Daniel 9:8

9:8 O LORD, we have been humiliated ¹  – our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors – because we have sinned against you.

Daniel 9:14

9:14 The LORD was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the LORD our God is just ²  in all he has done, ³  and we have not obeyed him. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 32:4

32:4 As for the Rock, ⁵  his work is perfect,

for all his ways are just.

He is a reliable God who is never unjust,

he is fair ⁶  and upright.

Ezra 9:13

9:13 “Everything that has happened to us has come about because of our wicked actions and our great guilt. Even so, our God, you have exercised restraint ⁷  toward our iniquities and have given us a remnant such as this.

Nehemiah 9:33

9:33 You are righteous with regard to all that has happened to us, for you have acted faithfully. ⁸  It is we who have been in the wrong!

Psalms 51:4

51:4 Against you – you above all ⁹  – I have sinned;

I have done what is evil in your sight.

So ¹⁰  you are just when you confront me; ¹¹ 

you are right when you condemn me. ¹² 

Psalms 51:14

51:14 Rescue me from the guilt of murder, ¹³  O God, the God who delivers me!

Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your deliverance. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 119:137

צ (Tsade)

119:137 You are just, O Lord,

and your judgments are fair.

Jeremiah 12:1

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ¹⁵ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ¹⁶ 

Why are wicked people successful? ¹⁷ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

Luke 23:40-41

23:40 But the other rebuked him, saying, ¹⁸  “Don’t ¹⁹  you fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ²⁰  23:41 And we rightly so, for we are getting what we deserve for what we did, but this man has done nothing ²¹  wrong.”

[9:8]  ¹ tn Heb “to us (belongs) shame of face.”

[9:14]  ² tn Or “righteous.”

[9:14]  ³ tn Heb “in all his deeds which he has done.”

[9:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “we have not listened to his voice.”

[32:4]  ⁵ tc The LXX reads Θεός (qeos, “God”) for the MT’s “Rock.”

[32:4]  ⁶ tn Or “just” (KJV, NAB, NRSV, NLT) or “righteous” (NASB).

[9:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “held back downwards from”; KJV “hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve” (NIV, NRSV, NLT all similar).

[9:33]  ⁸ tn Heb “you have done truth.”

[51:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “only you,” as if the psalmist had sinned exclusively against God and no other. Since the Hebrew verb חָטָא (hata’, “to sin”) is used elsewhere of sinful acts against people (see BDB 306 s.v. 2.a) and David (the presumed author) certainly sinned when he murdered Uriah (2 Sam 12:9), it is likely that the psalmist is overstating the case to suggest that the attack on Uriah was ultimately an attack on God himself. To clarify the point of the hyperbole, the translation uses “especially,” rather than the potentially confusing “only.”

[51:4]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) normally indicates purpose (“in order that”), but here it introduces a logical consequence of the preceding statement. (Taking the clause as indicating purpose here would yield a theologically preposterous idea – the psalmist purposely sinned so that God’s justice might be vindicated!) For other examples of לְמַעַן indicating result, see 2 Kgs 22:17; Jer 27:15; Amos 2:7, as well as IBHS 638-40 §38.3.

[51:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “when you speak.” In this context the psalmist refers to God’s word of condemnation against his sin delivered through Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 12:7-12).

[51:4]  ¹² tn Heb “when you judge.”

[51:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “from bloodshed.” “Bloodshed” here stands by metonymy for the guilt which it produces.

[51:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my tongue will shout for joy your deliverance.” Another option is to take the prefixed verbal form as a jussive, “may my tongue shout for joy.” However, the pattern in vv. 12-15 appears to be prayer/request (see vv. 12, 14a, 15a) followed by promise/vow (see vv. 13, 14b, 15b).

[12:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

[23:40]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “But answering, the other rebuking him, said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[23:40]  ¹⁹ tn The particle used here (οὐδέ, oude), which expects a positive reply, makes this a rebuke – “You should fear God and not speak!”

[23:40]  ²⁰ tn The words “of condemnation” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[23:41]  ²¹ sn This man has done nothing wrong is yet another declaration that Jesus was innocent of any crime.