Jeremiah 31:12-14

31:12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion.

They will be radiant with joy ¹  over the good things the Lord provides,

the grain, the fresh wine, the olive oil,

the young sheep and calves he has given to them.

They will be like a well-watered garden

and will not grow faint or weary any more.

31:13 The Lord says, ²  “At that time young women will dance and be glad.

Young men and old men will rejoice. ³ 

I will turn their grief into gladness.

I will give them comfort and joy in place of their sorrow.

31:14 I will provide the priests with abundant provisions. ⁴ 

My people will be filled to the full with the good things I provide.”

Ezra 3:11-13

3:11 With antiphonal response they sang, ⁵  praising and glorifying the Lord:

“For he is good;

his loyal love toward Israel is forever.”

All the people gave a loud ⁶  shout as they praised the Lord when the temple of the Lord was established. 3:12 Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders ⁷  – older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established ⁸  – were weeping loudly, ⁹  and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout. 3:13 People were unable to tell the difference between the sound of joyous shouting and the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people were shouting so loudly ¹⁰  that the sound was heard a long way off.

Ezra 6:22

6:22 They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion ¹¹  of the king of Assyria ¹²  toward them, so that he assisted ¹³  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

Nehemiah 8:12

8:12 So all the people departed to eat and drink and to share their food ¹⁴  with others ¹⁵  and to enjoy tremendous joy, ¹⁶  for they had gained insight in the matters that had been made known to them.

Nehemiah 12:43

12:43 And on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard from far away.

Isaiah 12:1-6

12:1 At that time ¹⁷  you will say:

“I praise you, O Lord,

for even though you were angry with me,

your anger subsided, and you consoled me.

12:2 Look, God is my deliverer! ¹⁸ 

I will trust in him ¹⁹  and not fear.

For the Lord gives me strength and protects me; ²⁰ 

he has become my deliverer.” ²¹ 

12:3 Joyfully you will draw water

from the springs of deliverance. ²² 

12:4 At that time ²³  you will say:

“Praise the Lord!

Ask him for help! ²⁴ 

Publicize his mighty acts among the nations!

Make it known that he is unique! ²⁵ 

12:5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done magnificent things,

let this be known ²⁶  throughout the earth!

12:6 Cry out and shout for joy, O citizens of Zion,

for the Holy One of Israel ²⁷  acts mightily ²⁸  among you!”

Isaiah 51:11

51:11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;

they will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ²⁹ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ³⁰  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ³¹ 

Isaiah 52:9

52:9 In unison give a joyful shout,

O ruins of Jerusalem!

For the Lord consoles his people;

he protects ³²  Jerusalem.

Zephaniah 3:14

3:14 Shout for joy, Daughter Zion! ³³ 

Shout out, Israel!

Be happy and boast with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem!

Zechariah 8:19

8:19 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘The fast of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth ³⁴  months will become joyful and happy, pleasant feasts for the house of Judah, so love truth and peace.’

Zechariah 9:17

9:17 How precious and fair! ³⁵  Grain will make the young men flourish and new wine the young women.

Zechariah 10:7

10:7 The Ephraimites will be like warriors and will rejoice as if they had drunk wine. Their children will see it and rejoice; they will celebrate in the things of the Lord.

[31:12]  ¹ tn Reading a Qal perfect from the root II נָהַר (nahar; so KBL 509 s.v. and HALOT 639 s.v.) rather than I נָהַר (so BDB 625 s.v.).

[31:13]  ² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” This phrase has been brought up to the beginning of v. 13 from the end of v. 14 to introduce the transition from third person description by Jeremiah to first person address by the Lord.

[31:13]  ³ tc The translation follows the reading of the LXX (Greek version). The Hebrew reads “will dance and be glad, young men and old men together.” The Greek version presupposes a Qal imperfect of a rare verb (יַחְדּוּ [yakhdu] from the verb חָדָה [khadah]; see BDB 292 s.v. II חָדָה Qal) as opposed to the Hebrew text which reads a common adverb יַחְדָּו (yakhdav). The consonantal text is the same but the vocalization is different. There are no other examples of the syntax of the adverb used this way (i.e., of a compound subject added to a third subject) and the vocalization of the Hebrew text can be explained on the basis of a scribe misvocalizing the text based on his greater familiarity with the adverb.

[31:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will satiate the priests with fat.” However, the word translated “fat” refers literally to the fat ashes of the sacrifices (see Lev 1:16; 4:2 and cf. BDB 206 s.v. דֶּשֶׁן 2. The word is used more abstractly for “abundance” or “rich food” (see Job 36:16 and BDB 206 s.v. דֶּשֶׁן 1). The people and the priests were prohibited from eating the fat (Lev 7:23-24).

[3:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “they answered.”

[3:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “great.”

[3:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

[3:12]  ⁸ sn The temple had been destroyed some fifty years earlier by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.

[3:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “with a great voice.”

[3:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a great shout.”

[6:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “heart.”

[6:22]  ¹² sn The expression “king of Assyria” is anachronistic, since Assyria fell in 612 b.c., long before the events of this chapter. Perhaps the expression is intended subtly to contrast earlier kings of Assyria who were hostile toward Israel with this Persian king who showed them favor.

[6:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”

[8:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to send portions.”

[8:12]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text does not include the phrase “with others” but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to make great joy.”

[12:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[12:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “salvation” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[12:2]  ¹⁹ tn The words “in him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[12:2]  ²⁰ tc The Hebrew text has, “for my strength and protection [is] the Lord, the Lord (Heb “Yah, Yahweh).” The word יְהוָה (yehvah) is probably dittographic or explanatory here (note that the short form of the name [יָהּ, yah] precedes, and that the graphically similar וַיְהִי [vayÿhi] follows). Exod 15:2, the passage from which the words of v. 2b are taken, has only יָהּ. The word זִמְרָת (zimrat) is traditionally understood as meaning “song,” in which case one might translate, “for the Lord gives me strength and joy” (i.e., a reason to sing); note that in v. 5 the verb זָמַר (zamar, “sing”) appears. Many recent commentators, however, have argued that the noun is here instead a homonym, meaning “protection” or “strength.” See HALOT 274 s.v. III *זמר.

[12:2]  ²¹ tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions, e.g., KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “my savior.”

[12:3]  ²² tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions, e.g., KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); CEV “victory.”

[12:4]  ²³ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[12:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “call in his name,” i.e., “invoke his name.”

[12:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “bring to remembrance that his name is exalted.” The Lord’s “name” stands here for his character and reputation.

[12:5]  ²⁶ tc The translation follows the marginal reading (Qere), which is a Hophal participle from יָדַע (yada’), understood here in a gerundive sense.

[12:6]  ²⁷ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[12:6]  ²⁸ tn Or “is great” (TEV). However, the context emphasizes his mighty acts of deliverance (cf. NCV), not some general or vague character quality.

[51:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[51:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “overtake” (so NIV); NASB “they will obtain.”

[51:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee.”

[52:9]  ³² tn Or “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.

[3:14]  ³³ sn This phrase is used as an epithet for the city and the nation. “Daughter” may seem extraneous in English but consciously joins the various epithets and metaphors of Israel and Jerusalem as a woman, a device used to evoke sympathy from the reader.

[8:19]  ³⁴ sn The fasts of the fifth and seventh months, mentioned previously (7:5), are listed here along with the observances of the fourth and tenth months. The latter commemorated the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians on January 15, 588 b.c. (2 Kgs 25:1), and the former the breach of the city walls on or about July 18, 586 b.c. (Jer 39:2-5).

[9:17]  ³⁵ sn This expostulation best fits the whole preceding description of God’s eschatological work on behalf of his people. His goodness is especially evident in his nurturing of the young men and women of his kingdom.