Psalms 33:9

33:9 For he spoke, and it ¹  came into existence,

he issued the decree, ²  and it stood firm.

Psalms 93:1

Psalm 93 ³ 

93:1 The Lord reigns!

He is robed in majesty,

the Lord is robed,

he wears strength around his waist. ⁴ 

Indeed, the world is established, it cannot be moved.

Psalms 148:5-6

148:5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for he gave the command and they came into existence.

148:6 He established them so they would endure; ⁵ 

he issued a decree that will not be revoked. ⁶ 

Isaiah 49:8

49:8 This is what the Lord says:

“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;

in the day of deliverance I will help you;

I will protect you ⁷  and make you a covenant mediator for people, ⁸ 

to rebuild ⁹  the land ¹⁰ 

and to reassign the desolate property.

Jeremiah 10:12

10:12 The Lord is the one who ¹¹  by his power made the earth.

He is the one who by his wisdom established the world.

And by his understanding he spread out the skies.

Colossians 1:17

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ¹²  in him.

Hebrews 1:3

1:3 The Son is ¹³  the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, ¹⁴  and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. ¹⁵ 

¹ tn That is, “all the earth” in the first line of v. 8. The apparent antecedent of the masculine subject of the verbs in v. 9 (note וַיֶּהִי [vayyehiy] and וַיַּעֲמֹד [vayya’amod]) is “earth” or “world,” both of which are feminine nouns. However, כָּל (kol, “all”) may be the antecedent, or the apparent lack of agreement may be explained by the collective nature of the nouns involved here (see GKC 463 §145.e).

² tn Heb “he commanded.”

³ sn Psalm 93. The psalmist affirms that the Lord is the king of the universe who preserves order and suppresses the destructive forces in the world.

⁴ sn Strength is compared here to a belt that one wears for support. The Lord’s power undergirds his rule.

⁵ tn Or “forever and ever.”

⁶ tn Heb “and it will not pass away.”

⁷ tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצָר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצָר (yatsar, “form”).

⁸ tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (’am, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.

⁹ tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”

¹⁰ tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.

¹¹ tn The words “The Lord is” are not in the text. They are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation here because of the possible confusion of who the subject is due to the parenthetical address to the people of Israel in v. 11. The first two verbs are participles and should not merely be translated as the narrative past. They are predicate nominatives of an implied copula intending to contrast the Lord as the one who made the earth with the idols which did not.

¹² tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.

¹³ tn Grk “who being…and sustaining.” Heb 1:1-4 form one skillfully composed sentence in Greek, but it must be broken into shorter segments to correspond to contemporary English usage, which does not allow for sentences of this length and complexity.

¹⁴ tn Grk “by the word of his power.”

¹⁵ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1, quoted often in Hebrews.