Psalms 31:19

31:19 How great is your favor, ¹ 

which you store up for your loyal followers! ² 

In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter ³  in you. ⁴ 

Micah 7:18

7:18 There is no other God like you! ⁵ 

You ⁶  forgive sin

and pardon ⁷  the rebellion

of those who remain among your people. ⁸ 

You do not remain angry forever, ⁹ 

but delight in showing loyal love.

Romans 2:4

2:4 Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know ¹⁰  that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?

Romans 5:20-21

5:20 Now the law came in ¹¹  so that the transgression ¹²  may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more, 5:21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ephesians 1:7-8

1:7 In him ¹³  we have redemption through his blood, ¹⁴  the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 1:8 that he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight.

¹ tn Or “How abundant are your blessings!”

² tn Heb “for those who fear you.”

³ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 34:21-22).

⁴ tn Heb “you work [your favor] for the ones seeking shelter in you before the sons of men.”

⁵ tn Heb “Who is a God like you?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!”

⁶ tn Heb “one who.” The prayer moves from direct address (second person) in v. 18a to a descriptive (third person) style in vv. 18b-19a and then back to direct address (second person) in vv. 19b-20. Due to considerations of English style and the unfamiliarity of the modern reader with alternation of persons in Hebrew poetry, the entire section has been rendered as direct address (second person) in the translation.

⁷ tn Heb “pass over.”

⁸ tn Heb “of the remnant of his inheritance.”

⁹ tn Heb “he does not keep hold of his anger forever.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “being unaware.”

¹¹ tn Grk “slipped in.”

¹² tn Or “trespass.”

¹³ tn Grk “in whom” (the relative clause of v. 7 is subordinate to v. 6). The “him” refers to Christ.

¹⁴ sn In this context his blood, the blood of Jesus Christ, refers to the price paid for believers’ redemption, which is the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross.