Genesis 44:16

44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say ¹  to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? ²  God has exposed the sin of your servants! ³  We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

Joshua 7:8

7:8 If only we had been satisfied to live on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say now that Israel has retreated ⁴  before its enemies?

Lamentations 3:22

ח (Khet)

3:22 The Lord’s loyal kindness ⁵  never ceases; ⁶ 

his compassions ⁷  never end.

Daniel 9:4-16

9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God, confessing in this way:

“O Lord, ⁸  great and awesome God who is faithful to his covenant ⁹  with those who love him and keep his commandments, 9:5 we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards. 9:6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority ¹⁰  to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, ¹¹  and to all the inhabitants ¹²  of the land as well.

9:7 “You are righteous, ¹³  O Lord, but we are humiliated this day ¹⁴  – the people ¹⁵  of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you. 9:8 O LORD, we have been humiliated ¹⁶  – our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors – because we have sinned against you. 9:9 Yet the Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving, ¹⁷  even though we have rebelled against him. 9:10 We have not obeyed ¹⁸  the LORD our God by living according to ¹⁹  his laws ²⁰  that he set before us through his servants the prophets.

9:11 “All Israel has broken ²¹  your law and turned away by not obeying you. ²²  Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened ²³  in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you. ²⁴  9:12 He has carried out his threats ²⁵  against us and our rulers ²⁶  who were over ²⁷  us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven! 9:13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to pacify ²⁸  the LORD our God by turning back from our sin and by seeking wisdom ²⁹  from your reliable moral standards. ³⁰  9:14 The LORD was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the LORD our God is just ³¹  in all he has done, ³²  and we have not obeyed him. ³³ 

9:15 “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with great power ³⁴  and made a name for yourself that is remembered to this day – we have sinned and behaved wickedly. 9:16 O Lord, according to all your justice, ³⁵  please turn your raging anger ³⁶  away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. For due to our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people are mocked by all our neighbors.

Romans 3:19

3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under ³⁷  the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

[44:16]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal form here indicates the subject’s potential.

[44:16]  ² tn The Hitpael form of the verb צָדֵק (tsadeq) here means “to prove ourselves just, to declare ourselves righteous, to prove our innocence.”

[44:16]  ³ sn God has exposed the sin of your servants. The first three questions are rhetorical; Judah is stating that there is nothing they can say to clear themselves. He therefore must conclude that they have been found guilty.

[7:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “turned [the] back.”

[3:22]  ⁵ tn It is difficult to capture the nuances of the Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed). When used of the Lord it is often connected to his covenant loyalty. This is the only occasion when the plural form of חֶסֶד (khesed) precedes the plural form of רַחֲמִים (rakhamim, “mercy, compassion”). The plural forms, as with this one, tend to be in late texts. The plural may indicate several concrete expressions of God’s kindnesses or may indicate the abstract concept of his kindness.

[3:22]  ⁶ tc The MT reads תָמְנוּ (tamnu) “indeed we are [not] cut off,” Qal perfect 1st person common plural from תָּמַם (tamam, “be finished”): “[Because of] the kindnesses of the Lord, we are not cut off.” However, the ancient versions (LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Aramaic Targum) and many medieval Hebrew mss preserve the alternate reading תָּמּוּ (tammu), Qal perfect 3rd person common plural from תָּמַם (tamam, “to be finished”): “The kindnesses of the Lord never cease.” The external evidence favors the alternate reading. The internal evidence supports this as well, as the parallel B-line suggests: “his compassions never come to an end.” Several English versions follow the MT: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed” (KJV, NKJV), “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed” (NIV). Other English versions follow the alternate textual tradition: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (RSV, NRSV), “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease” (NASB), “The kindness of the Lord has not ended” (NJPS) and “The Lord’s unfailing love still continues” (TEV).

[3:22]  ⁷ tn The plural form of רַחֲמִים (rakhamim) may denote the abstract concept of mercy, several concrete expressions of mercy, or the plural of intensity: “great compassion.” See IBHS 122 §7.4.3a.

[9:4]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 7, 9, 15, 16, and 19 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[9:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in your name.” Another option is to translate, “as your representatives.”

[9:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “our fathers” (also in vv. 8, 16). The Hebrew term translated “father” can refer to more distant relationships such as grandfathers or ancestors.

[9:6]  ¹² tn Heb “people.”

[9:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “to you (belongs) righteousness.”

[9:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and to us (belongs) shame of face like this day.”

[9:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “men.”

[9:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to us (belongs) shame of face.”

[9:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to the Lord our God (belong) compassion and forgiveness.”

[9:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “paid attention to the voice of,” which is an idiomatic expression for obedience (cf. NASB “nor have we obeyed the voice of”).

[9:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to walk in.”

[9:10]  ²⁰ tc The LXX and Vulgate have the singular.

[9:11]  ²¹ tn Or “transgressed.” The Hebrew verb has the primary sense of crossing a boundary, in this case, God’s law.

[9:11]  ²² tn Heb “by not paying attention to your voice.”

[9:11]  ²³ tn Heb “the curse and the oath which is written.” The term “curse” refers here to the judgments threatened in the Mosaic law (see Deut 28) for rebellion. The expression “the curse and the oath” is probably a hendiadys (cf. Num 5:21; Neh 10:29) referring to the fact that the covenant with its threatened judgments was ratified by solemn oath and made legally binding upon the covenant community.

[9:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “him.”

[9:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he has fulfilled his word(s) which he spoke.”

[9:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “our judges.”

[9:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “who judged.”

[9:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “we have not pacified the face of.”

[9:13]  ²⁹ tn Or “by gaining insight.”

[9:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “by your truth.” The Hebrew term does not refer here to abstract truth, however, but to the reliable moral guidance found in the covenant law. See vv 10-11.

[9:14]  ³¹ tn Or “righteous.”

[9:14]  ³² tn Heb “in all his deeds which he has done.”

[9:14]  ³³ tn Heb “we have not listened to his voice.”

[9:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “with a powerful hand.”

[9:16]  ³⁵ tn Or “righteousness.”

[9:16]  ³⁶ tn Heb “your anger and your rage.” The synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of God’s anger. This is best expressed in English by making one of the terms adjectival (cf. NLT “your furious anger”; CEV “terribly angry”).

[3:19]  ³⁷ tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”