Psalms 56:8

56:8 You keep track of my misery. ¹ 

Put my tears in your leather container! ² 

Are they not recorded in your scroll? ³ 

Malachi 3:16

3:16 Then those who respected ⁴  the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. ⁵  A scroll ⁶  was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name.

Revelation 20:12

20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then ⁷  books were opened, and another book was opened – the book of life. ⁸  So ⁹  the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. ¹⁰ 

¹ tn Heb “my wandering you count, you.” The Hebrew term נֹד (nod, “wandering,” derived from the verbal root נוֹד, nod, “to wander”; cf. NASB) here refers to the psalmist’s “changeable circumstances of life” and may be translated “misery.” The verb סָפַר (safar, “count”) probably carries the nuance “assess” here. Cf. NIV “my lament”; NRSV “my tossings.”

² tn Traditionally “your bottle.” Elsewhere the Hebrew word נֹאד (no’d, “leather container”) refers to a container made from animal skin which is used to hold wine or milk (see Josh 9:4, 13; Judg 4:19; 1 Sam 16:20). If such a container is metaphorically in view here, then the psalmist seems to be asking God to store up his tears as a reminder of his suffering.

³ tn The word “recorded” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The rhetorical question assumes a positive response (see the first line of the verse).

⁴ tn Or “fear” (so NAB); NRSV “revered”; NCV “honored.”

⁵ tn Heb “heard and listened”; NAB “listened attentively.”

⁶ sn The scroll mentioned here is a “memory book” (סֵפֶר זִכָּרוֹן, sefer zikkaron) in which the Lord keeps an ongoing record of the names of all the redeemed (see Exod 32:32; Isa 4:3; Dan 12:1; Rev 20:12-15).

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

⁸ tn Grk “another book was opened, which is of life.”

⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the books being opened.

¹⁰ tn Grk “from the things written in the books according to their works.”