115:13 He will bless his loyal followers, 4
both young and old. 5
66:2 My hand made them; 6
that is how they came to be,” 7 says the Lord.
I show special favor 8 to the humble and contrite,
who respect what I have to say. 9
3:16 Then those who respected 10 the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. 11 A scroll 12 was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name.
1 tn Heb “cut.”
2 tn The MT vocalizes this word as a plural, which could be understood as a reference to God. But the context seems to suggest that a human lord is intended. The apparatus of BHS suggests repointing the word as a singular (“my lord”), but this is unnecessary. The plural (“my lords”) can be understood in an honorific sense even when a human being is in view. Most English versions regard this as a reference to Ezra, so the present translation supplies “your” before “counsel” to make this clear.
3 tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”
4 tn Heb “the fearers of the
5 tn Heb “the small along with the great.” The translation assumes that “small” and “great” here refer to age (see 2 Chr 15:13). Another option is to translate “both the insignificant and the prominent” (see Job 3:19; cf. NEB “high and low alike”).
6 tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.
7 tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”
8 tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).
9 tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”
10 tn Or “fear” (so NAB); NRSV “revered”; NCV “honored.”
11 tn Heb “heard and listened”; NAB “listened attentively.”
12 sn The scroll mentioned here is a “memory book” (סֵפֶר זִכָּרוֹן, sefer zikkaron) in which the