Isaiah 26:16

26:16 O Lord, in distress they looked for you;

they uttered incantations because of your discipline. ¹ 

Psalms 37:39

37:39 But the Lord delivers the godly; ² 

he protects them in times of trouble. ³ 

Psalms 46:1

Psalm 46 ⁴ 

For the music director; by the Korahites; according to the alamoth style; ⁵  a song.

46:1 God is our strong refuge; ⁶ 

he is truly our helper in times of trouble. ⁷ 

Psalms 46:5

46:5 God lives within it, ⁸  it cannot be moved. ⁹ 

God rescues it ¹⁰  at the break of dawn. ¹¹ 

Psalms 50:15

50:15 Pray to me when you are in trouble! ¹² 

I will deliver you, and you will honor me!” ¹³ 

Psalms 60:11

60:11 Give us help against the enemy,

for any help men might offer is futile. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 90:15

90:15 Make us happy in proportion to the days you have afflicted us,

in proportion to the years we have experienced ¹⁵  trouble!

Psalms 91:15

91:15 When he calls out to me, I will answer him.

I will be with him when he is in trouble;

I will rescue him and bring him honor.

Jeremiah 2:27-28

2:27 They say to a wooden idol, ¹⁶  ‘You are my father.’

They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’ ¹⁷ 

Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. ¹⁸ 

Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’

2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them save you when you are in trouble.

The sad fact is that ¹⁹  you have as many gods

as you have towns, Judah.

Jeremiah 14:8

14:8 You have been the object of Israel’s hopes.

You have saved them when they were in trouble.

Why have you become like a resident foreigner ²⁰  in the land?

Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night?

Jeremiah 14:2

14:2 “The people of Judah are in mourning.

The people in her cities are pining away.

They lie on the ground expressing their sorrow. ²¹ 

Cries of distress come up to me ²²  from Jerusalem. ²³ 

Colossians 1:3-4

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ²⁴  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 1:4 since ²⁵  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

[26:16]  ¹ tn The meaning of this verse is unclear. It appears to read literally, “O Lord, in distress they visit you, they pour out [?] an incantation, your discipline to them.” פָּקַד (paqad) may here carry the sense of “seek with interest” (cf. Ezek 23:21 and BDB 823 s.v.) or “seek in vain” (cf. Isa 34:16), but it is peculiar for the Lord to be the object of this verb. צָקוּן (tsaqun) may be a Qal perfect third plural form from צוּק (tsuq, “pour out, melt”), though the verb is not used of pouring out words in its two other occurrences. Because of the appearance of צַר (tsar, “distress”) in the preceding line, it is tempting to emend the form to a noun and derive it from צוּק (“be in distress”) The term לַחַשׁ (lakhash) elsewhere refers to an incantation (Isa 3:3; Jer 8:17; Eccl 10:11) or amulet (Isa 3:20). Perhaps here it refers to ritualistic prayers or to magical incantations used to ward off evil.

[37:39]  ² tn Heb “and the deliverance of the godly [ones] [is] from the Lord.”

[37:39]  ³ tn Heb “[he is] their place of refuge in a time of trouble.”

[46:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 46. In this so-called “Song Of Zion” God’s people confidently affirm that they are secure because the great warrior-king dwells within Jerusalem and protects it from the nations that cause such chaos in the earth. A refrain (vv. 7, 11) concludes the song’s two major sections.

[46:1]  ⁵ sn The meaning of the Hebrew term עֲלָמוֹת (alamoth, which means “young women”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. Cf. 1 Chr 15:20.

[46:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “our refuge and strength,” which is probably a hendiadys meaning “our strong refuge” (see Ps 71:7). Another option is to translate, “our refuge and source of strength.”

[46:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “a helper in times of trouble he is found [to be] greatly.” The perfect verbal form has a generalizing function here. The adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od, “greatly”) has an emphasizing function.

[46:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “God [is] within her.” The feminine singular pronoun refers to the city mentioned in v. 4.

[46:5]  ⁹ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect verbal form as future, “it will not be upended.” Even if one chooses this option, the future tense must be understood in a generalizing sense. The verb מוֹט (mot), translated “upended” here, is used in v. 2 of the mountains “tumbling” into the seas and in v. 6 of nations being “upended.” By way of contrast, Jerusalem, God’s dwelling place, is secure and immune from such turmoil and destruction.

[46:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “helps her.” The imperfect draws attention to the generalizing character of the statement.

[46:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “at the turning of morning.” (For other uses of the expression see Exod 14:27 and Judg 19:26).

[50:15]  ¹² tn Heb “call [to] me in a day of trouble.”

[50:15]  ¹³ sn In vv. 7-15 the Lord makes it clear that he was not rebuking Israel because they had failed to offer sacrifices (v. 8a). On the contrary, they had been faithful in doing so (v. 8b). However, their understanding of the essence of their relationship with God was confused. Apparently they believed that he needed/desired such sacrifices and that offering them would ensure their prosperity. But the Lord owns all the animals of the world and did not need Israel’s meager sacrifices (vv. 9-13). Other aspects of the relationship were more important to the Lord. He desired Israel to be thankful for his blessings (v. 14a), to demonstrate gratitude for his intervention by repaying the vows they made to him (v. 14b), and to acknowledge their absolute dependence on him (v. 15a). Rather than viewing their sacrifices as somehow essential to God’s well-being, they needed to understand their dependence on him.

[60:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and futile [is] the deliverance of man.”

[90:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “have seen.”

[2:27]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “wood…stone…”

[2:27]  ¹⁷ sn The reference to wood and stone is, of course, a pejorative reference to idols made by human hands. See the next verse where reference is made to “the gods you have made.”

[2:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they have turned [their] backs to me, not [their] faces.”

[2:28]  ¹⁹ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki, “for, indeed”) contextually.

[14:8]  ²⁰ tn It would be a mistake to translate this word as “stranger.” This word (גֵּר, ger) refers to a resident alien or resident foreigner who stays in a country not his own. He is accorded the privilege of protection through the common rights of hospitality but he does not have the rights of the native born or citizen. The simile here is particularly effective. The land was the Lord’s land; they were but resident foreigners and tenants on it (Lev 25:23). Jeremiah’s complaint here is particularly bold. For further information on the status of “resident foreigners” see IDB 4:397-99 s.v. “Sojourner.”

[14:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “Judah mourns, its gates pine away, they are in mourning on the ground.” There are several figures of speech involved here. The basic figure is that of personification where Judah and it cities are said to be in mourning. However, in the third line the figure is a little hard to sustain because “they” are in mourning on the ground. That presses the imagination of most moderns a little too far. Hence the personification has been interpreted “people of” throughout. The term “gates” here is used as part for whole for the “cities” themselves as in several other passages in the OT (cf. BDB 1045 s.v. שַׁעַר 2.b, c and see, e.g., Isa 14:31).

[14:2]  ²² tn The words “to me” are not in the text. They are implicit from the fact that the Lord is speaking. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:2]  ²³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:3]  ²⁴ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).

[1:4]  ²⁵ tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).