Jeremiah 11:20

11:20 So I said to the Lord, ¹ 

“O Lord who rules over all, ²  you are a just judge!

You examine people’s hearts and minds. ³ 

I want to see you pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.” ⁴ 

Genesis 18:25

18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge ⁵  of the whole earth do what is right?” ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 32:4

32:4 As for the Rock, ⁷  his work is perfect,

for all his ways are just.

He is a reliable God who is never unjust,

he is fair ⁸  and upright.

Psalms 51:4

51:4 Against you – you above all ⁹  – I have sinned;

I have done what is evil in your sight.

So ¹⁰  you are just when you confront me; ¹¹ 

you are right when you condemn me. ¹² 

Psalms 119:75

119:75 I know, Lord, that your regulations ¹³  are just.

You disciplined me because of your faithful devotion to me. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 119:137

צ (Tsade)

119:137 You are just, O Lord,

and your judgments are fair.

Psalms 145:17

145:17 The Lord is just in all his actions, ¹⁵ 

and exhibits love in all he does. ¹⁶ 

Daniel 9:7

9:7 “You are righteous, ¹⁷  O Lord, but we are humiliated this day ¹⁸  – the people ¹⁹  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.

Habakkuk 1:13-17

1:13 You are too just ²⁰  to tolerate ²¹  evil;

you are unable to condone ²²  wrongdoing.

So why do you put up with such treacherous people? ²³ 

Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour ²⁴  those more righteous than they are? ²⁵ 

1:14 You made people like fish in the sea,

like animals in the sea ²⁶  that have no ruler.

1:15 The Babylonian tyrant ²⁷  pulls them all up with a fishhook;

he hauls them in with his throw net. ²⁸ 

When he catches ²⁹  them in his dragnet,

he is very happy. ³⁰ 

1:16 Because of his success ³¹  he offers sacrifices to his throw net

and burns incense to his dragnet; ³² 

for because of them he has plenty of food, ³³ 

and more than enough to eat. ³⁴ 

1:17 Will he then ³⁵  continue to fill and empty his throw net? ³⁶ 

Will he always ³⁷  destroy ³⁸  nations and spare none? ³⁹ 

Zephaniah 3:5

3:5 The just Lord resides ⁴⁰  within her;

he commits no unjust acts. ⁴¹ 

Every morning he reveals ⁴²  his justice.

At dawn he appears without fail. ⁴³ 

Yet the unjust know no shame.

Romans 3:5-6

3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates ⁴⁴  the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? ⁴⁵  (I am speaking in human terms.) ⁴⁶  3:6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world?

[11:20]  ¹ tn The words “So I said to the Lord” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift in address.

[11:20]  ² tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:20]  ³ tn Heb “Lord of armies, just judge, tester of kidneys and heart.” The sentence has been broken up to avoid a long and complex English sentence. The translation is more in keeping with contemporary English style. In Hebrew thought the “kidneys” were thought of as the seat of the emotions and passions and the “heart” was viewed as the seat of intellect, conscience, and will. The “heart” and the “kidneys” are often used figuratively for the thoughts, emotions, motives, and drives that are thought to be seated in them.

[11:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “Let me see your retribution [i.e., see you exact retribution] from them because I reveal my cause [i.e., plea for justice] to you.”

[18:25]  ⁵ tn Or “ruler.”

[18:25]  ⁶ sn Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? For discussion of this text see J. L. Crenshaw, “Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel,” ZAW 82 (1970): 380-95, and C. S. Rodd, “Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do What Is Just?” ExpTim 83 (1972): 137-39.

[32:4]  ⁷ tc The LXX reads Θεός (qeos, “God”) for the MT’s “Rock.”

[32:4]  ⁸ tn Or “just” (KJV, NAB, NRSV, NLT) or “righteous” (NASB).

[51:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “only you,” as if the psalmist had sinned exclusively against God and no other. Since the Hebrew verb חָטָא (hata’, “to sin”) is used elsewhere of sinful acts against people (see BDB 306 s.v. 2.a) and David (the presumed author) certainly sinned when he murdered Uriah (2 Sam 12:9), it is likely that the psalmist is overstating the case to suggest that the attack on Uriah was ultimately an attack on God himself. To clarify the point of the hyperbole, the translation uses “especially,” rather than the potentially confusing “only.”

[51:4]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) normally indicates purpose (“in order that”), but here it introduces a logical consequence of the preceding statement. (Taking the clause as indicating purpose here would yield a theologically preposterous idea – the psalmist purposely sinned so that God’s justice might be vindicated!) For other examples of לְמַעַן indicating result, see 2 Kgs 22:17; Jer 27:15; Amos 2:7, as well as IBHS 638-40 §38.3.

[51:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “when you speak.” In this context the psalmist refers to God’s word of condemnation against his sin delivered through Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 12:7-12).

[51:4]  ¹² tn Heb “when you judge.”

[119:75]  ¹³ tn In this context (note the second line) the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim), which so often refers to the regulations of God’s law elsewhere in this psalm, may refer instead to his decisions or disciplinary judgment.

[119:75]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and [in] faithfulness you afflicted me.”

[145:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in all his ways.”

[145:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and [is] loving in all his deeds.”

[9:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to you (belongs) righteousness.”

[9:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and to us (belongs) shame of face like this day.”

[9:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “men.”

[1:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “[you] are too pure of eyes.” God’s “eyes” here signify what he looks at with approval. His “eyes” are “pure” in that he refuses to tolerate any wrongdoing in his presence.

[1:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “to see.” Here “see” is figurative for “tolerate,” “put up with.”

[1:13]  ²² tn Heb “to look at.” Cf. NEB “who canst not countenance wrongdoing”; NASB “You can not look on wickedness with favor.”

[1:13]  ²³ tn Heb “Why do you look at treacherous ones?” The verb בָּגַד (bagad, “be treacherous”) is often used of those who are disloyal or who violate agreements. See S. Erlandsson, TDOT 1:470-73.

[1:13]  ²⁴ tn Or “swallow up.”

[1:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “more innocent than themselves.”

[1:14]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew word רֶמֶשׂ (remesh) usually refers to animals that creep, but here the referent seems to be marine animals that glide through the water (note the parallelism in the previous line). See also Ps 104:25.

[1:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Babylonian tyrant) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NASB “The Chaldeans”; NIV “The wicked foe”; NRSV “The enemy”). Babylonian imperialism is here compared to a professional fisherman who repeatedly brings in his catch and has plenty to eat.

[1:15]  ²⁸ tn Apparently two different types of fishing nets are referred to here. The חֵרֶם (kherem, “throw net”) was used by fishermen standing on the shore (see Ezek 47:10), while the מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret, “dragnet”) was used by men in a boat. See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 165.

[1:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and he gathers.”

[1:15]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Therefore he is happy and rejoices.” Here two synonyms are joined for emphasis.

[1:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “therefore.”

[1:16]  ³² sn The fishing implements (throw net and dragnet) represent Babylonian military might. The prophet depicts the Babylonians as arrogantly worshiping their own power (sacrifices…burns incense, see also v. 11b).

[1:16]  ³³ tn Heb “for by them his portion is full [or, “fat”].”

[1:16]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and his food is plentiful [or, “fat”].”

[1:17]  ³⁵ tn Or “therefore.”

[1:17]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Will he then empty his throw net?” The words “continue to fill and” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:17]  ³⁷ tn Or “continually.”

[1:17]  ³⁸ tn Heb “kill.”

[1:17]  ³⁹ tn Or “without showing compassion.”

[3:5]  ⁴⁰ tn The word “resides” is supplied for clarification.

[3:5]  ⁴¹ tn Or “he does no injustice.”

[3:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “gives”; or “dispenses.”

[3:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “at the light he is not missing.” Note that NASB (which capitalizes pronouns referring to Deity) has divided the lines differently: “Every morning He brings His justice to light; // He does not fail.”

[3:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “shows clearly.”

[3:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “That God is not unjust to inflict wrath, is he?”

[3:5]  ⁴⁶ sn The same expression occurs in Gal 3:15, and similar phrases in Rom 6:19 and 1 Cor 9:8.