Isaiah 66:5

66:5 Hear the word of the Lord,

you who respect what he has to say! ¹ 

Your countrymen, ²  who hate you

and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name,

say, “May the Lord be glorified,

then we will witness your joy.” ³ 

But they will be put to shame.

Ezra 9:4

9:4 Everyone who held the words of the God of Israel in awe ⁴  gathered around me because of the unfaithful acts of the people of the exile. ⁵  Devastated, I continued to sit there until the evening offering.

Ezra 10:3

10:3 Therefore let us enact ⁶  a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, ⁷  and that of those who respect ⁸  the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.

Psalms 119:120

119:120 My body ⁹  trembles ¹⁰  because I fear you; ¹¹ 

I am afraid of your judgments.

Psalms 119:161

שׂ/שׁ (Sin/Shin)

119:161 Rulers pursue me for no reason,

yet I am more afraid of disobeying your instructions. ¹² 

Proverbs 28:14

28:14 Blessed is the one who is always cautious, ¹³ 

but whoever hardens his heart ¹⁴  will fall into evil.

Habakkuk 3:16

Habakkuk Declares His Confidence

3:16 I listened and my stomach churned; ¹⁵ 

the sound made my lips quiver.

My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying, ¹⁶ 

and I shook as I tried to walk. ¹⁷ 

I long ¹⁸  for the day of distress

to come upon ¹⁹  the people who attack us.

Acts 9:6

9:6 But stand up ²⁰  and enter the city and you will be told ²¹  what you must do.”

Acts 16:29-30

16:29 Calling for lights, the jailer ²²  rushed in and fell down ²³  trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. 16:30 Then he brought them outside ²⁴  and asked, “Sirs, what must ²⁵  I do to be saved?”

Philippians 2:12

Lights in the World

2:12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, ²⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “who tremble at his word.”

² tn Heb “brothers” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “Your own people”; NLT “Your close relatives.”

³ tn Or “so that we might witness your joy.” The point of this statement is unclear.

⁴ tn Heb “who trembled at the words of the God of Israel.”

⁵ tn Heb “the exile”; the words “the people” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “cut.”

⁸ 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.

⁹ tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “my flesh.”

¹¹ tn The Hebrew verb סָמַר (samar, “to tremble”) occurs only here and in Job 4:15.

¹² tn Heb “from fear of you.” The pronominal suffix on the noun is an objective genitive.

¹³ tn Heb “and because of your instructions my heart trembles.” The psalmist’s healthy “fear” of the consequences of violating God’s instructions motivates him to obey them. See v. 120.

¹⁶ tn Most commentators (and some English versions, e.g., NIV) assume that the participle מְפַחֵד (mÿfakhed, “fears”) means “fears the Lord,” even though “the Lord” is not present in the text. Such an assumption would be more convincing if the word יִרְאַת (yir’at) had been used. It is possible that the verse refers to fearing sin or its consequences. In other words, the one who is always apprehensive about the nature and consequences of sin will avoid sin and find God’s blessing. Of course the assumption that the phrase means “fear the Lord” could be correct as well. There would be little difference in the outcome; in either case sin would be avoided.

¹⁷ sn The one who “hardens his heart” in this context is the person who refuses to fear sin and its consequences. The image of the “hard heart” is one of a stubborn will, unyielding and unbending (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT). This individual will fall into sin.

¹⁹ tn Heb “my insides trembled.”

²⁰ tn Heb “decay entered my bones.”

²¹ tc Heb “beneath me I shook, which….” The Hebrew term אֲשֶׁר (’asher) appears to be a relative pronoun, but a relative pronoun does not fit here. The translation assumes a reading אֲשֻׁרָי (’ashuray, “my steps”) as well as an emendation of the preceding verb to a third plural form.

²² tn The translation assumes that אָנוּחַ (’anuakh) is from the otherwise unattested verb נָוָח (navakh, “sigh”; see HALOT 680 s.v. II נוח; so also NEB). Most take this verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”) and translate, “I wait patiently” (cf. NIV).

²³ tn Heb “to come up toward.”

²² tn Or “But arise.”

²³ tn Literally a passive construction, “it will be told to you.” This has been converted to another form of passive construction in the translation.

²⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the jailer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁶ tn Or “and prostrated himself.”

²⁸ tn Grk “And bringing them outside, he asked.” The participle προαγαγών (proagagwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun by supplying the conjunction “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

²⁹ tn The Greek term (δεῖ, dei) is used by Luke to represent divine necessity.

³¹ tn Grk “with fear and trembling.” The Greek words φόβος and τρόμος both imply fear in a negative sense (L&N 25.251 and 16.6 respectively) while the former can also refer to respect and awe for deity (L&N 53.59). Paul’s use of the terms in other contexts refers to “awe and reverence in the presence of God” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 284; see discussion on 282-84). The translation “awe and reverence” was chosen to portray the attitude the believer should have toward God as they consider their behavior in light of God working through Jesus Christ (2:6-11) and in the believer’s life (2:13) to accomplish their salvation.