Mazmur 25:11

25:11 For the sake of your reputation, ¹  O Lord,

forgive my sin, because it is great. ² 

Mazmur 86:5

86:5 Certainly ³  O Lord, you are kind ⁴  and forgiving,

and show great faithfulness to all who cry out to you.

Mazmur 103:2-3

103:2 Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Do not forget all his kind deeds! ⁵ 

103:3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,

who heals all your diseases, ⁶ 

Keluaran 34:5-7

34:5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Lord by name. ⁷  34:6 The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: ⁸  “The Lord, the Lord, ⁹  the compassionate and gracious ¹⁰  God, slow to anger, ¹¹  and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, ¹²  34:7 keeping loyal love for thousands, ¹³  forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression ¹⁴  of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”

Yesaya 1:18

1:18 ¹⁵ Come, let’s consider your options,” ¹⁶  says the Lord.

“Though your sins have stained you like the color red,

you can become ¹⁷  white like snow;

though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet,

you can become ¹⁸  white like wool. ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 55:7

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ²⁰ 

and sinful people their plans. ²¹ 

They should return ²²  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ²³ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ²⁴ 

Yeremia 31:34

31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. ²⁵  For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” ²⁶  says the Lord. “For ²⁷  I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

Daniel 9:9

9:9 Yet the Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving, ²⁸  even though we have rebelled against him.

Mikha 7:18-20

7:18 There is no other God like you! ²⁹ 

You ³⁰  forgive sin

and pardon ³¹  the rebellion

of those who remain among your people. ³² 

You do not remain angry forever, ³³ 

but delight in showing loyal love.

7:19 You will once again ³⁴  have mercy on us;

you will conquer ³⁵  our evil deeds;

you will hurl our ³⁶  sins into the depths of the sea. ³⁷ 

7:20 You will be loyal to Jacob

and extend your loyal love to Abraham, ³⁸ 

which you promised on oath to our ancestors ³⁹ 

in ancient times. ⁴⁰ 

Roma 8:1-2

The Believer’s Relationship to the Holy Spirit

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ⁴¹  8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit ⁴²  in Christ Jesus has set you ⁴³  free from the law of sin and death.

Kolose 1:19

1:19 For God ⁴⁴  was pleased to have all his ⁴⁵  fullness dwell ⁴⁶  in the Son ⁴⁷ 

Efesus 1:7

1:7 In him ⁴⁸  we have redemption through his blood, ⁴⁹  the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace

Kolose 1:14

1:14 in whom we have redemption, ⁵⁰  the forgiveness of sins.

[25:11]  ¹ tn Heb “name.” By forgiving the sinful psalmist, the Lord’s reputation as a merciful God will be enhanced.

[25:11]  ² sn Forgive my sin, because it is great. The psalmist readily admits his desperate need for forgiveness.

[86:5]  ³ tn Or “for.”

[86:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “good.”

[103:2]  ⁵ tn Or “his benefits” (see 2 Chr 32:25, where the noun is also used of kind deeds performed by the Lord).

[103:3]  ⁶ tn This relatively rare noun refers to deadly diseases (see Deut 29:22; Jer 14:18; 16:4; 2 Chr 21:19).

[34:5]  ⁷ tn Some commentaries wish to make Moses the subject of the second and the third verbs, the first because he was told to stand there and this verb suggests he did it, and the last because it sounds like he was worshiping Yahweh (cf. NASB). But it is clear from v. 6 that Yahweh was the subject of the last clause of v. 5 – v. 6 tells how he did it. So if Yahweh is the subject of the first and last clauses of v. 5, it seems simpler that he also be the subject of the second. Moses took his stand there, but God stood by him (B. Jacob, Exodus, 981; U. Cassuto, Exodus, 439). There is no reason to make Moses the subject in any of the verbs of v. 5.

[34:6]  ⁸ tn Here is one of the clearest examples of what it means “to call on the name of the Lord,” as that clause has been translated traditionally (וַיִּקְרָא בְשֵׁם יְהוָה, vayyiqra’ vÿshem yÿhvah). It seems more likely that it means “to make proclamation of Yahweh by name.” Yahweh came down and made a proclamation – and the next verses give the content of what he said. This cannot be prayer or praise; it is a proclamation of the nature or attributes of God (which is what his “name” means throughout the Bible). Attempts to make Moses the subject of the verb are awkward, for the verb is repeated in v. 6 with Yahweh clearly doing the proclaiming.

[34:6]  ⁹ sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 439) suggests that these two names be written as a sentence: “Yahweh, He is Yahweh.” In this manner it reflects “I am that I am.” It is impossible to define his name in any other way than to make this affirmation and then show what it means.

[34:6]  ¹⁰ tn See Exod 33:19.

[34:6]  ¹¹ sn This is literally “long of anger.” His anger prolongs itself, allowing for people to repent before punishment is inflicted.

[34:6]  ¹² sn These two words (“loyal love” and “truth”) are often found together, occasionally in a hendiadys construction. If that is the interpretation here, then it means “faithful covenant love.” Even if they are left separate, they are dual elements of a single quality. The first word is God’s faithful covenant love; the second word is God’s reliability and faithfulness.

[34:7]  ¹³ tn That is, “for thousands of generations.”

[34:7]  ¹⁴ sn As in the ten commandments (20:5-6), this expression shows that the iniquity and its punishment will continue in the family if left unchecked. This does not go on as long as the outcomes for good (thousands versus third or fourth generations), and it is limited to those who hate God.

[1:18]  ¹⁵ sn The Lord concludes his case against Israel by offering them the opportunity to be forgiven and by setting before them the alternatives of renewed blessing (as a reward for repentance) and final judgment (as punishment for persistence in sin).

[1:18]  ¹⁶ tn Traditionally, “let us reason together,” but the context suggests a judicial nuance. The Lord is giving the nation its options for the future.

[1:18]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.

[1:18]  ¹⁸ tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.

[1:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “though your sins are like red, they will become white like snow; though they are red like scarlet, they will be like wool.” The point is not that the sins will be covered up, though still retained. The metaphorical language must be allowed some flexibility and should not be pressed into a rigid literalistic mold. The people’s sins will be removed and replaced by ethical purity. The sins that are now as obvious as the color red will be washed away and the ones who are sinful will be transformed.

[55:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ²² tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ²³ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ²⁴ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

[31:34]  ²⁵ tn Heb “teach…, saying, ‘Know the Lord.’” The indirect quote has been chosen for stylistic reasons, i.e., to better parallel the following line.

[31:34]  sn As mentioned in the translator’s note on 9:3 (9:2 HT) “knowing” God in covenant contexts like this involves more than just an awareness of who he is (9:23 [9:22 HT]). It involves an acknowledgment of his sovereignty and whole hearted commitment to obedience to him. This is perhaps best seen in the parallelisms in Hos 4:1; 6:6 where “the knowledge of God” is parallel with faithfulness and steadfast love and in the context of Hos 4 refers to obedience to the Lord’s commands.

[31:34]  ²⁶ sn This statement should be understood against the background of Jer 8:8-9 where class distinctions were drawn and certain people were considered to have more awareness and responsibility for knowing the law and also Jer 5:1-5 and 9:3-9 where the sinfulness of Israel was seen to be universal across these class distinctions and no trust was to be placed in friends, neighbors, or relatives because all without distinction had cast off God’s yoke (i.e., refused to submit themselves to his authority).

[31:34]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) that introduces this clause refers to more than just the preceding clause (i.e., that all will know the Lord) but to all of vv. 31-34a (See BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.c).

[9:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “to the Lord our God (belong) compassion and forgiveness.”

[7:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Who is a God like you?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!”

[7:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “one who.” The prayer moves from direct address (second person) in v. 18a to a descriptive (third person) style in vv. 18b-19a and then back to direct address (second person) in vv. 19b-20. Due to considerations of English style and the unfamiliarity of the modern reader with alternation of persons in Hebrew poetry, the entire section has been rendered as direct address (second person) in the translation.

[7:18]  ³¹ tn Heb “pass over.”

[7:18]  ³² tn Heb “of the remnant of his inheritance.”

[7:18]  ³³ tn Heb “he does not keep hold of his anger forever.”

[7:19]  ³⁴ tn The verb יָשׁוּב (yashuv, “he will return”) is here used adverbially in relation to the following verb, indicating that the Lord will again show mercy.

[7:19]  ³⁵ tn Some prefer to read יִכְבֹּס (yikhbos, “he will cleanse”; see HALOT 459 s.v. כבס pi). If the MT is taken as it stands, sin is personified as an enemy that the Lord subdues.

[7:19]  ³⁶ tn Heb “their sins,” but the final mem (ם) may be enclitic rather than a pronominal suffix. In this case the suffix from the preceding line (“our”) may be understood as doing double duty.

[7:19]  ³⁷ sn In this metaphor the Lord disposes of Israel’s sins by throwing them into the waters of the sea (here symbolic of chaos).

[7:20]  ³⁸ tn More literally, “You will extend loyalty to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham.

[7:20]  ³⁹ tn Heb “our fathers.” The Hebrew term refers here to more distant ancestors, not immediate parents.

[7:20]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “which you swore [or, “pledged”] to our fathers from days of old.”

[8:1]  ⁴¹ tc The earliest and best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts, as well as a few others (א* B D* F G 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), have no additional words for v. 1. Later scribes (A D¹ Ψ 81 365 629 pc vg) added the words μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν (mh kata sarka peripatousin, “who do not walk according to the flesh”), while even later ones (א² D² 33^vid Ï) added ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα (alla kata pneuma, “but [who do walk] according to the Spirit”). Both the external evidence and the internal evidence are compelling for the shortest reading. The scribes were evidently motivated to add such qualifications (interpolated from v. 4) to insulate Paul’s gospel from charges that it was characterized too much by grace. The KJV follows the longest reading found in Ï.

[8:2]  ⁴² tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

[8:2]  ⁴³ tc Most mss read the first person singular pronoun με (me) here (A D 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa). The second person singular pronoun σε (se) is superior because of external support (א B {F which reads σαι} G 1506* 1739*) and internal support (it is the harder reading since ch. 7 was narrated in the first person). At the same time, it could have arisen via dittography from the final syllable of the verb preceding it (ἠλευθέρωσεν, hleuqerwsen; “has set free”). But for this to happen in such early and diverse witnesses is unlikely, especially as it depends on various scribes repeatedly overlooking either the nu or the nu-bar at the end of the verb.

[1:19]  ⁴⁴ tn The noun “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but since God is the one who reconciles the world to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:19), he is clearly the subject of εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen).

[1:19]  ⁴⁵ tn The Greek article τό (to), insofar as it relates to God, may be translated as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “his.” BDAG 404 s.v. εὐδοκέω 1 translates the phrase as “all the fullness willed to dwell in him” thus leaving the referent as impersonal. Insofar as Paul is alluding to the so-called emanations from God this is acceptable. But the fact that “the fullness” dwells in a person (i.e., “in him”) seems to argue for the translation “his fullness” where “his” refers to God.

[1:19]  ⁴⁶ tn The aorist verb κατοικῆσαι (katoikhsai) could be taken as an ingressive, in which case it refers to the incarnation and may be translated as “begin to dwell, to take up residence.” It is perhaps better, though, to take it as a constative aorist and simply a reference to the fact that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ. This is a permanent dwelling, though, not a temporary one, as the present tense in 2:9 makes clear.

[1:19]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the Son; see v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:7]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “in whom” (the relative clause of v. 7 is subordinate to v. 6). The “him” refers to Christ.

[1:7]  ⁴⁹ sn In this context his blood, the blood of Jesus Christ, refers to the price paid for believers’ redemption, which is the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross.

[1:14]  ⁵⁰ tc διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ (dia tou {aimato" autou, “through his blood”) is read at this juncture by several minuscule mss (614 630 1505 2464 al) as well as a few, mostly secondary, versional and patristic witnesses. But the reading was prompted by the parallel in Eph 1:7 where the wording is solid. If these words had been in the original of Colossians, why would scribes omit them here but not in Eph 1:7? Further, the testimony on behalf of the shorter reading is quite overwhelming: {א A B C D F G Ψ 075 0150 6 33 1739 1881 Ï latt co as well as several other versions and fathers}. The conviction that “through his blood” is not authentic in Col 1:14 is as strong as the conviction that these words are authentic in Eph 1:7.