Yesaya 26:3-4

26:3 You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith,

for they trust in you. ¹ 

26:4 Trust in the Lord from this time forward, ² 

even in Yah, the Lord, an enduring protector! ³ 

Yesaya 26:1

Judah Will Celebrate

26:1 At that time ⁴  this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city!

The Lord’s ⁵  deliverance, like walls and a rampart, makes it secure. ⁶ 

1 Samuel 30:6

30:6 David was very upset, for the men ⁷  were thinking of stoning him; ⁸  each man grieved bitterly ⁹  over his sons and daughters. But David drew strength from the Lord his God.

1 Samuel 30:1

David Defeats the Amalekites

30:1 On the third day David and his men came to Ziklag. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They attacked Ziklag and burned it. ¹⁰ 

1 Samuel 5:1-2

The Ark Causes Trouble for the Philistines

5:1 Now the Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 5:2 The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon.

1 Samuel 20:12

20:12 Jonathan said to David, “The Lord God of Israel is my witness. ¹¹  I will feel out my father about this time the day after tomorrow. If he is favorably inclined toward David, will I not then send word to you and let you know? ¹² 

1 Samuel 20:20

20:20 I will shoot three arrows near it, as though I were shooting at a target.

Ayub 13:15

13:15 Even if he slays me, I will hope in him; ¹³ 

I will surely ¹⁴  defend ¹⁵  my ways to his face!

Ayub 23:8-10

The Inaccessibility and Power of God

23:8 “If I go to the east, he is not there,

and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.

23:9 In the north ¹⁶  when he is at work, ¹⁷ 

I do not see him; ¹⁸ 

when he turns ¹⁹  to the south,

I see no trace of him.

23:10 But he knows the pathway that I take; ²⁰ 

if he tested me, I would come forth like gold. ²¹ 

Mazmur 27:13-14

27:13 Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience

the Lord’s favor in the land of the living? ²² 

27:14 Rely ²³  on the Lord!

Be strong and confident! ²⁴ 

Rely on the Lord!

Mazmur 28:7

28:7 The Lord strengthens and protects me; ²⁵ 

I trust in him with all my heart. ²⁶ 

I am rescued ²⁷  and my heart is full of joy; ²⁸ 

I will sing to him in gratitude. ²⁹ 

Mazmur 40:1-4

Psalm 40 ³⁰ 

For the music director; By David, a psalm.

40:1 I relied completely ³¹  on the Lord,

and he turned toward me

and heard my cry for help.

40:2 He lifted me out of the watery pit, ³² 

out of the slimy mud. ³³ 

He placed my feet on a rock

and gave me secure footing. ³⁴ 

40:3 He gave me reason to sing a new song, ³⁵ 

praising our God. ³⁶ 

May many see what God has done,

so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord! ³⁷ 

40:4 How blessed ³⁸  is the one ³⁹  who trusts in the Lord ⁴⁰ 

and does not seek help from ⁴¹  the proud or from liars! ⁴² 

Mazmur 42:11

42:11 Why are you depressed, ⁴³  O my soul? ⁴⁴ 

Why are you upset? ⁴⁵ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ⁴⁶ 

Mazmur 62:8

62:8 Trust in him at all times, you people!

Pour out your hearts before him! ⁴⁷ 

God is our shelter! (Selah)

Mazmur 145:21

145:21 My mouth will praise the Lord. ⁴⁸ 

Let all who live ⁴⁹  praise his holy name forever!

Ratapan 3:25-26

ט (Tet)

3:25 The Lord is good to those who trust ⁵⁰  in him,

to the one ⁵¹  who seeks him.

3:26 It is good to wait patiently ⁵² 

for deliverance from the Lord. ⁵³ 

Mikha 7:7-9

7:7 But I will keep watching for the Lord;

I will wait for the God who delivers me.

My God will hear my lament. ⁵⁴ 

Jerusalem Will Be Vindicated

7:8 My enemies, ⁵⁵  do not gloat ⁵⁶  over me!

Though I have fallen, I will get up.

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ⁵⁷ 

7:9 I must endure ⁵⁸  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ⁵⁹  he will defend my cause, ⁶⁰ 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ⁶¹  his deliverance. ⁶² 

Mikha 7:2

7:2 Faithful men have disappeared ⁶³  from the land;

there are no godly men left. ⁶⁴ 

They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; ⁶⁵ 

they hunt their own brother with a net. ⁶⁶ 

Kolose 1:8-10

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ⁶⁷  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ⁶⁸  to fill ⁶⁹  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ⁷⁰  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ⁷¹  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Kolose 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁷²  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Pengkhotbah 5:7

5:7 Just as there is futility in many dreams,

so also in many words. ⁷³ 

Therefore, fear God!

[26:3]  ¹ tn Heb “[one of] firm purpose you will keep [in] peace, peace, for in you he possesses trust.” The Hebrew term יֵצֶר (yetser) refers to what one devises in the mind; סָמוּךְ (samukh) probably functions here like an attributive adjective and carries the nuance “firm.” So the phrase literally means, “a firm purpose,” but as the object of the verb “keep, guard,” it must stand by metonymy for the one(s) who possess a firm purpose. In this context the “righteous nation” (v. 2) is probably in view and the “firm purpose” refers to their unwavering faith in God’s vindication (see 25:9). In this context שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”), which is repeated for emphasis, likely refers to national security, not emotional or psychological composure (see vv. 1-2). The passive participle בָּטוּחַ (batuakh) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action.

[26:4]  ² tn Or “forevermore.” For other uses of the phrase עֲדֵי־עַד (’ade-’ad) see Isa 65:18 and Pss 83:17; 92:7.

[26:4]  ³ tc The Hebrew text has “for in Yah, the Lord, an everlasting rock.” Some have suggested that the phrase בְּיָהּ (beyah, “in Yah”) is the result of dittography. A scribe seeing כִּי יְהוָה (ki yÿhvah) in his original text would somehow have confused the letters and accidentally inserted בְּיָהּ between the words (bet and kaf [ב and כ] can be confused in later script phases). A number of English versions retain both divine names for emphasis (ESV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, NLT). One of the Qumran texts (1QIsa^a) confirms the MT reading as well.

[26:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “In that day” (so KJV).

[26:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “deliverance he makes walls and a rampart.”

[30:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “people.”

[30:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “said to stone him.”

[30:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “for bitter was the soul of all the people, each one.”

[30:1]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”

[20:12]  ¹¹ tc The Hebrew text has simply “the Lord God of Israel.” On the basis of the Syriac version, many reconstruct the text to read “[is] my witness,” which may have fallen out of the text by homoioarcton (an error which is entirely possible if עֵד, ’ed, “witness,” immediately followed ַָדוִד, “David,” in the original text).

[20:12]  ¹² tn Heb “and uncover your ear.”

[13:15]  ¹³ tn There is a textual difficulty here that factors into the interpretation of the verse. The Kethib is לֹא (lo’, “not”), but the Qere is לוֹ (lo, “to him”). The RSV takes the former: “Behold, he will slay me, I have no hope.” The NIV takes it as “though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” Job is looking ahead to death, which is not an evil thing to him. The point of the verse is that he is willing to challenge God at the risk of his life; and if God slays him, he is still confident that he will be vindicated – as he says later in this chapter. Other suggestions are not compelling. E. Dhorme (Job, 187) makes a slight change of אֲיַחֵל (’ayakhel, “I will hope”) to אַחִיל (’akhil, “I will [not] tremble”). A. B. Davidson (Job, 98) retains the MT, but interprets the verb more in line with its use in the book: “I will not wait” (cf. NLT).

[13:15]  ¹⁴ tn On אַךְ (’akh, “surely”) see GKC 483 §153 on intensive clauses.

[13:15]  ¹⁵ tn The verb once again is יָכָה (yakhah, in the Hiphil, “argue a case, plead, defend, contest”). But because the word usually means “accuse” rather than “defend,” I. L. Seeligmann proposed changing “my ways” to “his ways” (“Zur Terminologie für das Gerichtsverfahren im Wortschatz des biblischen Hebräisch,” VTSup 16 [1967]: 251-78). But the word can be interpreted appropriately in the context without emendation.

[23:9]  ¹⁶ sn The text has “the left hand,” the Semitic idiom for directions. One faces the rising sun, and so left is north, right is south.

[23:9]  ¹⁷ tc The form בַּעֲשֹׂתוֹ (ba’asoto) would be the temporal clause using the infinitive construct with a pronoun (subject genitive). This would be “when he works.” Several follow the Syriac with “I seek him.” The LXX has “[when] he turns.” R. Gordis (Job, 261) notes that there is no need to emend the text; he shows a link to the Arabic cognate ghasa, “to cover.” To him this is a perfect parallel to יַעְטֹף (ya’tof, “covers himself”).

[23:9]  ¹⁸ tn The verb is the apocopated form of the imperfect. The object is supplied.

[23:9]  ¹⁹ tn The MT has “he turns,” but the Syriac and Vulgate have “I turn.”

[23:10]  ²⁰ tn The expression דֶּרֶךְ עִמָּדִי (derekh ’immadi) means “the way with me,” i.e., “the way that I take.” The Syriac has “my way and my standing.” Several commentators prefer “the way of my standing,” meaning where to look for me. J. Reider offers “the way of my life” (“Some notes to the text of the scriptures,” HUCA 3 [1926]: 115). Whatever the precise wording, Job knows that God can always find him.

[23:10]  ²¹ tn There is a perfect verb followed by an imperfect in this clause with the protasis and apodosis relationship (see GKC 493 §159.b).

[27:13]  ²² tn In the Hebrew text the sentence is incomplete: “If I had not believed [I would] see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” The words “Where would I be” are supplied in the translation to clarify the intent of the statement.

[27:14]  ²³ tn Or “wait.”

[27:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “be strong and let your heart be confident.”

[28:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “The Lord [is] my strength and my shield.”

[28:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “in him my heart trusts.”

[28:7]  ²⁷ tn Or “I am helped.”

[28:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and my heart exults.”

[28:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and from my song I will thank him.” As pointed in the Hebrew text, מִשִּׁירִי (mishiri) appears to be “from my song,” but the preposition “from” never occurs elsewhere with the verb “to thank” (Hiphil of יָדָה, yadah). Perhaps משׁיר is a noun form meaning “song.” If so, it can be taken as an adverbial accusative, “and [with] my song I will thank him.” See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 236.

[40:1]  ³⁰ sn Psalm 40. The psalmist combines a song of thanksgiving for a recent act of divine deliverance (vv. 1-11) with a confident petition for renewed divine intervention (vv. 12-17).

[40:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “relying, I relied.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form to emphasize the verbal idea. The emphasis is reflected in the translation through the adverb “completely.” Another option is to translate, “I waited patiently” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[40:2]  ³² tn Heb “cistern of roaring.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “cistern, pit”) is used metaphorically here of Sheol, the place of death, which is sometimes depicted as a raging sea (see Ps 18:4, 15-16). The noun שָׁאוֹן (sha’on, “roaring”) refers elsewhere to the crashing sound of the sea’s waves (see Ps 65:7).

[40:2]  ³³ tn Heb “from the mud of mud.” The Hebrew phrase translated “slimy mud” employs an appositional genitive. Two synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[40:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “he established my footsteps.”

[40:3]  ³⁵ sn A new song was appropriate because the Lord had intervened in the psalmist’s experience in a fresh and exciting way.

[40:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and he placed in my mouth a new song, praise to our God.”

[40:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “may many see and fear and trust in the Lord.” The translation assumes that the initial prefixed verbal form is a jussive (“may many see”), rather than an imperfect (“many will see”). The following prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) conjunctive are taken as indicating purpose or result (“so that they might swear allegiance…and trust”) after the introductory jussive.

[40:4]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[40:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “man.” See the note on the word “one” in Ps 1:1.

[40:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “who has made the Lord his [object of] trust.”

[40:4]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and does not turn toward.”

[40:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “those falling away toward a lie.”

[42:11]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:11]  ⁴⁴ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:11]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[42:11]  ⁴⁶ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God”), that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is almost identical to the one in v. 5. See also Ps 43:5.

[62:8]  ⁴⁷ tn To “pour out one’s heart” means to offer up to God intense, emotional lamentation and petitionary prayers (see Lam 2:19).

[145:21]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “the praise of the Lord my mouth will speak.”

[145:21]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “all flesh.”

[3:25]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “wait for him”

[3:25]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “to the soul…” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= “the soul who seeks him”) for the whole person (= “the person who seeks him”).

[3:26]  ⁵² tn Heb “waiting and silently.” The two adjectives וְיָחִיל וְדוּמָם (vÿyakhil vÿdumam, “waiting and silently”) form a hendiadys: The first functions verbally and the second functions adverbially: “to wait silently.” The adjective דוּמָם (dumam, “silently”) also functions as a metonymy of association, standing for patience or rest (HALOT 217 s.v.). This metonymical nuance is captured well in less literal English versions: “wait in patience” (TEV) and “wait patiently” (CEV, NJPS). The more literal English versions do not express the metonymy as well: “quietly wait” (KJV, NKJV, ASV), “waits silently” (NASB), “wait quietly” (RSV, NRSV, NIV).

[3:26]  ⁵³ tn Heb “deliverance of the Lord.” In the genitive-construct, the genitive יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”) denotes source, that is, he is the source of the deliverance: “deliverance from the Lord.”

[7:7]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “me.” In the interest of clarity the nature of the prophet’s cry has been specified as “my lament” in the translation.

[7:8]  ⁵⁵ tn The singular form is understood as collective.

[7:8]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”

[7:8]  ⁵⁷ sn Darkness represents judgment; light (also in v. 9) symbolizes deliverance. The Lord is the source of the latter.

[7:9]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

[7:9]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “until.”

[7:9]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

[7:9]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “see.”

[7:9]  ⁶² tn Or “justice, vindication.”

[7:2]  ⁶³ tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”

[7:2]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”

[7:2]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”

[7:2]  ⁶⁶ sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.

[1:9]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ⁶⁸ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ⁶⁹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:10]  ⁷⁰ tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ⁷¹ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[1:1]  ⁷² tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[5:7]  ⁷³ tn The syntax of this verse is difficult. Perhaps the best approach is to classify the vav on וַהֲבָלִים (vahavalim, “futilities”) as introducing the predicate (e.g., Gen 40:9; 2 Sam 23:3; Prov 10:25; Isa 34:12; Job 4:6; 36:26); BDB 255 s.v. ו 5.c.γ: “There is futility….” The phrase בְרֹב הֲלֹמוֹת (vÿrob halomot) is an adverbial modifier (“in many dreams”), as is דְבָרִים הַרְבֵּה (dÿvarim harbeh, “many words”). The vav prefixed to וּדְבָרִים (udÿvarim) and the juxtaposition of the two lines suggests a comparison: “just as…so also…” (BDB 253 s.v. ו 1.j). The English versions reflect a variety of approaches: “In the multitude of dreams and many words there are also diverse vanities” (KJV); “In the multitude of dreams there are vanities, and in many words” (ASV); “When dreams increase, empty words grow many” (RSV); “In many dreams and follies and many words” (MLB); “In the abundance of dreams both vanities and words abound” (YLT); “Where there are many dreams, there are many vanities, and words without number” (Douay); “Many dreams and words mean many a vain folly” (Moffatt); “Much dreaming leads to futility and to superfluous talk” (NJPS); “In many dreams and in many words there is emptiness” (NASB); “Much dreaming and many words are meaningless” (NIV); “With many dreams comes vanities and a multitude of words” (NRSV).