2 Chronicles 33:11-12

33:11 So the Lord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They seized Manasseh, put hooks in his nose, ¹  bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away to Babylon. 33:12 In his pain ²  Manasseh ³  asked the Lord his God for mercy ⁴  and truly ⁵  humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. ⁶ 

2 Chronicles 33:19

33:19 The Annals of the Prophets include his prayer, give an account of how the Lord responded to it, record all his sins and unfaithful acts, and identify the sites where he built high places and erected Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself. ⁷ 

Proverbs 15:8

15:8 The Lord abhors ⁸  the sacrifices ⁹  of the wicked, ¹⁰ 

but the prayer ¹¹  of the upright pleases him. ¹² 

Acts 9:11

9:11 Then the Lord told him, “Get up and go to the street called ‘Straight,’ ¹³  and at Judas’ house look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying,

Acts 9:1

The Conversion of Saul

9:1 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing out threats ¹⁴  to murder ¹⁵  the Lord’s disciples, went to the high priest

Acts 1:9

1:9 After ¹⁶  he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight.

¹ tn Heb “and they seized him with hooks.”

² tn Or “distress.”

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Manasseh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “appeased the face of the Lord his God.”

⁵ tn Or “greatly.”

⁶ tn Heb “fathers.”

⁷ tn Heb “and his prayer and being entreated by him, and all his sin and his unfaithfulness and the places where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself – behold, they are written on the words of his seers.”

⁸ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.” Cf. NIV “the Lord detests”; NCV, NLT “the Lord hates”; CEV “the Lord is disgusted.”

⁹ tn Heb “sacrifice” (so many English versions).

¹⁰ sn The sacrifices of the wicked are hated by the Lord because the worshipers are insincere and blasphemous (e.g., Prov 15:29; 21:3; 28:9; Ps 40:6-8; Isa 1:10-17). In other words, the spiritual condition of the worshiper determines whether or not the worship is acceptable to God.

¹¹ sn J. H. Greenstone notes that if God will accept the prayers of the upright, he will accept their sacrifices; for sacrifice is an outer ritual and easily performed even by the wicked, but prayer is a private and inward act and not usually fabricated by unbelievers (Proverbs, 162).

¹² tn Heb “[is] his pleasure.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix functions as a subjective genitive: “he is pleased.” God is pleased with the prayers of the upright.

¹³ sn The noting of the detail of the locale, ironically called ‘Straight’ Street, shows how directive and specific the Lord was.

¹⁴ tn Or “Saul, making dire threats.”

¹⁵ tn The expression “breathing out threats and murder” is an idiomatic expression for “making threats to murder” (see L&N 33.293). Although the two terms “threats” and “murder” are syntactically coordinate, the second is semantically subordinate to the first. In other words, the content of the threats is to murder the disciples.

¹⁶ tn Grk “And after.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.