1 Kings 8:54-61

8:54 When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the Lord, he got up from before the altar of the Lord where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky. ¹  8:55 When he stood up, he pronounced a blessing over the entire assembly of Israel, saying in a loud voice: 8:56 “The Lord is worthy of praise because he has made Israel his people secure ²  just as he promised! Not one of all the faithful promises he made through his servant Moses is left unfulfilled! ³  8:57 May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us. 8:58 May he make us submissive, ⁴  so we can follow all his instructions ⁵  and obey ⁶  the commandments, rules, and regulations he commanded our ancestors. 8:59 May the Lord our God be constantly aware of these requests of mine I have presented to him, ⁷  so that he might vindicate ⁸  his servant and his people Israel as the need arises. 8:60 Then ⁹  all the nations of the earth will recognize that the Lord is the only genuine God. ¹⁰  8:61 May you demonstrate wholehearted devotion to the Lord our God ¹¹  by following ¹²  his rules and obeying ¹³  his commandments, as you are presently doing.” ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 65:24

65:24 Before they even call out, ¹⁵  I will respond;

while they are still speaking, I will hear.

Daniel 9:20

Gabriel Gives to Daniel a Prophecy of Seventy Weeks

9:20 While I was still speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my request before the LORD my God concerning his holy mountain ¹⁶  –

Acts 4:31

4:31 When ¹⁷  they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, ¹⁸  and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak ¹⁹  the word of God ²⁰  courageously. ²¹ 

Acts 16:25-26

16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying ²²  and singing hymns to God, ²³  and the rest of ²⁴  the prisoners were listening to them. 16:26 Suddenly a great earthquake occurred, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately all the doors flew open, and the bonds ²⁵  of all the prisoners came loose.

[8:54]  ¹ tn Or “toward heaven.”

[8:56]  ² tn Heb “he has given a resting place to his people Israel.”

[8:56]  ³ tn Heb “not one word from his entire good word he spoke by Moses his servant has fallen.”

[8:58]  ⁴ tn Heb “to bend our hearts toward him.” The infinitive is subordinate to the initial prayer, “may the Lord our God be with us.” The Hebrew term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the people’s volition and will.

[8:58]  ⁵ tn Heb “to walk in all his ways.”

[8:58]  ⁶ tn Heb “keep.”

[8:59]  ⁷ tn Heb “May these words of mine, which I have requested before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night.”

[8:59]  ⁸ tn Heb “accomplish the justice of.”

[8:60]  ⁹ tn Heb “so that.”

[8:60]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the Lord, he is the God, there is no other.”

[8:61]  ¹¹ tn Heb “may your hearts be complete with the Lord our God.”

[8:61]  ¹² tn Heb “walking in.”

[8:61]  ¹³ tn Heb “keeping.”

[8:61]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “as this day.”

[65:24]  ¹⁵ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[9:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the holy mountain of my God.”

[4:31]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[4:31]  ¹⁸ sn The place where they were assembled…was shaken. This signifies that God is in their midst. See Acts 16:26; Exod 19:18; Ps 114:7; Isa 6:4.

[4:31]  ¹⁹ tn The imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to speak”). Logical sequencing suggests that their speaking began after they were filled with the Spirit. The prayer was answered immediately.

[4:31]  ²⁰ tn Or “speak God’s message.”

[4:31]  ²¹ tn Or “with boldness.”

[16:25]  ²² tn Grk “praying, were singing.” The participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:25]  ²³ sn Praying and singing hymns to God. Tertullian said, “The legs feel nothing in the stocks when the heart is in heaven” (To the Martyrs 2; cf. Rom 5:3; Jas 1:2; 1 Pet 5:6). The presence of God means the potential to be free (cf. v. 26).

[16:25]  ²⁴ tn The words “the rest of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[16:26]  ²⁵ tn Or perhaps, “chains.” The translation of τὰ δεσμά (ta desma) is to some extent affected by the understanding of ξύλον (xulon, “stocks”) in v. 24. It is possible (as mentioned in L&N 18.12) that this does not mean “stocks” but a block of wood (a log or wooden column) in the prison to which prisoners’ feet were chained or tied.