1 Kings 8:28

8:28 But respond favorably to ¹  your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer ²  the desperate prayer ³  your servant is presenting to you ⁴  today.

Psalms 74:20

74:20 Remember your covenant promises, ⁵ 

for the dark regions of the earth are full of places where violence rules. ⁶ 

Psalms 130:2

130:2 O Lord, listen to me! ⁷ 

Pay attention to ⁸  my plea for mercy!

Daniel 9:17-19

9:17 “So now, our God, accept ⁹  the prayer and requests of your servant, and show favor to ¹⁰  your devastated sanctuary for your own sake. ¹¹  9:18 Listen attentively, ¹²  my God, and hear! Open your eyes and look on our desolated ruins ¹³  and the city called by your name. ¹⁴  For it is not because of our own righteous deeds that we are praying to you, ¹⁵  but because your compassion is abundant. 9:19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, pay attention, and act! Don’t delay, for your own sake, O my God! For your city and your people are called by your name.” ¹⁶ 

Luke 18:1-7

Prayer and the Parable of the Persistent Widow

18:1 Then ¹⁷  Jesus ¹⁸  told them a parable to show them they should always ¹⁹  pray and not lose heart. ²⁰  18:2 He said, ²¹  “In a certain city ²²  there was a judge ²³  who neither feared God nor respected people. ²⁴  18:3 There was also a widow ²⁵  in that city ²⁶  who kept coming ²⁷  to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 18:4 For ²⁸  a while he refused, but later on ²⁹  he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, ³⁰  18:5 yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out ³¹  by her unending pleas.’” ³²  18:6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! ³³  18:7 Won’t ³⁴  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ³⁵  to him day and night? ³⁶  Will he delay ³⁷  long to help them?

[8:28]  ¹ tn Heb “turn to.”

[8:28]  ² tn Heb “by listening to.”

[8:28]  ³ tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”

[8:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “praying before you.”

[74:20]  ⁵ tc Heb “look at the covenant.” The LXX reads “your covenant,” which seems to assume a second person pronominal suffix. The suffix may have been accidentally omitted by haplography. Note that the following word (כִּי) begins with kaf (כ).

[74:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “for the dark places of the earth are full of dwelling places of violence.” The “dark regions” are probably the lands where the people have been exiled (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:157). In some contexts “dark regions” refers to Sheol (Ps 88:6) or to hiding places likened to Sheol (Ps 143:3; Lam 3:6).

[130:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “my voice.”

[130:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “may your ears be attentive to the voice of.”

[9:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “hear.” Here the verb refers to hearing favorably, accepting the prayer and responding positively.

[9:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “let your face shine.” This idiom pictures God smiling in favor. See Pss 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19.

[9:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for the sake of my Lord.” Theodotion has “for your sake.” Cf. v. 19.

[9:18]  ¹² tn Heb “turn your ear.”

[9:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “desolations.” The term refers here to the ruined condition of Judah’s towns.

[9:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “over which your name is called.” Cf. v. 19. This expression implies that God is the owner of his city, Jerusalem. Note the use of the idiom in 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1; Amos 9:12.

[9:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “praying our supplications before you.”

[9:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for your name is called over your city and your people.” See the note on this expression in v 18.

[18:1]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[18:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “should pray at all times” (L&N 67.88).

[18:1]  ²⁰ sn This is one of the few parables that comes with an explanation at the start: …they should always pray and not lose heart. It is part of Luke’s goal in encouraging Theophilus (1:4).

[18:2]  ²¹ tn Grk “lose heart, saying.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronominal subject “He.”

[18:2]  ²² tn Or “town.”

[18:2]  ²³ sn The judge here is apparently portrayed as a civil judge who often handled financial cases.

[18:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.

[18:3]  ²⁵ sn This widow was not necessarily old, since many people lived only into their thirties in the 1st century.

[18:3]  ²⁶ tn Or “town.”

[18:3]  ²⁷ tn This is an iterative imperfect; the widow did this on numerous occasions.

[18:4]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And for.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:4]  ²⁹ tn Grk “after these things.”

[18:4]  ³⁰ tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.

[18:5]  ³¹ tn The term ὑπωπιάζω (Jupwpiazw) in this context means “to wear someone out by continual annoying” (L&N 25.245).

[18:5]  ³² tn Grk “by her continual coming,” but the point of annoyance to the judge is her constant pleas for justice (v. 3).

[18:6]  ³³ sn Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! The point of the parable is that the judge’s lack of compassion was overcome by the widow’s persistence.

[18:7]  ³⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:7]  ³⁵ sn The prayers have to do with the righteous who cry out to him to receive justice. The context assumes the righteous are persecuted.

[18:7]  ³⁶ tn The emphatic particles in this sentence indicate that God will indeed give justice to the righteous.

[18:7]  ³⁷ sn The issue of delay has produced a whole host of views for this verse. (1) Does this assume provision to endure in the meantime? Or (2) does it mean God restricts the level of persecution until he comes? Either view is possible.