Isaiah 49:13

49:13 Shout for joy, O sky! ¹ 

Rejoice, O earth!

Let the mountains give a joyful shout!

For the Lord consoles his people

and shows compassion to the ²  oppressed.

Psalms 96:11-13

96:11 Let the sky rejoice, and the earth be happy!

Let the sea and everything in it shout!

96:12 Let the fields and everything in them celebrate!

Then let the trees of the forest shout with joy

96:13 before the Lord, for he comes!

For he comes to judge the earth!

He judges the world fairly, ³ 

and the nations in accordance with his justice. ⁴ 

Psalms 98:7-9

98:7 Let the sea and everything in it shout,

along with the world and those who live in it!

98:8 Let the rivers clap their hands!

Let the mountains sing in unison

98:9 before the Lord!

For he comes to judge the earth!

He judges the world fairly, ⁵ 

and the nations in a just manner.

Psalms 126:1-3

Psalm 126 ⁶ 

A song of ascents. ⁷ 

126:1 When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion, ⁸ 

we thought we were dreaming. ⁹ 

126:2 At that time we laughed loudly

and shouted for joy. ¹⁰ 

At that time the nations said, ¹¹ 

“The Lord has accomplished great things for these people.”

126:3 The Lord did indeed accomplish great things for us.

We were happy.

Proverbs 11:10

11:10 When the righteous do well, ¹²  the city rejoices; ¹³ 

when the wicked perish, there is joy.

Jeremiah 51:48

51:48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them

will sing for joy over Babylon.

For destroyers from the north will attack it,”

says the Lord. ¹⁴ 

Revelation 18:20

18:20 (Rejoice over her, O heaven,

and you saints and apostles and prophets,

for God has pronounced judgment ¹⁵  against her on your behalf!) ¹⁶ 

Revelation 19:1-6

19:1 After these things I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a vast throng in heaven, saying,

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

19:2 because his judgments are true and just. ¹⁷ 

For he has judged ¹⁸  the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,

and has avenged the blood of his servants ¹⁹  poured out by her own hands!” ²⁰ 

19:3 Then ²¹  a second time the crowd shouted, “Hallelujah!” The smoke rises from her forever and ever. ²²  19:4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures threw themselves to the ground ²³  and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne, saying: “Amen! Hallelujah!”

19:5 Then ²⁴  a voice came from the throne, saying:

“Praise our God

all you his servants,

and all you who fear Him,

both the small and the great!”

The Wedding Celebration of the Lamb

19:6 Then ²⁵  I heard what sounded like the voice of a vast throng, like the roar of many waters and like loud crashes of thunder. They were shouting: ²⁶ 

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God, ²⁷  the All-Powerful, ²⁸  reigns!

[49:13]  ¹ tn Or “O heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[49:13]  ² tn Heb “his” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[96:13]  ³ tn The verbal forms in v. 13 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions, in which case they could be translated “will judge the world.”

[96:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the nations with his integrity.”

[98:9]  ⁵ tn The verbal forms in v. 9 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions (“will judge…”).

[126:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 126. Recalling the joy of past deliverance, God’s covenant community asks for a fresh display of God’s power and confidently anticipate their sorrow being transformed into joy.

[126:1]  ⁷ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[126:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew noun שִׁיבַת (shivat) occurs only here in the OT. For this reason many prefer to emend the form to the more common שְׁבִית (shevit) or שְׁבוּת (shÿvut), both of which are used as a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv; see Ps 14:7). However an Aramaic cognate of שְׁבִית appears in an eighth century b.c. Old Aramaic inscription with the verb שׁוּב. This cognate noun appears to mean “return” (see J. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Treaties of Sefire [BibOr], 119-20) or “restoration” (see DNWSI 2:1125). Therefore it appears that שְׁבִית should be retained and understood as a cognate accusative of שׁוּב. In addition to Fitzmyer (119-20) see L. C. Allen, who offers the literal translation, “turn with a turning toward” (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 170). Allen takes שְׁבִית as construct and understands “Zion” as an objective genitive.

[126:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “we were like dreamers.” This could mean the speakers were so overcome with ecstatic joy (see v. 3b) that they were like those who fantasize about pleasurable experiences in their sleep (see Isa 29:7-8). Since dreams are more commonly associated in the OT with prophetic visions, the community may be comparing their experience of God’s renewed favor to a prophet’s receiving divine visions. Just as a prophetic dream sweeps the individual into a different dimension and sometimes brings one face-to-face with God himself (see Gen 28:11-15; 1 Kgs 3:5-15), so the community was aware of God’s presence in a special way in the day of Zion’s restoration. Though the MT as it stands makes good sense, some choose to understand a homonymic root here meaning “to be healthy; to be strong” (see BDB 321 s.v. I חָלַם) and translate, “we were like those restored to health.” This reading appears to have the support of several ancient translations as well as 11QPs^a. See L. C. Allen (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 170-71) for a discussion of the viewpoints.

[126:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with a shout.”

[126:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they said among the nations.”

[11:10]  ¹² tn The text has “in the good [בְּטוֹב, bÿtov] of the righteous,” meaning when they do well, when they prosper. Cf. NCV, NLT “succeed”; TEV “have good fortune.”

[11:10]  ¹³ sn The verb תַּעֲלֹץ (ta’alots, “to rejoice; to exult”) is paralleled with the noun רִנָּה (rinnah, “ringing cry”). The descriptions are hyperbolic, except when the person who dies is one who afflicted society (e.g., 2 Kgs 11:20; Esth 8:15). D. Kidner says, “However drab the world makes out virtue to be, it appreciates the boon of it in public life” (Proverbs [TOTC], 91).

[51:48]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[18:20]  ¹⁵ tn On the phrase “pronounced judgment” BDAG 567 s.v. κρίμα 4.b states, “The OT is the source of the expr. κρίνειν τὸ κρ. (cp. Zech 7:9; 8:16; Ezk 44:24) ἔκρινεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς God has pronounced judgment for you against her or God has pronounced on her the judgment she wished to impose on you (HHoltzmann, Hdb. 1893 ad loc.) Rv 18:20.”

[18:20]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “God has judged a judgment of you of her.” Verse 20 is set in parentheses because in it the saints, etc. are addressed directly in the second person.

[19:2]  ¹⁷ tn Compare the similar phrase in Rev 16:7.

[19:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “has punished.” See BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α, describing the OT background which involves both the vindication of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty.

[19:2]  ¹⁹ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[19:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “from her hand” (referring to her responsibility in causing the blood of God’s followers to be shed).

[19:3]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:3]  ²² tn Or “her smoke ascends forever and ever.”

[19:4]  ²³ tn Grk “creatures fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

[19:5]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:6]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:6]  ²⁶ tn Grk “like the voice of a large crowd…saying.” Because of the complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the words “They were.”

[19:6]  ²⁷ tc Several mss (א² P 1611 2053 2344 pc Ï^K lat ) read “the Lord our God” (κύριος ὁ θεός ἡμῶν, kurio" Jo qeo" Jhmwn). Other important mss (A 1006 1841 pc), however, omit the “our” (ἡμῶν). Further, certain mss (051 Ï^A) omit “Lord” (κύριος), while others (including א*) change the order of the statement to “God our Lord” (ὁ θεός ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν). The expression “the Lord God, the All-Powerful” occurs in 6 other places in Revelation (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22) and the pronoun “our” is never used. Scribes familiar with the expression in this book, and especially with the frequent κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ (kurio" Jo qeo" Jo pantokratwr; “the Lord God, the All-Powerful”) in the OT Prophets (LXX; cf. Jer 39:19; Hos 12:6; Amos 3:13; 4:13; 5:8, 14, 15, 16, 27; 9:5, 6, 15; Nah 3:5; Zech 10:3), would naturally omit the pronoun. Its presence may have arisen due to liturgical motivations or to conform to the expression “our God” in 19:1, 5, but this seems much less likely than an aversion to using the pronoun here and only here in the Greek Bible in the fuller title κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ.

[19:6]  ²⁸ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22…κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ὁ π. Rv 19:6.”