Jeremiah 20:11-12

20:11 But the Lord is with me to help me like an awe-inspiring warrior. ¹ 

Therefore those who persecute me will fail and will not prevail over me.

They will be thoroughly disgraced because they did not succeed.

Their disgrace will never be forgotten.

20:12 O Lord who rules over all, ²  you test and prove the righteous.

You see into people’s hearts and minds. ³ 

Pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.

Psalms 124:1-3

Psalm 124 ⁴ 

A song of ascents, ⁵  by David.

124:1 “If the Lord had not been on our side” –

let Israel say this! –

124:2 if the Lord had not been on our side,

when men attacked us, ⁶ 

124:3 they would have swallowed us alive,

when their anger raged against us.

Psalms 129:1-2

Psalm 129 ⁷ 

A song of ascents. ⁸ 

129:1 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,”

let Israel say.

129:2 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,

but they have not defeated me.

Romans 8:31-39

8:31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 8:32 Indeed, he who ⁹  did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things? 8:33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? ¹⁰  It is God who justifies. 8:34 Who is the one who will condemn? Christ ¹¹  is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us. 8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ¹²  8:36 As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ¹³  8:37 No, in all these things we have complete victory ¹⁴  through him ¹⁵  who loved us! 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, ¹⁶  nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[20:11]  ¹ sn This line has some interesting ties with Jer 15:20-21 where Jeremiah is assured by God that he is indeed with him as he promised him when he called him (1:8, 19) and will deliver him from the clutches of wicked and violent people. The word translated here “awe-inspiring” is the same as the word “violent people” there. Jeremiah is confident that his “awe-inspiring” warrior will overcome “violent people.” The statement of confidence here is, by the way, a common element in the psalms of petition in the Psalter. The common elements of that type of psalm are all here: invocation (v. 7), lament (vv. 7-10), confession of trust/confidence in being heard (v. 11), petition (v. 12), thanksgiving or praise (v. 13). For some examples of this type of psalm see Pss 3, 7, 26.

[20:12]  ² tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[20:12]  ³ tn Heb “Lord of armies, the one who tests the righteous, who sees 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.

[124:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 124. Israel acknowledges that the Lord delivered them from certain disaster.

[124:1]  ⁵ 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.

[124:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “rose up against us.”

[129:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 129. Israel affirms God’s justice and asks him to destroy the enemies of Zion.

[129:1]  ⁸ 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.

[8:32]  ⁹ tn Grk “[he] who.” The relative clause continues the question of v. 31 in a way that is awkward in English. The force of v. 32 is thus: “who indeed did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – How will he not also with him give us all things?”

[8:33]  ¹⁰ sn An allusion to Isa 50:8 where the reference is singular; Paul applies this to all believers (“God’s elect” is plural here).

[8:34]  ¹¹ tc ‡ A number of significant and early witnesses, along with several others (Ì^46vid א A C F G L Ψ 6 33 81 104 365 1505 al lat bo), read ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsous, “Jesus”) after Χριστός (Cristos, “Christ”) in v. 34. But the shorter reading is not unrepresented (B D 0289 1739 1881 Ï sa). Once ᾿Ιησοῦς got into the text, what scribe would omit it? Although the external evidence is on the side of the longer reading, internally such an expansion seems suspect. The shorter reading is thus preferred. NA²⁷ has the word in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:35]  ¹² tn Here “sword” is a metonymy that includes both threats of violence and acts of violence, even including death (although death is not necessarily the only thing in view here).

[8:36]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Ps 44:22.

[8:37]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 1034 s.v. ὑπερνικάω states, “as a heightened form of νικᾶν prevail completely ὑπερνικῶμεν we are winning a most glorious victory Ro 8:37.”

[8:37]  ¹⁵ tn Here the referent could be either God or Christ, but in v. 39 it is God’s love that is mentioned.

[8:38]  ¹⁶ tn BDAG 138 s.v. ἀρχή 6 takes this term as a reference to angelic or transcendent powers (as opposed to merely human rulers). To clarify this, the adjective “heavenly” has been supplied in the translation. Some interpreters see this as a reference to fallen angels or demonic powers, and this view is reflected in some recent translations (NIV, NLT).