Exodus 6:5

6:5 I ¹  have also heard ²  the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, ³  and I have remembered my covenant. ⁴ 

Jude 1:18

1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ⁵  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ⁶ 

Nehemiah 9:27-28

9:27 Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who oppressed them. But in the time of their distress they called to you, and you heard from heaven. In your abundant compassion you provided them with deliverers to rescue them from ⁷  their adversaries.

9:28 “Then, when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to ⁸  their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. When they again cried out to you, in your compassion you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again.

Psalms 22:5

22:5 To you they cried out, and they were saved;

in you they trusted and they were not disappointed. ⁹ 

Psalms 22:24

22:24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering ¹⁰  of the oppressed; ¹¹ 

he did not ignore him; ¹² 

when he cried out to him, he responded. ¹³ 

Psalms 79:11

79:11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners! ¹⁴ 

Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die! ¹⁵ 

Psalms 102:20

102:20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,

and to set free those condemned to die, ¹⁶ 

Psalms 138:3

138:3 When ¹⁷  I cried out for help, you answered me.

You made me bold and energized me. ¹⁸ 

¹ tn The addition of the independent pronoun אֲנִי (’ani, “I”) emphasizes the fact that it was Yahweh himself who heard the cry.

² tn Heb “And also I have heard.”

³ tn The form is the Hiphil participle מַעֲבִדִים (ma’avidim, “causing to serve”). The participle occurs in a relative clause that modifies “the Israelites.” The clause ends with the accusative “them,” which must be combined with the relative pronoun for a smooth English translation. So “who the Egyptians are enslaving them,” results in the translation “whom the Egyptians are enslaving.”

⁴ tn As in Exod 2:24, this remembering has the significance of God’s beginning to act to fulfill the covenant promises.

⁵ tn Grk “be.”

⁶ tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”

⁷ tn Heb “from the hand of” (so NASB, NIV); NAB “from the power of.”

⁸ tn Heb “in the hand of” (so KJV, ASV); NAB “to the power of.”

⁹ tn Or “were not ashamed.”

¹⁰ tn Or “affliction”; or “need.”

¹¹ sn In this verse the psalmist refers to himself in the third person and characterizes himself as oppressed.

¹² 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).

¹³ tn Heb “heard.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “may the painful cry of the prisoner come before you.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “according to the greatness of your arm leave the sons of death.” God’s “arm” here symbolizes his strength to deliver. The verbal form הוֹתֵר (hoter) is a Hiphil imperative from יָתַר (yatar, “to remain; to be left over”). Here it must mean “to leave over; to preserve.” However, it is preferable to emend the form to הַתֵּר (hatter), a Hiphil imperative from נָתַר (natar, “be free”). The Hiphil form is used in Ps 105:20 of Pharaoh freeing Joseph from prison. The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 102:21) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.

¹⁶ tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.

¹⁷ tn Heb “in the day.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “you made me bold in my soul [with] strength.”