2 Chronicles 7:3

7:3 When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the Lord’s splendor over the temple, they got on their knees with their faces downward toward the pavement. They worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, ¹  “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!”

2 Chronicles 20:21

20:21 He met ²  with the people and appointed musicians to play before the Lord and praise his majestic splendor. As they marched ahead of the warriors they said: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his loyal love endures.” ³ 

2 Chronicles 23:18

23:18 Jehoiada then assigned the duties of the Lord’s temple to the priests, the Levites whom David had assigned to the Lord’s temple. They were responsible for offering burnt sacrifices to the Lord with joy and music, according to ⁴  the law of Moses and the edict of David.

Psalms 136:1

Psalm 136 ⁵ 

136:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his loyal love endures. ⁶ 

Psalms 137:3-4

137:3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs; ⁷ 

those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: ⁸ 

“Sing for us a song about Zion!” ⁹ 

137:4 How can we sing a song to the Lord

in a foreign land?

¹ tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

² tn Or “consulted.”

³ tn Or “is eternal.”

⁴ tn Heb “as it is written in.”

⁵ sn Psalm 136. In this hymn the psalmist affirms that God is praiseworthy because of his enduring loyal love, sovereign authority, and compassion. Each verse of the psalm concludes with the refrain “for his loyal love endures.”

⁶ tn Or “is forever.”

⁷ tn Heb “ask us [for] the words of a song.”

⁸ tn Heb “our [?] joy.” The derivation and meaning of the Hebrew phrase תוֹלָלֵינוּ (tolalenu, “our [?]”) are uncertain. A derivation from תָּלַל (talal, “to mock”) fits contextually, but this root occurs only in the Hiphil stem. For a discussion of various proposals, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 236.

⁹ tn Heb “from a song of Zion.” Most modern translations read, “one of the songs of Zion,” taking the preposition מִן (min, “from”) as partitive and “song” as collective. The present translation assumes the mem (ם) is enclitic, being misunderstood later as the prefixed preposition.