Jeremiah 12:1

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ¹ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ² 

Why are wicked people successful? ³ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

Genesis 32:9-12

32:9 Then Jacob prayed, ⁴  “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said ⁵  to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ ⁶  32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love ⁷  you have shown ⁸  your servant. With only my walking stick ⁹  I crossed the Jordan, ¹⁰  but now I have become two camps. 32:11 Rescue me, ¹¹  I pray, from the hand ¹²  of my brother Esau, ¹³  for I am afraid he will come ¹⁴  and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. ¹⁵  32:12 But you ¹⁶  said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper ¹⁷  and will make ¹⁸  your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’” ¹⁹ 

Genesis 32:2

32:2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, ²⁰  “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. ²¹ 

Genesis 7:18

7:18 The waters completely overwhelmed ²²  the earth, and the ark floated ²³  on the surface of the waters.

Ezekiel 36:35-37

36:35 They will say, “This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; the ruined, desolate, and destroyed cities are now fortified and inhabited.” 36:36 Then the nations which remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken – and I will do it!’

36:37 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: I will allow the house of Israel to ask me to do this for them: ²⁴  I will multiply their people like sheep. ²⁵ 

Philippians 4:6-7

4:6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. 4:7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds ²⁶  in Christ Jesus.

[12:1]  ¹ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ² tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ³ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

[32:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “said.”

[32:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the one who said.”

[32:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will cause good” or “I will treat well [or “favorably”].” The idea includes more than prosperity, though that is its essential meaning. Here the form is subordinated to the preceding imperative and indicates purpose or result. Jacob is reminding God of his promise in the hope that God will honor his word.

[32:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “the loving deeds and faithfulness” (see 24:27, 49).

[32:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “you have done with.”

[32:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “for with my staff.” The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally translated “staff,” has been rendered as “walking stick” because a “staff” in contemporary English refers typically to the support personnel in an organization.

[32:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “this Jordan.”

[32:11]  ¹¹ tn The imperative has the force of a prayer here, not a command.

[32:11]  ¹² tn The “hand” here is a metonymy for “power.”

[32:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.”

[32:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for I am afraid of him, lest he come.”

[32:11]  ¹⁵ sn Heb “me, [the] mother upon [the] sons.” The first person pronoun “me” probably means here “me and mine,” as the following clause suggests.

[32:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “But you, you said.” One of the occurrences of the pronoun “you” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[32:12]  ¹⁷ tn Or “will certainly deal well with you.” The infinitive absolute appears before the imperfect, underscoring God’s promise to bless. The statement is more emphatic than in v. 9.

[32:12]  ¹⁸ tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the nuance of the preceding verb forward.

[32:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “which cannot be counted because of abundance.” The imperfect verbal form indicates potential here.

[32:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and Jacob said when he saw them.”

[32:2]  ²¹ sn The name Mahanaim apparently means “two camps.” Perhaps the two camps were those of God and of Jacob.

[7:18]  ²² tn Heb “and the waters were great and multiplied exceedingly.” The first verb in the sequence is וַיִּגְבְּרוּ (vayyigbÿru, from גָּבַר, gavar), meaning “to become great, mighty.” The waters did not merely rise; they “prevailed” over the earth, overwhelming it.

[7:18]  ²³ tn Heb “went.”

[36:37]  ²⁴ tn The Niphal verb may have a tolerative function here, “Again (for) this I will allow myself to be sought by the house of Israel to act for them.” Or it may be reflexive: “I will reveal myself to the house of Israel by doing this also.”

[36:37]  ²⁵ sn Heb “I will multiply them like sheep, human(s).”

[4:7]  ²⁶ tn Grk “will guard the hearts of you and the minds of you.” To improve the English style, the second occurrence of ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “of you”) has not been translated, since it is somewhat redundant in English.