Ezra 9:3-4

9:3 When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and my robe and ripped out some of the hair from my head and beard. Then I sat down, quite devastated. 9:4 Everyone who held the words of the God of Israel in awe ¹  gathered around me because of the unfaithful acts of the people of the exile. ²  Devastated, I continued to sit there until the evening offering.

Psalms 119:120

119:120 My body ³  trembles ⁴  because I fear you; ⁵ 

I am afraid of your judgments.

Isaiah 66:2

66:2 My hand made them; ⁶ 

that is how they came to be,” ⁷  says the Lord.

I show special favor ⁸  to the humble and contrite,

who respect what I have to say. ⁹ 

Isaiah 66:5

66:5 Hear the word of the Lord,

you who respect what he has to say! ¹⁰ 

Your countrymen, ¹¹  who hate you

and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name,

say, “May the Lord be glorified,

then we will witness your joy.” ¹² 

But they will be put to shame.

Jeremiah 5:22

5:22 “You should fear me!” says the Lord.

“You should tremble in awe before me! ¹³ 

I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea,

a permanent barrier that it can never cross.

Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail.

They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary.” ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 16:7

16:7 No one will take any food to those who mourn for the dead to comfort them. No one will give them any wine to drink to console them for the loss of their father or mother.

Jeremiah 16:10

The Lord Promises Exile (But Also Restoration)

16:10 “When you tell these people about all this, ¹⁵  they will undoubtedly ask you, ‘Why has the Lord threatened us with such great disaster? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done to offend the Lord our God?’

Daniel 6:26

6:26 I have issued an edict that throughout all the dominion of my kingdom people are to revere and fear the God of Daniel.

“For he is the living God;

he endures forever.

His kingdom will not be destroyed;

his authority is forever. ¹⁶ 

Philippians 2:12

Lights in the World

2:12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, ¹⁷ 

[9:4]  ¹ tn Heb “who trembled at the words of the God of Israel.”

[9:4]  ² tn Heb “the exile”; the words “the people” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[119:120]  ³ tn Heb “my flesh.”

[119:120]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb סָמַר (samar, “to tremble”) occurs only here and in Job 4:15.

[119:120]  ⁵ tn Heb “from fear of you.” The pronominal suffix on the noun is an objective genitive.

[66:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.

[66:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”

[66:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).

[66:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”

[66:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “who tremble at his word.”

[66:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “brothers” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “Your own people”; NLT “Your close relatives.”

[66:5]  ¹² tn Or “so that we might witness your joy.” The point of this statement is unclear.

[5:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “Should you not fear me? Should you not tremble in awe before me?” The rhetorical questions expect the answer explicit in the translation.

[5:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “it.” The referent is made explicit to avoid any possible confusion.

[16:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “all these words/things.”

[6:26]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “until the end.”

[2:12]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “with fear and trembling.” The Greek words φόβος and τρόμος both imply fear in a negative sense (L&N 25.251 and 16.6 respectively) while the former can also refer to respect and awe for deity (L&N 53.59). Paul’s use of the terms in other contexts refers to “awe and reverence in the presence of God” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 284; see discussion on 282-84). The translation “awe and reverence” was chosen to portray the attitude the believer should have toward God as they consider their behavior in light of God working through Jesus Christ (2:6-11) and in the believer’s life (2:13) to accomplish their salvation.