Psalms 13:1

Psalm 13 ¹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

13:1 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me? ² 

How long will you pay no attention to me? ³ 

Psalms 35:17

35:17 O Lord, how long are you going to just stand there and watch this? ⁴ 

Rescue ⁵  me ⁶  from their destructive attacks;

guard my life ⁷  from the young lions!

Psalms 74:9-10

74:9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence; ⁸ 

there are no longer any prophets ⁹ 

and we have no one to tell us how long this will last. ¹⁰ 

74:10 How long, O God, will the adversary hurl insults?

Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?

Psalms 94:3-4

94:3 O Lord, how long will the wicked,

how long will the wicked celebrate? ¹¹ 

94:4 They spew out threats ¹²  and speak defiantly;

all the evildoers boast. ¹³ 

Daniel 8:13

8:13 Then I heard a holy one ¹⁴  speaking. Another holy one said to the one who was speaking, “To what period of time does the vision pertain – this vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the destructive act of rebellion and the giving over of both the sanctuary and army to be trampled?”

Daniel 12:6

12:6 One said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river, “When will the end of these wondrous events occur?”

Zechariah 1:12

1:12 The angel of the Lord then asked, “Lord who rules over all, ¹⁵  how long before you have compassion on Jerusalem ¹⁶  and the other cities of Judah which you have been so angry with for these seventy years?” ¹⁷ 

¹ sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.

² tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”

³ tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”

⁴ tn Heb “O Lord, how long will you see?”

⁵ tn Heb “bring back, restore.”

⁶ tn Or “my life.”

⁷ tn Heb “my only one.” The psalmist may mean that his life is precious, or that he feels isolated and alone (see Ps 22:20). The verb “guard” is supplied in the translation, because the verb “rescue” is understood by ellipsis (see the previous line).

⁸ tn Heb “our signs we do not see.” Because of the reference to a prophet in the next line, it is likely that the “signs” in view here include the evidence of God’s presence as typically revealed through the prophets. These could include miraculous acts performed by the prophets (see, for example, Isa 38:7-8) or object lessons which they acted out (see, for example, Isa 20:3).

⁹ tn Heb “there is not still a prophet.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and [there is] not with us one who knows how long.”

¹¹ tn Or “exult.”

¹² tn Heb “they gush forth [words].”

¹³ tn The Hitpael of אָמַר (’amar) occurs only here (and perhaps in Isa 61:6).

¹⁴ sn The holy one referred to here is presumably an angel. Cf. 4:13[10], 23 [20].

¹⁵ sn Note that here the angel of the Lord is clearly distinct from the Lord who rules over all himself.

¹⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁷ sn The seventy years refers to the predicted period of Babylonian exile, a period with flexible beginning and ending points depending on the particular circumstances in view (cf. Jer 25:1; 28:1; 29:10; Dan 9:2). Here the end of the seventy years appears to be marked by the completion of the temple in 516 b.c., exactly seventy years after its destruction in 586.