Ezra 9:8-9

9:8 “But now briefly ¹  we have received mercy from the Lord our God, in that he has left us a remnant and has given us a secure position ²  in his holy place. Thus our God has enlightened our eyes ³  and has given us a little relief in our time of servitude. 9:9 Although we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our servitude. He has extended kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, in that he has revived us ⁴  to restore the temple of our God and to raise ⁵  up its ruins and to give us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ 

Ezra 9:13-15

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. 9:14 Shall we once again break your commandments and intermarry with these abominable peoples? Would you not be so angered by us that you would wipe us out, with no survivor or remnant? 9:15 O Lord God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left as a remnant this day. Indeed, we stand before you in our guilt. However, because of this guilt ⁸  no one can really stand before you.”

Nehemiah 9:31

9:31 However, due to your abundant mercy you did not do away with them altogether; you did not abandon them. For you are a merciful and compassionate God.

Psalms 78:38

78:38 Yet he is compassionate.

He forgives sin and does not destroy.

He often holds back his anger,

and does not stir up his fury. ⁹ 

Psalms 106:45

106:45 He remembered his covenant with them,

and relented ¹⁰  because of his great loyal love.

Ezekiel 20:8-9

20:8 But they rebelled against me, and refused to listen to me; no one got rid of their detestable idols, ¹¹  nor did they abandon the idols of Egypt. Then I decided to pour out ¹²  my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 20:9 I acted for the sake of my reputation, ¹³  so that I would not be profaned before the nations among whom they lived, ¹⁴  before whom I revealed myself by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁵ 

Ezekiel 20:13-14

20:13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not follow my statutes and they rejected my regulations (the one who obeys them will live by them), and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I decided to pour out ¹⁶  my rage on them in the wilderness and destroy them. ¹⁷  20:14 I acted for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

Ezekiel 20:21-22

20:21 “‘But the children ¹⁸  rebelled against me, did not follow my statutes, did not observe my regulations by carrying them out (the one who obeys ¹⁹  them will live by them), and desecrated my Sabbaths. I decided to pour out ²⁰  my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in the wilderness. 20:22 But I refrained from doing so, ²¹  and acted instead for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

Malachi 3:6

Resistance to the Lord through Selfishness

3:6 “Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises, ²²  you, sons of Jacob, have not perished.

[9:8]  ¹ tn Heb “according to a little moment.”

[9:8]  ² tn Heb “a peg” or “tent peg.” The imagery behind this word is drawn from the experience of nomads who put down pegs as they pitched their tents and made camp after times of travel.

[9:8]  ³ tn Heb “to cause our eyes to shine.” The expression is a figure of speech for “to revive.” See DCH 1:160 s.v. אור Hi.7.

[9:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “has granted us reviving.”

[9:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “to cause to stand.”

[9:9]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

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

[9:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “this”; the referent (the guilt mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[78:38]  ⁹ tn One could translate v. 38 in the past tense (“he was compassionate…forgave sin and did not destroy…held back his anger, and did not stir up his fury”), but the imperfect verbal forms are probably best understood as generalizing. Verse 38 steps back briefly from the narrational summary of Israel’s history and lays the theological basis for v. 39, which focuses on God’s mercy toward sinful Israel.

[106:45]  ¹⁰ tn The Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) refers here to God relenting from a punishment already underway.

[20:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “each one, the detestable things of their eyes did not throw away.”

[20:8]  ¹² tn Heb “and I said/thought to pour out.”

[20:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “for the sake of my name.”

[20:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “before the eyes of the nations in whose midst they were.”

[20:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to whom I made myself known before their eyes to bring them out from the land of Egypt.” The translation understands the infinitive construct (“to bring them out”) as indicating manner. God’s deliverance of his people from Egypt was an act of self-revelation in that it displayed his power and his commitment to his promises.

[20:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and I said/thought to pour out.”

[20:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to bring them to an end.”

[20:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “sons.”

[20:21]  ¹⁹ tn Or “carries them out.”

[20:21]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and I said/thought to pour out.”

[20:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “drew my hand back.” This idiom also occurs in Lam 2:8 and Ps 74:11.

[3:6]  ²² tn Heb “do not change.” This refers to God’s ongoing commitment to his covenant promises to Israel.