Yehezkiel 2:6

2:6 But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words – even though briers ¹  and thorns ²  surround you and you live among scorpions – do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, ³  for they are a rebellious house!

Yesaya 41:10

41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ⁴ 

I strengthen you –

yes, I help you –

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ⁵ 

Yesaya 41:14

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ⁶ 

men of ⁷  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ⁸  the Holy One of Israel. ⁹ 

Yesaya 50:7

50:7 But the sovereign Lord helps me,

so I am not humiliated.

For that reason I am steadfastly resolved; ¹⁰ 

I know I will not be put to shame.

Yeremia 1:8

1:8 Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, ¹¹  for I will be with you to protect ¹²  you,” says the Lord.

Yeremia 1:17

1:17 “But you, Jeremiah, ¹³  get yourself ready! ¹⁴  Go and tell these people everything I instruct you to say. Do not be terrified of them, or I will give you good reason to be terrified of them. ¹⁵ 

Yeremia 17:18

17:18 May those who persecute me be disgraced.

Do not let me be disgraced.

May they be dismayed.

Do not let me be dismayed.

Bring days of disaster on them.

Bring on them the destruction they deserve.” ¹⁶ 

Mikha 3:8

3:8 But I ¹⁷  am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives,

and have a strong commitment to justice. ¹⁸ 

This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion,

and Israel with its sin. ¹⁹ 

Mikha 3:1

God Will Judge Judah’s Sinful Leaders

3:1 I said,

“Listen, you leaders ²⁰  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ²¹  of Israel!

You ought to know what is just, ²² 

Titus 2:3

2:3 Older women likewise are to exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy, not slandering, not slaves to excessive drinking, but teaching what is good.

Titus 2:2

2:2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, ²³  sound in faith, in love, and in endurance. ²⁴ 

Titus 2:6

2:6 Encourage younger men likewise to be self-controlled, ²⁵ 

[2:6]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term occurs only here in the OT.

[2:6]  ² tn The Hebrew term is found elsewhere in the OT only in Ezek 28:24.

[2:6]  sn Here thorns may be a figure for hostility (Ezek 28:24; Mic 7:4).

[2:6]  ³ tn Heb “of their faces.”

[41:10]  ⁴ tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishta’) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”) which is attested in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yare’, “fear”).

[41:10]  ⁵ tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).

[41:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ⁷ tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”

[41:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ⁹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[50:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Therefore I set my face like flint.”

[1:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “be afraid of them.” The antecedent is the “whomever” in v. 7.

[1:8]  ¹² tn Heb “rescue.”

[1:17]  ¹³ tn The name “Jeremiah” is not in the text. The use of the personal pronoun followed by the proper name is an attempt to reflect the correlative emphasis between Jeremiah’s responsibility noted here and the Lord’s promise noted in the next verse. The emphasis in the Hebrew text is marked by the presence of the subject pronouns at the beginning of each of the two verses.

[1:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “gird up your loins.” For the literal use of this idiom to refer to preparation for action see 2 Kgs 4:29; 9:1. For the idiomatic use to refer to spiritual and emotional preparation as here, see Job 38:3, 40:7, and 1 Pet 1:13 in the NT.

[1:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will make you terrified in front of them.” There is a play on words here involving two different forms of the same Hebrew verb and two different but related prepositional phrases, “from before/of,” a preposition introducing the object of a verb of fearing, and “before, in front of,” a preposition introducing a spatial location.

[17:18]  ¹⁶ tn Or “complete destruction.” See the translator’s note on 16:18.

[17:18]  sn Jeremiah now does what he says he has not wanted to do or been hasty to do. He is, however, seeking his own vindication and that of God whose threats they have belittled.

[3:8]  ¹⁷ sn The prophet Micah speaks here and contrasts himself with the mercenaries just denounced by the Lord in the preceding verses.

[3:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “am full of power, the Spirit of the Lord, and justice and strength.” The appositional phrase “the Spirit of the Lord” explains the source of the prophet’s power. The phrase “justice and strength” is understood here as a hendiadys, referring to the prophet’s strong sense of justice.

[3:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to declare to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.” The words “this enables me” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[3:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “heads.”

[3:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “house.”

[3:1]  ²² tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”

[2:2]  ²³ tn Or “sensible.”

[2:2]  ²⁴ sn Temperate…in endurance. See the same cluster of virtues in 1 Thess 1:3 and 1 Cor 13:13.

[2:6]  ²⁵ tn Or “sensible.”