1 Timothy 5:5

5:5 But the widow who is truly in need, and completely on her own, ¹  has set her hope on God and continues in her pleas and prayers night and day.

Genesis 18:23-32

18:23 Abraham approached and said, “Will you sweep away the godly along with the wicked? 18:24 What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare ²  the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it? 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge ³  of the whole earth do what is right?” ⁴ 

18:26 So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord ⁵  (although I am but dust and ashes), ⁶  18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy ⁷  the whole city because five are lacking?” ⁸  He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

18:29 Abraham ⁹  spoke to him again, ¹⁰  “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

18:30 Then Abraham ¹¹  said, “May the Lord not be angry ¹²  so that I may speak! ¹³  What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

18:31 Abraham ¹⁴  said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

18:32 Finally Abraham ¹⁵  said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

Genesis 18:1

Three Special Visitors

18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham ¹⁶  by the oaks ¹⁷  of Mamre while ¹⁸  he was sitting at the entrance ¹⁹  to his tent during the hottest time of the day.

Genesis 8:1

8:1 But God remembered ²⁰  Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over ²¹  the earth and the waters receded.

Psalms 67:1-4

Psalm 67 ²² 

For the music director; to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm, a song.

67:1 May God show us his favor ²³  and bless us! ²⁴ 

May he smile on us! ²⁵  (Selah)

67:2 Then those living on earth will know what you are like;

all nations will know how you deliver your people. ²⁶ 

67:3 Let the nations thank you, O God!

Let all the nations thank you! ²⁷ 

67:4 Let foreigners ²⁸  rejoice and celebrate!

For you execute justice among the nations,

and govern the people living on earth. ²⁹  (Selah)

Psalms 72:19

72:19 His glorious name deserves praise ³⁰  forevermore!

May his majestic splendor ³¹  fill the whole earth!

We agree! We agree! ³² 

Matthew 6:9-10

6:9 So pray this way: ³³ 

Our Father ³⁴  in heaven, may your name be honored, ³⁵ 

6:10 may your kingdom come, ³⁶ 

may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

James 5:16

5:16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness. ³⁷ 

[5:5]  ¹ tn Or “left all alone.”

[18:24]  ² tn Heb “lift up,” perhaps in the sense of “bear with” (cf. NRSV “forgive”).

[18:25]  ³ tn Or “ruler.”

[18:25]  ⁴ sn Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? For discussion of this text see J. L. Crenshaw, “Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel,” ZAW 82 (1970): 380-95, and C. S. Rodd, “Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do What Is Just?” ExpTim 83 (1972): 137-39.

[18:27]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[18:27]  ⁶ tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the Lord.

[18:28]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.

[18:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “because of five.”

[18:29]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:29]  ¹⁰ tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys – the preterite (“he added”) is combined with an adverb “yet” and an infinitive “to speak.”

[18:30]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:30]  ¹² tn Heb “let it not be hot to the Lord.” This is an idiom which means “may the Lord not be angry.”

[18:30]  ¹³ tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.

[18:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:32]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “terebinths.”

[18:1]  ¹⁸ tn The disjunctive clause here is circumstantial to the main clause.

[18:1]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew noun translated “entrance” is an adverbial accusative of place.

[8:1]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).

[8:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “to pass over.”

[67:1]  ²² sn Psalm 67. The psalmist prays for God’s blessing upon his people and urges the nations to praise him for he is the just ruler of the world.

[67:1]  ²³ tn Or “have mercy on us.”

[67:1]  ²⁴ tn The prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives expressing the psalmist’s prayer. Note the jussive form יָאֵר (ya’er) in the next line.

[67:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “may he cause his face to shine with us.”

[67:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “to know in the earth your way, among all nations your deliverance.” The infinitive with -לְ (lamed) expresses purpose/result. When God demonstrates his favor to his people, all nations will recognize his character as a God who delivers. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) refers here to God’s characteristic behavior, more specifically, to the way he typically saves his people.

[67:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “let the nations, all of them, thank you.” The prefixed verbal forms in vv. 3-4a are understood as jussives in this call to praise.

[67:4]  ²⁸ tn Or “peoples.”

[67:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “for you judge nations fairly, and [as for the] peoples in the earth, you lead them.” The imperfects are translated with the present tense because the statement is understood as a generalization about God’s providential control of the world. Another option is to understand the statement as anticipating God’s future rule (“for you will rule…and govern”).

[72:19]  ³⁰ tn Heb “[be] blessed.”

[72:19]  ³¹ tn Or “glory.”

[72:19]  ³² tn Heb “surely and surely” (אָמֵן וְאָמֵן [’amen vÿ’amen], i.e., “Amen and amen”). This is probably a congregational response of agreement to the immediately preceding statement about the propriety of praising God.

[6:9]  ³³ sn Pray this way. What follows, although traditionally known as the Lord’s prayer, is really the disciples’ prayer. It represents how they are to approach God, by acknowledging his uniqueness and their need for his provision and protection.

[6:9]  ³⁴ sn God is addressed in terms of intimacy (Father). The original Semitic term here was probably Abba. The term is a little unusual in a personal prayer, especially as it lacks qualification. It is not the exact equivalent of “daddy” (as is sometimes popularly suggested), but it does suggest a close, familial relationship.

[6:9]  ³⁵ tn Grk “hallowed be your name.”

[6:10]  ³⁶ sn Your kingdom come represents the hope for the full manifestation of God’s promised rule.

[5:16]  ³⁷ tn Or “the fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful”; Grk “is very powerful in its working.”