Isaiah 12:6

12:6 Cry out and shout for joy, O citizens of Zion,

for the Holy One of Israel ¹  acts mightily ²  among you!”

Isaiah 46:13

46:13 I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away;

I am bringing my salvation near, ³  it does not wait.

I will save Zion; ⁴ 

I will adorn Israel with my splendor.” ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 4:7

4:7 In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him?

Psalms 75:1

Psalm 75 ⁶ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ⁷  a psalm of Asaph; a song.

75:1 We give thanks to you, O God! We give thanks!

You reveal your presence; ⁸ 

people tell about your amazing deeds.

Psalms 145:18

145:18 The Lord is near all who cry out to him,

all who cry out to him sincerely. ⁹ 

Psalms 148:14

148:14 He has made his people victorious, ¹⁰ 

and given all his loyal followers reason to praise –

the Israelites, the people who are close to him. ¹¹ 

Praise the Lord!

Ezekiel 8:6

8:6 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing – the great abominations that the people ¹²  of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!”

Ephesians 3:13

3:13 For this reason I ask you ¹³  not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, ¹⁴  which ¹⁵  is your glory. ¹⁶ 

[12:6]  ¹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[12:6]  ² tn Or “is great” (TEV). However, the context emphasizes his mighty acts of deliverance (cf. NCV), not some general or vague character quality.

[46:13]  ³ tn Heb “my salvation.” The verb “I am bringing near” is understood by ellipsis (note the previous line).

[46:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will place in Zion salvation”; NASB “I will grant salvation in Zion.”

[46:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “to Israel my splendor”; KJV, ASV “for Israel my glory.”

[75:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 75. The psalmist celebrates God’s just rule, which guarantees that the godly will be vindicated and the wicked destroyed.

[75:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the superscription to Pss 57-59.

[75:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “and near [is] your name.”

[145:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “in truth.”

[148:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he lifted up a horn for his people.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). Another option is to take the “horn” as a symbol for the Davidic king, through whom the Lord gives his people military victory.

[148:14]  ¹¹ tn “[there is] praise for all his loyal followers, to the sons of Israel, the people near him.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the victory that prompts it.

[8:6]  ¹² tn Heb “house.”

[3:13]  ¹³ tn Grk “I ask.” No direct object is given in Greek, leaving room for the possibility that either “God” (since the verb is often associated with prayer) or “you” is in view.

[3:13]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “my trials on your behalf.”

[3:13]  ¹⁵ sn Which. The antecedent (i.e., the word or concept to which this clause refers back) may be either “what I am suffering for you” or the larger concept of the recipients not losing heart over Paul’s suffering for them. The relative pronoun “which” is attracted to the predicate nominative “glory” in its gender and number (feminine singular), making the antecedent ambiguous. Paul’s suffering for them could be viewed as their glory (cf. Col 1:24 for a parallel) in that his suffering has brought about their salvation, but if so his suffering must be viewed as more than his present imprisonment in Rome; it would be a general description of his ministry overall (cf. 2 Cor 11:23-27). The other option is that the author is implicitly arguing that the believers have continued to have courage in the midst of his trials (as not to lose heart suggests) and that this is their glory. Philippians 1:27-28 offers an interesting parallel: The believers’ courage in the face of adversity is a sign of their salvation.

[3:13]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Or who is your glory?” The relative pronoun ἥτις (Jhti"), if divided differently, would become ἤ τίς (h ti"). Since there were no word breaks in the original mss, either word division is possible. The force of the question would be that for the readers to become discouraged over Paul’s imprisonment would mean that they were no longer trusting in God’s sovereignty.