Deuteronomy 5:29

5:29 If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever.

Psalms 81:13

81:13 If only my people would obey me!

If only Israel would keep my commands!

Psalms 107:15

107:15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,

and for the amazing things he has done for people!

Psalms 107:43

107:43 Whoever is wise, let him take note of these things!

Let them consider the Lord’s acts of loyal love!

Isaiah 48:18-19

48:18 If only you had obeyed my commandments,

prosperity would have flowed to you like a river,

deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea.

48:19 Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand,

and your children like its granules.

Their name would not have been cut off

and eliminated from my presence. 10 

Hosea 14:9

Concluding Exhortation

14:9 Who is wise?

Let him discern 11  these things!

Who is discerning?

Let him understand them!

For the ways of the Lord are right;

the godly walk in them,

but in them the rebellious stumble.

Luke 19:41-42

Jesus Weeps for Jerusalem under Judgment

19:41 Now 12  when Jesus 13  approached 14  and saw the city, he wept over it, 19:42 saying, “If you had only known on this day, 15  even you, the things that make for peace! 16  But now they are hidden 17  from your eyes.


tn Heb “keep” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

tn Heb “if only my people were listening to me.” The Hebrew particle לוּ (lu, “if not”) introduces a purely hypothetical or contrary to fact condition (see 2 Sam 18:12).

tn Heb “[and if only] Israel would walk in my ways.”

tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.

tn Heb “paid attention to” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “had listened to.”

tn Heb “like a river your peace would have been.” שָׁלוֹם (shalom) probably refers here to the peace and prosperity which God promised in return for obedience to the covenant.

tn Heb “and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) probably refers here to divine deliverance from enemies. See v. 19.

tn Heb “like sand”; NCV “as many as the grains of sand.”

tn Heb “and the issue from your inner parts.”

10 tn Heb “and his name would not be cut off and would not be destroyed from before me.”

11 tn The shortened form of the prefix-conjugation verb וְיָבֵן (vÿyaven) indicates that it is a jussive rather than an imperfect. When a jussive comes from a superior to an inferior, it may connote exhortation and instruction or advice and counsel. For the functions of the jussive, see IBHS 568-70 §34.3.

12 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

13 tn Grk “he.”

14 sn When Jesus approached and saw the city. This is the last travel note in Luke’s account (the so-called Jerusalem journey), as Jesus approached and saw the city before entering it.

15 sn On this day. They had missed the time of Messiah’s coming; see v. 44.

16 tn Grk “the things toward peace.” This expression seems to mean “the things that would ‘lead to,’ ‘bring about,’ or ‘make for’ peace.”

17 sn But now they are hidden from your eyes. This becomes an oracle of doom in the classic OT sense; see Luke 13:31-35; 11:49-51; Jer 9:2; 13:7; 14:7. They are now blind and under judgment (Jer 15:5; Ps 122:6).