Deuteronomy 28:63

28:63 This is what will happen: Just as the Lord delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he ¹  will take delight in destroying and decimating you. You will be uprooted from the land you are about to possess.

Isaiah 62:5

62:5 As a young man marries a young woman,

so your sons ²  will marry you.

As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,

so your God will rejoice over you.

Isaiah 65:19

65:19 Jerusalem will bring me joy,

and my people will bring me happiness. ³ 

The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow

will never be heard in her again.

Jeremiah 32:41

32:41 I will take delight in doing good to them. I will faithfully and wholeheartedly plant them ⁴  firmly in the land.’

Jeremiah 33:9

33:9 All the nations will hear about all the good things which I will do to them. This city will bring me fame, honor, and praise before them for the joy that I bring it. The nations will tremble in awe at all the peace and prosperity that I will provide for it.’ ⁵ 

Zephaniah 3:17

3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst;

he is a warrior who can deliver.

He takes great delight in you; ⁶ 

he renews you by his love; ⁷ 

he shouts for joy over you.” ⁸ 

Luke 15:6-10

15:6 Returning ⁹  home, he calls together ¹⁰  his ¹¹  friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 15:7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner ¹²  who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people ¹³  who have no need to repent. ¹⁴ 

15:8 “Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins ¹⁵  and loses ¹⁶  one of them, ¹⁷  does not light a lamp, sweep ¹⁸  the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it? 15:9 Then ¹⁹  when she has found it, she calls together her ²⁰  friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice ²¹  with me, for I have found the coin ²²  that I had lost.’ 15:10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels ²³  over one sinner who repents.”

Luke 15:32

15:32 It was appropriate ²⁴  to celebrate and be glad, for your brother ²⁵  was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’” ²⁶ 

John 15:11

15:11 I have told you these things ²⁷  so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.

[28:63]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

[62:5]  ² tc The Hebrew text has “your sons,” but this produces an odd metaphor and is somewhat incongruous with the parallelism. In the context (v. 4b, see also 54:5-7) the Lord is the one who “marries” Zion. Therefore several prefer to emend “your sons” to בֹּנָיִךְ (bonayikh, “your builder”; e.g., NRSV). In Ps 147:2 the Lord is called the “builder of Jerusalem.” However, this emendation is not the best option for at least four reasons. First, although the Lord is never called the “builder” of Jerusalem in Isaiah, the idea of Zion’s children possessing the land does occur (Isa 49:20; 54:3; cf. also 14:1; 60:21). Secondly, all the ancient versions support the MT reading. Thirdly, although the verb בָּעַל (ba’al) can mean “to marry,” its basic idea is “to possess.” Consequently, the verb stresses a relationship more than a state. All the ancient versions render this verb “to dwell in” or “to dwell with.” The point is not just that the land will be reinhabited, but that it will be in a relationship of “belonging” to the Israelites. Hence a relational verb like בָּעַל is used (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:581). Finally, “sons” is a well-known metaphor for “inhabitants” (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 208).

[65:19]  ³ tn Heb “and I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be happy in my people.”

[32:41]  ⁴ tn Heb “will plant them in the land with faithfulness with all my heart and with all my soul.” The latter expressions are, of course, anthropomorphisms (see Deut 6:5).

[33:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “And it [the city] will be to me for a name for joy and for praise and for honor before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good things which I will do for them and which will be in awe and tremble for all the good things and all the peace [or prosperity] which I will do for them.” The long complex Hebrew sentence has been broken down to better conform with contemporary English style.

[3:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with joy.”

[3:17]  ⁷ tc The MT reads, “he is silent in his love,” but this makes no sense in light of the immediately preceding and following lines. Some take the Hiphil verb form as causative (see Job 11:3) rather than intransitive and translate, “he causes [you] to be silent by his love,” that is, “he soothes [you] by his love.” The present translation follows the LXX and assumes an original reading יְחַדֵּשׁ (yÿkhaddesh, “he renews”) with ellipsis of the object (“you”).

[3:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with a shout of joy.”

[15:6]  ⁹ tn Grk “And coming into his…” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:6]  ¹⁰ sn A touch of drama may be present, as the term calls together can mean a formal celebration (1 Kgs 1:9-10).

[15:6]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215). It occurs before “neighbors” as well (“his friends and his neighbors”) but has not been translated the second time because of English style.

[15:7]  ¹² sn There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. The pursuit of the sinner is a priority in spite of the presence of others who are doing well (see also Luke 5:32; 19:10). The theme of repentance, a major Lukan theme, is again emphasized.

[15:7]  ¹³ tn Here δικαίοις (dikaioi") is an adjective functioning substantivally and has been translated “righteous people.”

[15:7]  ¹⁴ tn Or “who do not need to repent”; Grk “who do not have need of repentance.”

[15:8]  ¹⁵ sn This silver coin is a drachma, equal to a denarius, that is, a day’s pay for the average laborer.

[15:8]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “What woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses.” The initial participle ἔχουσα (ecousa) has been translated as a finite verb parallel to ἀπολέσῃ (apolesh) in the conditional clause to improve the English style.

[15:8]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “one coin.”

[15:8]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and sweep,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[15:9]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:9]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[15:9]  ²¹ sn Rejoice. Besides the theme of pursuing the lost, the other theme of the parable is the joy of finding them.

[15:9]  ²² tn Grk “drachma.”

[15:10]  ²³ sn The whole of heaven is said to rejoice. Joy in the presence of God’s angels is a way of referring to God’s joy as well without having to name him explicitly. Contemporary Judaism tended to refer to God indirectly where possible out of reverence or respect for the divine name.

[15:32]  ²⁴ tn Or “necessary.”

[15:32]  ²⁵ sn By referring to him as your brother, the father reminded the older brother that the younger brother was part of the family.

[15:32]  ²⁶ sn The theme he was lost and is found is repeated from v. 24. The conclusion is open-ended. The reader is left to ponder with the older son (who pictures the scribes and Pharisees) what the response will be. The parable does not reveal the ultimate response of the older brother. Jesus argued that sinners should be pursued and received back warmly when they returned.

[15:11]  ²⁷ tn Grk “These things I have spoken to you.”