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The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday July 29, 2023 (NIV)

2 Chronicles 24-25

Joash’s Reign

24 Joash was seven years old when he began to reign. He reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother[a] was Zibiah, who was from Beer Sheba. 2 Joash did what the Lord approved[b] throughout the lifetime[c] of Jehoiada the priest. 3 Jehoiada chose two wives for him who gave him sons and daughters.

4 Later, Joash was determined to repair the Lord’s temple.[d] 5 He assembled the priests and Levites and ordered them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect the annual quota of silver from all Israel for repairs on the temple of your God. Be quick about it!” But the Levites delayed.

6 So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest,[e] and said to him, “Why have you not made[f] the Levites collect[g] from Judah and Jerusalem the tax authorized by Moses the Lord’s servant and by the assembly of Israel at the tent containing the tablets of the law?”[h] 7 (Wicked Athaliah and her sons had broken into God’s temple and used all the holy items of the Lord’s temple in their worship of the Baals.) 8 The king ordered a chest to be made and placed outside the gate of the Lord’s temple.[i] 9 An edict was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem requiring the people to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses, God’s servant, imposed on Israel in the wilderness.[j] 10 All the officials and all the people gladly brought their silver and threw it into the chest until it was full. 11 Whenever the Levites brought the chest to the royal accountant and they saw there was a lot of silver, the royal scribe and the accountant of the high priest emptied the chest and then took it back to its place. They went through this routine every day and collected a large amount of silver.

12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to the construction foremen[k] assigned to the Lord’s temple. They hired carpenters and craftsmen to repair the Lord’s temple, as well as those skilled in working with iron and bronze to restore the Lord’s temple. 13 They worked hard and made the repairs.[l] They followed the measurements specified for God’s temple and restored it.[m] 14 When they were finished, they brought the rest of the silver to the king and Jehoiada. They used it to make items for the Lord’s temple, including items used in the temple service and for burnt sacrifices, pans, and various other gold and silver items. Throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime, burnt sacrifices were offered regularly in the Lord’s temple.

15 Jehoiada grew old and died at the age of 130. 16 He was buried in the City of David[n] with the kings, because he had accomplished good in Israel and for God and his temple.

17 After Jehoiada died, the officials of Judah visited the king and declared their loyalty to him.[o] The king listened to their advice.[p] 18 They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors[q] and worshiped[r] the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem. 19 The Lord sent prophets among them to lead them back to him.[s] They warned[t] the people, but they would not pay attention. 20 God’s Spirit energized[u] Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why are you violating the commands of the Lord? You will not be prosperous. Because you have rejected the Lord, he has rejected you!’” 21 They plotted against him and by royal decree stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. 22 King Joash disregarded[v] the loyalty Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him and killed Jehoiada’s[w] son. As Zechariah[x] was dying, he said, “May the Lord take notice and seek vengeance!”[y]

23 At the beginning[z] of the year the Syrian army attacked[aa] Joash[ab] and invaded Judah and Jerusalem. They wiped out all the leaders of the people and sent all the plunder they gathered to the king of Damascus. 24 Even though the invading Syrian army was relatively weak, the Lord handed over to them Judah’s very large army,[ac] for the people of Judah[ad] had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. The Syrians[ae] gave Joash what he deserved.[af] 25 When they withdrew, they left Joash[ag] badly wounded. His servants plotted against him because of what he had done to[ah] the son[ai] of Jehoiada the priest. They murdered him on his bed. Thus[aj] he died and was buried in the City of David,[ak] but not in the tombs of the kings. 26 The conspirators were Zabad son of Shimeath (an Ammonite woman) and Jehozabad son of Shimrith (a Moabite woman).

27 The list of Joash’s[al] sons, the many prophetic oracles about him, and the account of his building project on God’s temple are included in the record of the Scroll of the Kings.[am] His son Amaziah replaced him as king.

Amaziah’s Reign

25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother[an] was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem. 2 He did what the Lord approved,[ao] but not with wholehearted devotion.[ap]

3 When he had secured control of the kingdom,[aq] he executed the servants who had assassinated his father the king. 4 However, he did not execute their sons. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses,[ar] “Fathers must not be executed for what their sons do,[as] and sons must not be executed for what their fathers do.[at] A man must be executed only for his own sin.”[au]

5 Amaziah assembled the people of Judah[av] and assigned them by families to the commanders of units of 1,000 and the commanders of units of 100 for all Judah and Benjamin. He counted those twenty years old and up and discovered there were 300,000 young men of fighting age[aw] equipped with spears and shields.[ax] 6 He hired 100,000 Israelite warriors for 100 talents[ay] of silver.

7 But a prophet[az] visited him and said: “O king, the Israelite troops must not go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel or any of the Ephraimites.[ba] 8 Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will defeat you[bb] before the enemy. God is capable of helping or defeating.”[bc] 9 Amaziah asked the prophet:[bd] “But what should I do about the 100 talents of silver I paid the Israelite troops?” The prophet[be] replied, “The Lord is capable of giving you more than that.” 10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home.[bf] They were very angry at Judah and returned home incensed. 11 Amaziah boldly led his army to the Valley of Salt,[bg] where he defeated[bh] 10,000 Edomites.[bi] 12 The men[bj] of Judah captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them over.[bk] All the captives[bl] fell to their death.[bm] 13 Now the troops Amaziah had dismissed and had not allowed to fight in the battle[bn] raided[bo] the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed[bp] 3,000 people and carried off a large amount of plunder.

14 When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people[bq] of Seir and made them his personal gods.[br] He bowed down before them and offered them sacrifices. 15 The Lord was angry at Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why are you following[bs] these gods[bt] that could not deliver their own people from your power?”[bu] 16 While he was speaking, Amaziah[bv] said to him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop prophesying or else you will be killed!”[bw] So the prophet stopped, but added, “I know that God has decided[bx] to destroy you, because you have done this thing and refused to listen to my advice.”

17 After King Amaziah of Judah consulted with his advisers,[by] he sent this message to the king of Israel, Joash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, “Come, face me on the battlefield.”[bz] 18 King Joash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thorn bush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn bush.[ca] 19 You defeated Edom[cb] and it has gone to your head.[cc] Gloat over your success,[cd] but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?”[ce]

20 But Amaziah did not heed the warning,[cf] for God wanted to hand them over to Joash because they followed the gods of Edom.[cg] 21 So King Joash of Israel attacked. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced each other on the battlefield[ch] in Beth Shemesh of Judah. 22 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home.[ci] 23 King Joash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Joash son of Jehoahaz, in Beth Shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem. He broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—a distance of about 600 feet.[cj] 24 He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in God’s temple that were in the care of Obed-Edom, the riches in the royal palace, and some hostages. Then he went back to Samaria.

25 King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Joash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. 26 The rest of the events of Amaziah’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.[ck] 27 From the time Amaziah turned from following the Lord, conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem,[cl] so he fled to Lachish. But they sent assassins after him[cm] and they killed him there. 28 His body was carried back by horses,[cn] and he was buried with his ancestors[co] in the City of David.[cp]

Footnotes:

  1. 2 Chronicles 24:1 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
  2. 2 Chronicles 24:2 tn Heb “and Joash did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 24:2 tn Heb “all the days of.”
  4. 2 Chronicles 24:4 tn Heb “and it was, later, there was with the heart of Joash to repair the house of the Lord.”
  5. 2 Chronicles 24:6 tn Heb “Jehoiada the head”; the word “priest” not in the Hebrew text but is implied.
  6. 2 Chronicles 24:6 tn Heb “demanded of.”
  7. 2 Chronicles 24:6 tn Heb “to bring.”
  8. 2 Chronicles 24:6 tn Heb “the tent of testimony.”
  9. 2 Chronicles 24:8 tn Heb “and the king said [it] and they made a chest and placed it in the gate of the house of the Lord outside.”
  10. 2 Chronicles 24:9 tn Heb “and they gave voice in Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord the tax of Moses the servant of God upon Israel in the wilderness.”
  11. 2 Chronicles 24:12 tn Heb “doers of the work.”
  12. 2 Chronicles 24:13 tn Heb “and the doers of the work worked, and the repairs went up for the work by their hand.”
  13. 2 Chronicles 24:13 tn Heb “and they caused the house of God to stand according to its measurements and they strengthened it.”
  14. 2 Chronicles 24:16 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
  15. 2 Chronicles 24:17 tn Heb “came and bowed down to the king.”
  16. 2 Chronicles 24:17 tn Heb “to them.”
  17. 2 Chronicles 24:18 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 24).
  18. 2 Chronicles 24:18 tn Heb “served.”
  19. 2 Chronicles 24:19 tn Heb “and he sent among them prophets to bring them back to the Lord.”
  20. 2 Chronicles 24:19 tn Heb “testified among.”
  21. 2 Chronicles 24:20 tn Heb “clothed.”
  22. 2 Chronicles 24:22 tn Heb “did not remember.”
  23. 2 Chronicles 24:22 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Jehoiada) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  24. 2 Chronicles 24:22 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Zechariah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  25. 2 Chronicles 24:22 tn Heb “and seek [—].” The direct object of “seek” is omitted in the Hebrew text but implied; “vengeance” is supplied for clarification.
  26. 2 Chronicles 24:23 tn Heb “turning.”
  27. 2 Chronicles 24:23 tn Heb “went up against.”
  28. 2 Chronicles 24:23 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joash) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  29. 2 Chronicles 24:24 tn Heb “though with a small amount of men the army of Aram came, the Lord gave into their hand an army [that was] very large.”
  30. 2 Chronicles 24:24 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  31. 2 Chronicles 24:24 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Syrians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  32. 2 Chronicles 24:24 tn Heb “executed judgments on Joash.”
  33. 2 Chronicles 24:25 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joash) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  34. 2 Chronicles 24:25 tn Heb “because of the shed blood of.”
  35. 2 Chronicles 24:25 tc The MT has the plural בְּנֵי (bene, “sons”), but the final yod is dittographic. Note the yod that immediately follows.
  36. 2 Chronicles 24:25 tn Heb “and he died.”
  37. 2 Chronicles 24:25 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
  38. 2 Chronicles 24:27 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joash) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  39. 2 Chronicles 24:27 tn Heb “and the founding of the house of God, look, they are written on the writing of the scroll of the kings?”
  40. 2 Chronicles 25:1 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
  41. 2 Chronicles 25:2 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord.”
  42. 2 Chronicles 25:2 tn Heb “a complete heart.”
  43. 2 Chronicles 25:3 tn Heb “when the kingdom was secure upon him.”
  44. 2 Chronicles 25:4 tn Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which the Lord commanded, saying.”
  45. 2 Chronicles 25:4 tn Heb “on account of sons.”
  46. 2 Chronicles 25:4 tn Heb “on account of fathers.”
  47. 2 Chronicles 25:4 sn This law is recorded in Deut 24:16.
  48. 2 Chronicles 25:5 tn Heb “Judah.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy here for the people of Judah.
  49. 2 Chronicles 25:5 tn Heb “young men going out to war.”
  50. 2 Chronicles 25:5 tn Heb “holding a spear and a shield.”
  51. 2 Chronicles 25:6 tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the silver was 6,730 lbs. (3,060 kg).
  52. 2 Chronicles 25:7 tn Heb “man of God.”
  53. 2 Chronicles 25:7 tn Heb “Israel, all the sons of Ephraim.”
  54. 2 Chronicles 25:8 tn Heb “cause you to stumble.”
  55. 2 Chronicles 25:8 tn Heb “to cause to stumble.”
  56. 2 Chronicles 25:9 tn Heb “said to the man of God.”
  57. 2 Chronicles 25:9 tn Heb “man of God.”
  58. 2 Chronicles 25:10 tn Heb “and Amaziah separated them, the troops who came to him from Ephraim, to go to their place.”
  59. 2 Chronicles 25:11 tn Heb “and Amaziah strengthened himself and led his people and went to the Valley of Salt.”
  60. 2 Chronicles 25:11 tn Or “struck down.”
  61. 2 Chronicles 25:11 tn Heb “sons of Seir.”
  62. 2 Chronicles 25:12 tn Heb “sons.”
  63. 2 Chronicles 25:12 tn Heb “and threw them from the top of the cliff.”
  64. 2 Chronicles 25:12 tn Heb “all of them.”
  65. 2 Chronicles 25:12 tn Heb “smashed in pieces.”
  66. 2 Chronicles 25:13 tn Heb “had sent back from going with him to the battle.”
  67. 2 Chronicles 25:13 tn Heb “stripped.”
  68. 2 Chronicles 25:13 tn Heb “struck down.”
  69. 2 Chronicles 25:14 tn Heb “sons.”
  70. 2 Chronicles 25:14 tn Heb “caused them to stand for him as gods.”
  71. 2 Chronicles 25:15 tn Heb “seeking,” perhaps in the sense of “consulting [an oracle from].”
  72. 2 Chronicles 25:15 tn Heb “the gods of the people.”
  73. 2 Chronicles 25:15 tn Heb “hand.”
  74. 2 Chronicles 25:16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  75. 2 Chronicles 25:16 tn Heb “Stop yourself! Why should they strike you down?”
  76. 2 Chronicles 25:16 tn The verb יָעַץ (yaʿats, “has decided”) is from the same root as יוֹעֵץ (yoʿets, “counselor”) in v. 16 and עֵצָה (ʿetsah, “advice”) later in v. 16. The wordplay highlights the appropriate nature of the divine punishment. Amaziah rejected the counsel of God’s prophet; now he would be the victim of God’s “counsel.”
  77. 2 Chronicles 25:17 tn The words “with his advisers” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  78. 2 Chronicles 25:17 tn Heb “let us look at each other [in the] face.” The expression refers here not to a visit but to meeting in battle. See v. 21.
  79. 2 Chronicles 25:18 sn The thorn bush in the allegory is Judah. Amaziah’s success had deceived him into thinking he was on the same level as the major powers in the area (symbolized by the cedar). In reality he was not capable of withstanding an attack by a real military power such as Israel (symbolized by the wild animal).
  80. 2 Chronicles 25:19 tn Heb “you say [to yourself], ‘look, you have defeated Edom.’”
  81. 2 Chronicles 25:19 tn Heb “and your heart is lifted up.”
  82. 2 Chronicles 25:19 tn Heb “to glorify.”
  83. 2 Chronicles 25:19 tn Heb “Why get involved in calamity and fall, you and Judah with you?”
  84. 2 Chronicles 25:20 tn Heb “did not listen.”
  85. 2 Chronicles 25:20 tn Heb “because it was from God in order to give them into the hand because they sought the gods of Edom.”
  86. 2 Chronicles 25:21 tn Heb “looked at each other [in the] face.” See the note on the expression “Come on, face me on the battlefield” in v. 17.
  87. 2 Chronicles 25:22 tn Heb “and Judah was struck down before Israel and they fled, each to his tent.”
  88. 2 Chronicles 25:23 tn Heb “400 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the distance would have been about 600 feet (180 m).
  89. 2 Chronicles 25:26 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Amaziah, the former and the latter, are they not—behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel.”
  90. 2 Chronicles 25:27 tn Heb “and they conspired against him [with] a conspiracy in Jerusalem.”
  91. 2 Chronicles 25:27 tn Heb “and they sent after him to Lachish.”
  92. 2 Chronicles 25:28 tn Heb “and they carried him on horses.”
  93. 2 Chronicles 25:28 tn Heb “fathers.”
  94. 2 Chronicles 25:28 tc The Hebrew text has “Judah,” but some medieval mss read “David,” as does the parallel passage in 2 Kgs 14:20.sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Romans 12

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God[b]—which is your reasonable service. 2 Do not be conformed[c] to this present world,[d] but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve[e] what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Conduct in Humility

3 For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you[f] a measure of faith.[g] 4 For just as in one body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function, 5 so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another. 6 And we have different gifts[h] according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith.[i] 7 If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; 8 if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness.

Conduct in Love

9 Love must be[j] without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.[k] Do not be conceited.[l] 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people.[m] 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people.[n] 19 Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath,[o] for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,”[p] says the Lord. 20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head.[q] 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Footnotes:

  1. Romans 12:1 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
  2. Romans 12:1 tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.sn Taken as predicate adjectives, the terms alive, holy, and pleasing are showing how unusual is the sacrifice that believers can now offer, for OT sacrifices were dead. As has often been quipped about this text, “The problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar.”
  3. Romans 12:2 tn Although συσχηματίζεσθε (suschēmatizesthe) could be either a passive or middle, the passive is more likely since it would otherwise have to be a direct middle (“conform yourselves”) and, as such, would be quite rare for NT Greek. It is very telling that being “conformed” to the present world is viewed as a passive notion, for it may suggest that it happens, in part, subconsciously. At the same time, the passive could well be a “permissive passive,” suggesting that there may be some consciousness of the conformity taking place. Most likely, it is a combination of both.
  4. Romans 12:2 tn Grk “to this age.”
  5. Romans 12:2 sn The verb translated test and approve (δοκιμάζω, dokimazō) carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.”
  6. Romans 12:3 tn The words “of you” have been supplied for clarity.
  7. Romans 12:3 tn Or “to each as God has distributed a measure of faith.”
  8. Romans 12:6 tn This word comes from the same root as “grace” in the following clause; it means “things graciously given,” “grace-gifts.”
  9. Romans 12:6 tn The last part of this verse has no verb; either an indicative or imperative is implied. Most likely an imperative is intended because of the general tenor of this section of the epistle as exhortation and because of the particular flow of this verse, which seems to imply how to use spiritual gifts.
  10. Romans 12:9 tn The verb “must be” is understood in the Greek text.
  11. Romans 12:16 tn Or “but give yourselves to menial tasks.” The translation depends on whether one takes the adjective “lowly” as masculine or neuter.
  12. Romans 12:16 tn Grk “Do not be wise in your thinking.”
  13. Romans 12:17 tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.
  14. Romans 12:18 tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.
  15. Romans 12:19 tn Grk “the wrath,” referring to God’s wrath as the remainder of the verse shows.
  16. Romans 12:19 sn A quotation from Deut 32:35.
  17. Romans 12:20 sn A quotation from Prov 25:21-22.
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Psalm 22:19-31

19 But you, O Lord, do not remain far away.
You are my source of strength.[a] Hurry and help me![b]
20 Deliver me[c] from the sword.
Save[d] my life[e] from the claws[f] of the wild dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lion,[g]
and from the horns of the wild oxen.[h]
You have answered me.[i]
22 I will declare your name to my countrymen.[j]
In the middle of the assembly I will praise you.
23 You loyal followers of the Lord,[k] praise him.
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him.
All you descendants of Israel, stand in awe of him.[l]
24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering[m] of the oppressed.[n]
He did not ignore him;[o]
when he cried out to him, he responded.[p]
25 You are the reason I offer praise[q] in the great assembly;
I will fulfill my promises before the Lord’s loyal followers.[r]
26 Let the oppressed eat and be filled.[s]
Let those who seek his help praise the Lord.
May you[t] live forever!
27 Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him.[u]
Let all the nations[v] worship you.[w]
28 For the Lord is king[x]
and rules over the nations.
29 All the thriving people[y] of the earth will join the celebration and worship;[z]
all those who are descending into the grave[aa] will bow before him,
including those who cannot preserve their lives.[ab]
30 A whole generation[ac] will serve him;
they will tell the next generation about the Lord.[ad]
31 They will come and tell about his saving deeds;[ae]
they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished.[af]

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 22:19 tn Heb “O my strength.”
  2. Psalm 22:19 tn Heb “hurry to my help.”
  3. Psalm 22:20 tn Or “my life.”
  4. Psalm 22:20 tn The verb “save” is supplied in the translation; it is understood by ellipsis (see “deliver” in the preceding line).
  5. Psalm 22:20 tn Heb “my only one.” The psalmist may mean that his life is precious, or that he feels isolated and alone.
  6. Psalm 22:20 tn Heb “from the hand.” Here “hand” is understood by metonymy as a reference to the “paw” and thus the “claws” of the wild dogs.
  7. Psalm 22:21 sn The psalmist again compares his enemies to vicious dogs and ferocious lions (see vv. 13, 16).
  8. Psalm 22:21 tn The Hebrew term רֵמִים (remim) appears to be an alternate spelling of רְאֵמִים (reʾemim, “wild oxen”; see BDB 910 s.v. רְאֵם).
  9. Psalm 22:21 tn Heb “and from the horns of the wild oxen you answer me.” Most take the final verb with the preceding prepositional phrase. Some understand the verb form as a relatively rare precative perfect, expressing a wish or request (see IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew. (See the discussion at Ps 3:7.) Others prefer to take the perfect in its usual indicative sense. The psalmist, perhaps in response to an oracle of salvation, affirms confidently that God has answered him, assuring him that deliverance is on the way. The present translation takes the prepositional phrase as parallel to the preceding “from the mouth of the lion” and as collocated with the verb “rescue” at the beginning of the verse. “You have answered me” is understood as a triumphant shout which marks a sudden shift in tone and introduces the next major section of the psalm. By isolating the statement syntactically, the psalmist highlights the declaration.
  10. Psalm 22:22 tn Or “brothers,” but here the term does not carry a literal familial sense. It refers to the psalmist’s fellow members of the Israelite covenant community (see v. 23).
  11. Psalm 22:23 tn Heb “[you] fearers of the Lord.” See Ps 15:4.
  12. Psalm 22:23 tn Heb “fear him.”
  13. Psalm 22:24 tn Or “affliction”; or “need.”
  14. Psalm 22:24 sn In this verse the psalmist refers to himself in the third person and characterizes himself as oppressed.
  15. Psalm 22:24 tn Heb “he did not hide his face from him.” For other uses of the idiom “hide the face” meaning “ignore,” see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9. Sometimes the idiom carries the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 27:9; 88:14).
  16. Psalm 22:24 tn Heb “heard.”
  17. Psalm 22:25 tn Heb “from with you [is] my praise.”
  18. Psalm 22:25 tn Heb “my vows I will fulfill before those who fear him.” When asking the Lord for help, the psalmists would typically promise to praise the Lord publicly if he intervened and delivered them.
  19. Psalm 22:26 sn Eat and be filled. In addition to praising the Lord, the psalmist also offers a thank offering to the Lord and invites others to share in a communal meal.
  20. Psalm 22:26 tn Heb “may your heart[s].”
  21. Psalm 22:27 tn Heb “may all the ends of the earth remember and turn to the Lord.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27 are understood as jussives (cf. NEB). Another option (cf. NIV, NRSV) is to take the forms as imperfects and translate, “all the people of the earth will acknowledge and turn…and worship.” See vv. 29-32.
  22. Psalm 22:27 tn Heb “families of the nations.”
  23. Psalm 22:27 tn Heb “before you.”
  24. Psalm 22:28 tn Heb “for to the Lord [is] dominion.”
  25. Psalm 22:29 tn Heb “fat [ones].” This apparently refers to those who are healthy and robust, i.e., thriving. In light of the parallelism, some prefer to emend the form to יְשֵׁנֵי (yeshene, “those who sleep [in the earth]”; cf. NAB, NRSV), but דִּשְׁנֵי (dishne, “fat [ones]”) seems to form a merism with “all who descend into the grave” in the following line. The psalmist envisions all people, whether healthy or dying, joining in worship of the Lord.
  26. Psalm 22:29 tn Heb “eat and worship.” The verb forms (a perfect followed by a prefixed form with vav [ו] consecutive) are normally used in narrative to relate completed actions. Here the psalmist uses the forms rhetorically as he envisions a time when the Lord will receive universal worship. The mood is one of wishful thinking and anticipation; this is not prophecy in the strict sense.
  27. Psalm 22:29 tn Heb “all of the ones going down [into] the dust.” This group stands in contrast to those mentioned in the previous line. Together the two form a merism encompassing all human beings—the healthy, the dying, and everyone in between.
  28. Psalm 22:29 tn Heb “and his life he does not revive.”
  29. Psalm 22:30 tn Heb “offspring.”
  30. Psalm 22:30 tn Heb “it will be told concerning the Lord to the generation.” The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
  31. Psalm 22:31 tn Heb “his righteousness.” Here the noun צִדָקָה (tsidaqah) refers to the Lord’s saving deeds whereby he vindicates the oppressed.
  32. Psalm 22:31 tn Heb “to a people [to be] born that he has acted.” The words “they will tell” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
New English Translation (NET)

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Proverbs 20:8-10

8 A king sitting on the throne to judge[a]
separates out[b] all evil with his eyes.[c]
9 Who can say,[d] “I have kept my heart[e] clean;[f]
I am pure[g] from my sin”?
10 Diverse weights and diverse measures[h]—
the Lord abhors[i] both of them.

Footnotes:

  1. Proverbs 20:8 tn The infinitive construct דִּין (din, “to judge”) indicates purpose (so NIV, NCV), even though it does not have a preposition with it.
  2. Proverbs 20:8 tn The second line uses the image of winnowing (cf. NIV, NRSV) to state that the king’s judgment removes evil from the realm. The verb form is מְזָרֶה (mezareh), the Piel participle. It has been translated “to sift; to winnow; to scatter” and “to separate”—i.e., separate out evil from the land. The text is saying that a just government roots out evil (cf. NAB “dispels all evil”), but few governments have been consistently just.
  3. Proverbs 20:8 sn The phrase with his eyes indicates that the king will closely examine or look into all the cases that come before him.
  4. Proverbs 20:9 sn The verse is a rhetorical question; it is affirming that no one can say this because no one is pure and free of sin.
  5. Proverbs 20:9 tn The noun לֵב (lev) commonly translated “heart” includes the “mind” and embraces both motives and thoughts.
  6. Proverbs 20:9 tn In the Qal this verb, זָכָה (zakhah), means to be (morally) “clean; pure.” Here in the Piel it is factitive to “make clean” (so NRSV) or “keep clean” (so NIV). This verb only appears 8 times in the Bible, but this phrase “to cleanse the heart/mind” also occurs in Ps 73:13, where Asaph despairs of having cleansed his heart (or kept it clean). Ps 119:9 remarks that one can keep your path clean by carefully observing God’s word. And Isa 1:16 advises cleansing oneself by putting away and ceasing to do evil. In an ultimate sense, no one has kept a clean heart in every regard. However these other passages suggest that one can repent in order to cleanse the heart and attend to God’s word to keep it clean. The question thus points out the inherent lack of purity and poses the obligation to take steps to safeguard purity. In other words, since my heart is not (natively) pure, what do I need to do to keep it pure (as in being true to God not in a sense of works adding up to purity)?
  7. Proverbs 20:9 sn The Hebrew verb (טָהֵר, taher) means to “be clean; pure” and may refer to physical cleanliness or the absence of disease, mildew, infectants, or blemishes. As a Levitical term it normally refers to cleanness from infectants or religious ceremonial cleanness (though often the two are related). The term is applied morally (specifically “clean from sin” as in this verse) in Lev 16:30 as part of the Day of Atonement. After the High Priest confesses the sins of the people and makes the sacrifice on their behalf, the people are considered “clean.” So on the one hand, the question sounds rhetorical—no one can claim to be pure on their own merit. On the other hand, the cultic answer would be those who have confessed sin and offered a sacrifice are cleansed.
  8. Proverbs 20:10 tn The construction simply uses repetition to express different kinds of weights and measures: “a stone and a stone, an ephah and an ephah.”
  9. Proverbs 20:10 tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The phrase features a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.” sn Behind this proverb is the image of the dishonest merchant who has different sets of weights and measures which are used to cheat customers. The Lord hates dishonesty in business transactions.
New English Translation (NET)

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