1 Kings 17:4-6

17:4 Drink from the stream; I have already told¹ the ravens to bring you food² there.” 17:5 So he did³ as the Lord told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 17:6 The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream.

Job 5:20

5:20 In time of famine⁴ he will redeem you from death,

and in time of war from the power of the sword.⁵

Psalms 33:18-19

33:18 Look, the Lord takes notice of his loyal followers,⁶

those who wait for him to demonstrate his faithfulness⁷

33:19 by saving their lives from death⁸

and sustaining them during times of famine.⁹

Psalms 34:9-10

34:9 Remain loyal to¹⁰ the Lord, you chosen people of his,¹¹

for his loyal followers¹² lack nothing!

34:10 Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Psalms 37:3

37:3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right!

Settle in the land and maintain your integrity!¹³

Psalms 37:19

37:19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come;¹⁴

when famine comes they will have enough to eat.¹⁵

Proverbs 16:7

16:7 When a person’s¹⁶ ways are pleasing to the Lord,¹⁷

he¹⁸ even reconciles his enemies to himself.¹⁹

Proverbs 21:1

21:1 The king’s heart²⁰ is in the hand²¹ of the Lord like channels of water;²²

he turns it wherever he wants.

Isaiah 33:16

33:16 This is the person who will live in a secure place;²³

he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds;²⁴

he will have food

and a constant supply of water.

Matthew 6:33

6:33 But above all pursue his kingdom²⁵ and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

¹tn Heb “commanded.”

²tn Heb “to provide for you.”

³tn Heb “So he went and did.”

⁴sn Targum Job here sees an allusion to the famine of Egypt and the war with Amalek.

⁵tn Heb “from the hand of the sword.” This is idiomatic for “the power of the sword.” The expression is also metonymical, meaning from the effect of the sword, which is death.

⁶tn Heb “look, the eye of the Lord [is] toward the ones who fear him.” The expression “the eye…[is] toward” here indicates recognition and the bestowing of favor. See Ps 34:15. The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

⁷tn Heb “for the ones who wait for his faithfulness.”

⁸tn Heb “to save from death their live[s].”

⁹tn Heb “and to keep them alive in famine.”

¹⁰tn Heb “fear.”

¹¹tn Heb “O holy ones of his.”

¹²tn Heb “those who fear him.”

¹³tn Heb “tend integrity.” The verb רָעָה (ra’ah, “tend, shepherd”) is probably used here in the sense of “watch over, guard.” The noun אֱמוּנָה (’emunah, “faithfulness, honesty, integrity”) is understood as the direct object of the verb, though it could be taken as an adverbial accusative, “[feed] securely,” if the audience is likened to a flock of sheep.

¹⁴tn Heb “in a time of trouble.”

¹⁵tn Heb “in days of famine they will be satisfied.”

¹⁶tn Heb “ways of a man.”

¹⁷tn The first line uses an infinitive in a temporal clause, followed by its subject in the genitive case: “in the taking pleasure of the Lord” = “when the Lord is pleased with.” So the condition set down for the second colon is a lifestyle that is pleasing to God.

¹⁸tn The referent of the verb in the second colon is unclear. The straightforward answer is that it refers to the person whose ways please the Lord – it is his lifestyle that disarms his enemies. W. McKane comments that the righteous have the power to mend relationships (Proverbs [OTL], 491); see, e.g., 10:13; 14:9; 15:1; 25:21-22). The life that is pleasing to God will be above reproach and find favor with others. Some would interpret this to mean that God makes his enemies to be at peace with him (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). This is workable, but in this passage it would seem God would do this through the pleasing life of the believer (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV).

¹⁹tn Heb “even his enemies he makes to be at peace with him.”

²⁰sn “Heart” is a metonymy of subject; it signifies the ability to make decisions, if not the decisions themselves.

²¹sn “Hand” in this passage is a personification; the word is frequently used idiomatically for “power,” and that is the sense intended here.

²²tn “Channels of water” (פַּלְגֵי, palge) is an adverbial accusative, functioning as a figure of comparison – “like channels of water.” Cf. NAB “Like a stream”; NIV “watercourse”; NRSV, NLT “a stream of water.”

²³tn Heb “he [in the] exalted places will live.”

²⁴tn Heb “mountain strongholds, cliffs [will be] his elevated place.”

²⁵tc ‡ Most mss (L W Θ 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy mae) read τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ (thn basileian tou qeou kai thn dikaiosunhn aujtou, “the kingdom of God and his righteousness”) here, but the words “of God” are lacking in א B pc sa bo Eus. On the one hand, there is the possibility of accidental omission on the part of these Alexandrian witnesses, but it seems unlikely that the scribe’s eye would skip over both words (especially since τοῦ θεοῦ is bracketed by first declension nouns). Intrinsically, the author generally has a genitive modifier with βασιλεία – especially θεοῦ or οὐρανῶν (ouranwn) – but this argument cuts both ways: Although he might be expected to use such an adjunct here, scribes might also be familiar with his practice and would thus naturally insert it if it were missing in their copy of Matthew. Although a decision is difficult, the omission of τοῦ θεοῦ is considered most likely to be original. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.