any harm to you, O king.”

Romans 2:7

2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality,

[2:15]  ¹ tn Grk “because thus it is God’s will.”

[4:16]  ² tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.

[4:16]  ³ tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”

[26:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “the priests and prophets said to the leaders and the people….” The long sentence has been broken up to conform better with contemporary English style and the situational context is reflected in “laid their charges.”

[26:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “a sentence of death to this man.”

[26:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “it.”

[26:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “Jeremiah said to all the leaders and all the people….” See the note on the word “said” in the preceding verse.

[26:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “Make good your ways and your actions.” For the same expression see 7:3, 5; 18:11.

[26:13]  ⁹ tn For the idiom and translation of terms involved here see 18:8 and the translator’s note there.

[26:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And I, behold I am in your hand.” Hand is quite commonly used for “power” or “control” in biblical contexts.

[26:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “For in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak in your ears all these words/things.”

[3:16]  ¹² tc In the MT this word is understood to begin the following address (“answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar’”). However, it seems unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar’s subordinates would address the king in such a familiar way, particularly in light of the danger that they now found themselves in. The present translation implies moving the atnach from “king” to “Nebuchadnezzar.”

[3:16]  ¹³ tn Aram “to return a word to you.”

[3:17]  ¹⁴ tc The ancient versions typically avoid the conditional element of v. 17.

[3:17]  ¹⁵ tn The Aramaic expression used here is very difficult to interpret. The question concerns the meaning and syntax of אִיתַי (’itay, “is” or “exist”). There are several possibilities. (1) Some interpreters take this word closely with the participle later in the verse יָכִל (yakhil, “able”), understanding the two words to form a periphrastic construction (“if our God is…able”; cf. H. Bauer and P. Leander, Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen, 365, §111b). But the separation of the two elements from one another is not an argument in favor of this understanding. (2) Other interpreters take the first part of v. 17 to mean “If it is so, then our God will deliver us” (cf. KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB). However, the normal sense of ’itay is existence; on this point see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 45, §95. The present translation maintains the sense of existence for the verb (“If our God…exists”), even though the statement is admittedly difficult to understand in this light. The statement may be an implicit reference back to Nebuchadnezzar’s comment in v. 15, which denies the existence of a god capable of delivering from the king’s power.

[6:10]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “knew.”

[6:10]  ¹⁷ sn In later rabbinic thought this verse was sometimes cited as a proof text for the notion that one should pray only in a house with windows. See b. Berakhot 34b.

[6:10]  ¹⁸ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:10]  ¹⁹ sn This is apparently the only specific mention in the OT of prayer being regularly offered three times a day. The practice was probably not unique to Daniel, however.

[6:10]  ²⁰ tc Read with several medieval Hebrew MSS and printed editions הֲוָה (havah) rather than the MT הוּא (hu’).

[6:10]  ²¹ tn Aram “kneeling on his knees” (so NASB).

[6:11]  ²² tn Aram “those men”; the referent (the administrative officials who had earlier approached the king about the edict) has been specified in the translation for clarity.