1 Kings 8:34

8:34 then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

1 Kings 8:36

8:36 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly ¹  you will then teach them the right way to live ²  and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. ³ 

Psalms 25:11

25:11 For the sake of your reputation, ⁴  O Lord,

forgive my sin, because it is great. ⁵ 

Psalms 25:18

25:18 See my pain and suffering!

Forgive all my sins! ⁶ 

Psalms 32:1-5

Psalm 32 ⁷ 

By David; a well-written song. ⁸ 

32:1 How blessed ⁹  is the one whose rebellious acts are forgiven, ¹⁰ 

whose sin is pardoned! ¹¹ 

32:2 How blessed is the one ¹²  whose wrongdoing the Lord does not punish, ¹³ 

in whose spirit there is no deceit. ¹⁴ 

32:3 When I refused to confess my sin, ¹⁵ 

my whole body wasted away, ¹⁶ 

while I groaned in pain all day long.

32:4 For day and night you tormented me; ¹⁷ 

you tried to destroy me ¹⁸  in the intense heat ¹⁹  of summer. ²⁰  (Selah)

32:5 Then I confessed my sin;

I no longer covered up my wrongdoing.

I said, “I will confess ²¹  my rebellious acts to the Lord.”

And then you forgave my sins. ²²  (Selah)

Psalms 51:1-3

Psalm 51 ²³ 

For the music director; a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba. ²⁴ 

51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of ²⁵  your loyal love!

Because of ²⁶  your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! ²⁷ 

51:2 Wash away my wrongdoing! ²⁸ 

Cleanse me of my sin! ²⁹ 

51:3 For I am aware of ³⁰  my rebellious acts;

I am forever conscious of my sin. ³¹ 

Psalms 130:3-4

130:3 If you, O Lord, were to keep track of ³²  sins,

O Lord, who could stand before you? ³³ 

130:4 But ³⁴  you are willing to forgive, ³⁵ 

so that you might ³⁶  be honored. ³⁷ 

Isaiah 43:25-26

43:25 I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake;

your sins I do not remember.

43:26 Remind me of what happened! Let’s debate!

You, prove to me that you are right! ³⁸ 

Daniel 9:19

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.” ³⁹ 

Hosea 14:2

14:2 Return to the Lord and repent! ⁴⁰ 

Say to him: “Completely ⁴¹  forgive our iniquity;

accept ⁴²  our penitential prayer, ⁴³ 

that we may offer the praise of our lips as sacrificial bulls. ⁴⁴ 

Matthew 6:12

6:12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves ⁴⁵  have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 6:1

Pure-hearted Giving

6:1 “Be ⁴⁶  careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. ⁴⁷  Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.

Matthew 1:8-10

1:8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah, 1:9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 1:10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, ⁴⁸  Amon the father of Josiah,

[8:36]  ¹ tn The translation understands כִּי (ki) in an emphatic or asseverative sense.

[8:36]  ² tn Heb “the good way in which they should walk.”

[8:36]  ³ tn Or “for an inheritance.”

[25:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “name.” By forgiving the sinful psalmist, the Lord’s reputation as a merciful God will be enhanced.

[25:11]  ⁵ sn Forgive my sin, because it is great. The psalmist readily admits his desperate need for forgiveness.

[25:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “lift up all my sins.”

[32:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 32. The psalmist recalls the agony he experienced prior to confessing his sins and affirms that true happiness comes when one’s sins are forgiven. He then urges others not to be stubborn, but to turn to God while forgiveness is available, for God extends his mercy to the repentant, while the wicked experience nothing but sorrow.

[32:1]  ⁸ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[32:1]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15). Here it refers to the relief that one experiences when one’s sins are forgiven.

[32:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “lifted up.”

[32:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “covered over.”

[32:2]  ¹² tn Heb “man.” The word choice reflects the perspective of the psalmist, who is male. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, the gender and age specific “man” has been translated with the more neutral “one.”

[32:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord does not impute wrongdoing.”

[32:2]  ¹⁴ sn In whose spirit there is no deceit. The point is not that the individual is sinless and pure. In this context, which focuses on confession and forgiveness of sin, the psalmist refers to one who refuses to deny or hide his sin, but instead honestly confesses it to God.

[32:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “when I was silent.”

[32:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my bones became brittle.” The psalmist pictures himself as aging and growing physically weak. Trying to cover up his sin brought severe physical consequences.

[32:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your hand was heavy upon me.”

[32:4]  ¹⁸ tc Heb “my [?] was turned.” The meaning of the Hebrew term לְשַׁד (lÿshad) is uncertain. A noun לָשָׁד (lashad, “cake”) is attested in Num 11:8, but it would make no sense to understand that word in this context. It is better to emend the form to לְשֻׁדִּי (lÿshuddiy, “to my destruction”) and understand “your hand” as the subject of the verb “was turned.” In this case the text reads, “[your hand] was turned to my destruction.” In Lam 3:3 the author laments that God’s “hand” was “turned” (הָפַךְ, hafakh) against him in a hostile sense.

[32:4]  ¹⁹ tn The translation assumes that the plural form indicates degree. If one understands the form as a true plural, then one might translate, “in the times of drought.”

[32:4]  ²⁰ sn Summer. Perhaps the psalmist suffered during the hot season and perceived the very weather as being an instrument of divine judgment. Another option is that he compares his time of suffering to the uncomfortable and oppressive heat of summer.

[32:5]  ²¹ tn The Hiphil of ידה normally means “give thanks, praise,” but here, as in Prov 28:13, it means “confess.”

[32:5]  ²² tn Heb “the wrongdoing of my sin.” By joining synonyms for “sin” in this way, the psalmist may be emphasizing the degree of his wrongdoing.

[51:1]  ²³ sn Psalm 51. The psalmist confesses his sinfulness to God and begs for forgiveness and a transformation of his inner character. According to the psalm superscription, David offered this prayer when Nathan confronted him with his sin following the king’s affair with Bathsheba (see 2 Sam 11-12). However, the final two verses of the psalm hardly fit this situation, for they assume the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and that the sacrificial system has been temporarily suspended. These verses are probably an addition to the psalm made during the period of exile following the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. The exiles could relate to David’s experience, for they, like him, and had been forced to confront their sin. They appropriated David’s ancient prayer and applied it to their own circumstances.

[51:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “a psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him when he had gone to Bathsheba.”

[51:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ²⁷ tn Traditionally “blot out my transgressions.” Because of the reference to washing and cleansing in the following verse, it is likely that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to wiping an object clean (note the use of the verb מָחָה (makhah) in the sense of “wipe clean; dry” in 2 Kgs 21:13; Prov 30:20; Isa 25:8). Another option is that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to erasing or blotting out names from a register (see Exod 32:32-33). In this case one might translate, “erase all record of my rebellious acts.”

[51:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Thoroughly wash me from my wrongdoing.”

[51:2]  ²⁹ sn In vv. 1b-2 the psalmist uses three different words to emphasize the multifaceted character and degree of his sin. Whatever one wants to call it (“rebellious acts,” “wrongdoing,” “sin”), he has done it and stands morally polluted in God’s sight. The same three words appear in Exod 34:7, which emphasizes that God is willing to forgive sin in all of its many dimensions. In v. 2 the psalmist compares forgiveness and restoration to physical cleansing. Perhaps he likens spiritual cleansing to the purification rites of priestly law.

[51:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “know.”

[51:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “and my sin [is] in front of me continually.”

[130:3]  ³² tn Heb “observe.”

[130:3]  ³³ tn The words “before you” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist must be referring to standing before God’s judgment seat. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one.”

[130:4]  ³⁴ tn Or “surely.”

[130:4]  ³⁵ tn Heb “for with you [there is] forgiveness.”

[130:4]  ³⁶ tn Or “consequently you are.”

[130:4]  ³⁷ tn Heb “feared.”

[43:26]  ³⁸ tn Heb “you, tell in order that you may be right”; NAB “prove your innocence.”

[9:19]  ³⁹ tn Heb “for your name is called over your city and your people.” See the note on this expression in v 18.

[14:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Take words with you and return to the Lord” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[14:2]  ⁴¹ tn The word order כָּל־תִּשָּׂא עָוֹן (kol-tisa’ ’avon) is syntactically awkward. The BHS editors suggest rearranging the word order: תִּשָּׂא כָּל־עוֹן (“Forgive all [our] iniquity!”). However, Gesenius suggests that כָּל (“all”) does not function as the construct in the genitive phrase כָּל־עוֹן (“all [our] iniquity”); it functions adverbially modifying the verb תִּשָּׂא (“Completely forgive!”; see GKC 415 §128.e).

[14:2]  ⁴² sn The repetition of the root לָקַח (laqakh) creates a striking wordplay in 14:2. If Israel will bring (לָקַח) its confession to God, he will accept (לָקַח) repentant Israel and completely forgive its sin.

[14:2]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and accept [our] speech.” The word טוֹב (tov) is often confused with the common homonymic root I טוֹב (tov, “good”; BDB 373 s.v. I טוֹב). However, this is probably IV טוֹב (tov, “word, speech”; HALOT 372 s.v. IV טוֹב), a hapax legomenon that is related to the verb טבב (“to speak”; HALOT 367 s.v. טבב) and the noun טִבָּה (tibbah, “rumor”; HALOT 367 s.v. טִבָּה). The term טוֹב (“word; speech”) refers to the repentant prayer mentioned in 14:1-3. Most translations relate it to I טוֹב and treat it as (1) accusative direct object: “accept that which is good” (RSV, NJPS), “Accept our good sacrifices” (CEV), or (2) adverbial accusative of manner: “receive [us] graciously” (KJV, NASB, NIV). Note TEV, however, which follows the suggestion made here: “accept our prayer.”

[14:2]  ⁴⁴ tc The MT reads פָרִים (farim, “bulls”), but the LXX reflects פְּרִי (pÿri, “fruit”), a reading followed by NASB, NIV, NRSV: “that we may offer the fruit of [our] lips [as sacrifices to you].” Although the Greek expression in Heb 13:15 (καρπὸν χειλέων, karpon xeilewn, “the fruit of lips”) reflects this LXX phrase, the MT makes good sense as it stands; NT usage of the LXX should not be considered decisive in resolving OT textual problems. The noun פָרִים (parim, “bulls”) functions as an adverbial accusative of state.

[6:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “as even we.” The phrase ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς (Jw" kai Jhmei") makes ἡμεῖς emphatic. The translation above adds an appropriate emphasis to the passage.

[6:1]  ⁴⁶ tc ‡ Several mss (א L Z Θ Ë¹ 33 892 1241 1424 al) have δέ (de, “but, now”) at the beginning of this verse; the reading without δέ is supported by B D W 0250 ˹³ Ï lat. A decision is difficult, but apparently the conjunction was added by later scribes to indicate a transition in the thought-flow of the Sermon on the Mount. NA²⁷ has δέ in brackets, indicating reservations about its authenticity.

[6:1]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “before people in order to be seen by them.”

[1:10]  ⁴⁸ tc ᾿Αμώς (Amws) is the reading found in the earliest and best witnesses (א B C [D^luc] γ δ θ ˹ 33 pc it sa bo), and as such is most likely original, but this is a variant spelling of the name ᾿Αμών (Amwn). The translation uses the more well-known spelling “Amon” found in the Hebrew MT and the majority of LXX mss. See also the textual discussion of “Asa” versus “Asaph” (vv. 7-8); the situation is similar.