Jeremiah 20:12

20:12 O Lord who rules over all, ¹  you test and prove the righteous.

You see into people’s hearts and minds. ² 

Pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.

Psalms 55:16-17

55:16 As for me, I will call out to God,

and the Lord will deliver me.

55:17 During the evening, morning, and noontime

I will lament and moan, ³ 

and he will hear ⁴  me. ⁵ 

Psalms 64:1-4

Psalm 64 ⁶ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

64:1 Listen to me, ⁷  O God, as I offer my lament!

Protect ⁸  my life from the enemy’s terrifying attacks. ⁹ 

64:2 Hide me from the plots of evil men,

from the crowd of evildoers. ¹⁰ 

64:3 They ¹¹  sharpen their tongues like a sword;

they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, ¹² 

64:4 in order to shoot down the innocent ¹³  in secluded places.

They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 56:1-3

Psalm 56 ¹⁵ 

For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; ¹⁶  a prayer ¹⁷  of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath. ¹⁸ 

56:1 Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! ¹⁹ 

All day long hostile enemies ²⁰  are tormenting me. ²¹ 

56:2 Those who anticipate my defeat ²²  attack me all day long.

Indeed, ²³  many are fighting against me, O Exalted One. ²⁴ 

56:3 When ²⁵  I am afraid,

I trust in you.

Psalms 109:4

109:4 They repay my love with accusations, ²⁶ 

but I continue to pray. ²⁷ 

Psalms 109:28

109:28 They curse, but you will bless. ²⁸ 

When they attack, they will be humiliated, ²⁹ 

but your servant will rejoice.

Micah 7:8

Jerusalem Will Be Vindicated

7:8 My enemies, ³⁰  do not gloat ³¹  over me!

Though I have fallen, I will get up.

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ³² 

Luke 6:11-12

6:11 But they were filled with mindless rage ³³  and began debating with one another what they would do ³⁴  to Jesus.

Choosing the Twelve Apostles

6:12 Now ³⁵  it was during this time that Jesus ³⁶  went out to the mountain ³⁷  to pray, and he spent all night ³⁸  in prayer to God. ³⁹ 

[20:12]  ¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[20:12]  ² 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.

[55:17]  ³ tn The first verb is clearly a cohortative form, expressing the psalmist’s resolve. The second verb, while formally ambiguous, should also be understood as cohortative here.

[55:17]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive normally appears in narrational contexts to indicate past action, but here it continues the anticipatory (future) perspective of the preceding line. In Ps 77:6 one finds the same sequence of cohortative + prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive. In this case as well, both forms refer to future actions.

[55:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “my voice.”

[64:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 64. The psalmist asks God to protect him from his dangerous enemies and then confidently affirms that God will destroy his enemies and demonstrate his justice in the sight of all observers.

[64:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “my voice.”

[64:1]  ⁸ tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s request.

[64:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “from the terror of [the] enemy.” “Terror” is used here metonymically for the enemy’s attacks that produce fear because they threaten the psalmist’s life.

[64:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “workers of wickedness.”

[64:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[64:3]  ¹² tn Heb “a bitter word.”

[64:4]  ¹³ tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.

[64:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[56:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 56. Despite the threats of his enemies, the psalmist is confident the Lord will keep his promise to protect and deliver him.

[56:1]  ¹⁶ tn The literal meaning of this phrase is “silent dove, distant ones.” Perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a type of musical instrument.

[56:1]  ¹⁷ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 57-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[56:1]  ¹⁸ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm when the Philistines seized him and took him to King Achish of Gath (see 1 Sam 21:11-15).

[56:1]  ¹⁹ tn According to BDB 983 s.v. II שָׁאַף, the verb is derived from שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to trample, crush”) rather than the homonymic verb “pant after.”

[56:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a fighter.” The singular is collective for his enemies (see vv. 5-6). The Qal of לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) also occurs in Ps 35:1.

[56:1]  ²¹ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the continuing nature of the enemies’ attacks.

[56:2]  ²² tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 59:10.

[56:2]  ²³ tn Or “for.”

[56:2]  ²⁴ tn Some take the Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “on high; above”) as an adverb modifying the preceding participle and translate, “proudly” (cf. NASB; NIV “in their pride”). The present translation assumes the term is a divine title here. The Lord is pictured as enthroned “on high” in Ps 92:8. (Note the substantival use of the term in Isa 24:4 and see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:34), who prefer to place the term at the beginning of the next verse.)

[56:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “[in] a day.”

[109:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “in place of my love they oppose me.”

[109:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and I, prayer.”

[109:28]  ²⁸ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect as a prayer/request (“may you bless”).

[109:28]  ²⁹ tn The verbal sequence is perfect + prefixed form with vav (ו) consecutive. Since the psalmist seems to be anticipating the demise of his enemies, he may be using these forms rhetorically to describe the enemies’ defeat as if it were already accomplished. Some emend the text to קָמוּ יֵבֹשׁוּ (qamu yevoshu, “may those who attack me be humiliated”). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 75.

[7:8]  ³⁰ tn The singular form is understood as collective.

[7:8]  ³¹ tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”

[7:8]  ³² sn Darkness represents judgment; light (also in v. 9) symbolizes deliverance. The Lord is the source of the latter.

[6:11]  ³³ tn The term ἄνοια (anoia) denotes a kind of insane or mindless fury; the opponents were beside themselves with rage. They could not rejoice in the healing, but could only react against Jesus.

[6:11]  ³⁴ tn The use of the optative (ποιήσαιεν, poihsaien, “might do”) in an indirect question indicates that the formal opposition and planning of Jesus’ enemies started here (BDF §§385.1; 386.1).

[6:12]  ³⁵ tn Grk “Now it happened that in.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[6:12]  ³⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:12]  ³⁷ tn Or “to a mountain” (εἰς τὸ ὅρος, eis to Joro").

[6:12]  ³⁸ sn This is the only time all night prayer is mentioned in the NT.

[6:12]  ³⁹ tn This is an objective genitive, so prayer “to God.”