Psalms 141:2

141:2 May you accept my prayer like incense,

my uplifted hands like the evening offering! ¹ 

Isaiah 60:6

60:6 Camel caravans will cover your roads, ² 

young camels from Midian and Ephah.

All the merchants of Sheba ³  will come,

bringing gold and incense

and singing praises to the Lord. ⁴ 

Luke 1:10

1:10 Now ⁵  the whole crowd ⁶  of people were praying outside at the hour of the incense offering. ⁷ 

Romans 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ⁸  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ⁹  – which is your reasonable service.

Philippians 4:18

4:18 For I have received everything, and I have plenty. I have all I need because I received from Epaphroditus what you sent – a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, very pleasing to God.

Hebrews 13:15-16

13:15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, acknowledging his name. 13:16 And do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, ¹⁰  for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

Revelation 5:8

5:8 and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground ¹¹  before the Lamb. Each ¹²  of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the saints). ¹³ 

Revelation 8:3-4

8:3 Another ¹⁴  angel holding ¹⁵  a golden censer ¹⁶  came and was stationed ¹⁷  at the altar. A ¹⁸  large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne. 8:4 The ¹⁹  smoke coming from the incense, ²⁰  along with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.

¹ tn Heb “may my prayer be established [like] incense before you, the uplifting of my hands [like] an evening offering.”

² tn Heb “an abundance of camels will cover you.”

³ tn Heb “all of them, from Sheba.”

⁴ tn Heb “and they will announce the praises of the Lord.”

⁵ tn Grk “And,” but “now” better represents the somewhat parenthetical nature of this statement in the flow of the narrative.

⁶ tn Grk “all the multitude.” While “assembly” is sometimes used here to translate πλῆθος (plhqo"), that term usually implies in English a specific or particular group of people. However, this was simply a large group gathered outside, which was not unusual, especially for the afternoon offering.

⁷ tn The “hour of the incense offering” is another way to refer to the time of sacrifice.

⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

⁹ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

¹⁰ tn Grk “neglect doing good and fellowship.”

¹¹ tn Grk “fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

¹² tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

¹³ sn This interpretive comment by the author forms a parenthesis in the narrative.

¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁵ tn Grk “having.”

¹⁶ sn A golden censer was a bowl in which incense was burned. The imagery suggests the OT role of the priest.

¹⁷ tn The verb “to station” was used to translate ἑστάθη (Jestaqh) because it connotes the idea of purposeful arrangement in English, which seems to be the idea in the Greek.

¹⁸ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

²⁰ tn The expression τῶν θυμιαμάτων (twn qumiamatwn) is taken as a “genitive of producer,” i.e., the noun in the genitive produces the head noun.