Lamentations 1:18

Jerusalem Speaks:

צ (Tsade)

1:18 The Lord is right to judge me! ¹ 

Yes, I rebelled against his commands. ² 

Please listen, all you nations, ³ 

and look at my suffering!

My young women and men

have gone into exile.

Lamentations 5:16

5:16 The crown has fallen from our head;

woe to us, for we have sinned!

Nehemiah 9:26

9:26 “Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. ⁴  They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies.

Job 33:27-28

33:27 That person sings ⁵  to others, ⁶  saying:

‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,

but I was not punished according to what I deserved. ⁷ 

33:28 He redeemed my life ⁸ 

from going down to the place of corruption,

and my life sees the light!’

Jeremiah 3:13

3:13 However, you must confess that you have done wrong, ⁹ 

and that you have rebelled against the Lord your God.

You must confess ¹⁰  that you have given yourself to ¹¹  foreign gods under every green tree,

and have not obeyed my commands,’ says the Lord.

Daniel 9:5-14

9:5 we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards. 9:6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority ¹²  to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, ¹³  and to all the inhabitants ¹⁴  of the land as well.

9:7 “You are righteous, ¹⁵  O Lord, but we are humiliated this day ¹⁶  – the people ¹⁷  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. 9:8 O LORD, we have been humiliated ¹⁸  – our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors – because we have sinned against you. 9:9 Yet the Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving, ¹⁹  even though we have rebelled against him. 9:10 We have not obeyed ²⁰  the LORD our God by living according to ²¹  his laws ²²  that he set before us through his servants the prophets.

9:11 “All Israel has broken ²³  your law and turned away by not obeying you. ²⁴  Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened ²⁵  in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you. ²⁶  9:12 He has carried out his threats ²⁷  against us and our rulers ²⁸  who were over ²⁹  us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven! 9:13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to pacify ³⁰  the LORD our God by turning back from our sin and by seeking wisdom ³¹  from your reliable moral standards. ³²  9:14 The LORD was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the LORD our God is just ³³  in all he has done, ³⁴  and we have not obeyed him. ³⁵ 

Luke 15:18-19

15:18 I will get up and go to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned ³⁶  against heaven ³⁷  and against ³⁸  you. 15:19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me ³⁹  like one of your hired workers.”’

[1:18]  ¹ tn Heb “The Lord himself is right.” The phrase “to judge me” is not in the Hebrew, but is added in the translation to clarify the expression.

[1:18]  ² tn Heb “His mouth.” The term “mouth” (פֶּה, peh) is a metonymy of instrument (= mouth) for the product (= words). The term פֶּה (peh) often stands for spoken words (Ps 49:14; Eccl 10:3; Isa 29:13), declaration (Gen 41:40; Exod 38:21; Num 35:30; Deut 17:6; Ezra 1:1) and commands of God (Exod 17:1; Num 14:41; 22:18; Josh 15:13; 1 Sam 15:24; 1 Chr 12:24; Prov 8:29; Isa 34:16; 62:2). When the verb מָרָה (marah, “to rebel”) is used with the accusative direct object פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) to connote disobedience to God’s commandments (Num 20:24; 1 Sam 12:14, 15; 1 Kgs 13:21) (BDB 805 s.v. פֶּה 2.c).

[1:18]  ³ tc The Kethib is written עַמִּים (’ammim, “peoples”), but the Qere, followed by many medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions (LXX and Aramaic Targum), read הָעַמִּים (ha’ammim, “O peoples”). The Qere is probably the original reading.

[9:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “they cast your law behind their backs.”

[33:27]  ⁵ tc The verb יָשֹׁר (yashor) is unusual. The typical view is to change it to יָשִׁיר (yashir, “he sings”), but that may seem out of harmony with a confession. Dhorme suggests a root שׁוּר (shur, “to repeat”), but this is a doubtful root. J. Reider reads it יָשֵׁיר (yasher) and links it to an Arabic word “confesses” (ZAW 24 [1953]: 275).

[33:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “to men.”

[33:27]  ⁷ tn The verb שָׁוָה (shavah) has the impersonal meaning here, “it has not been requited to me.” The meaning is that the sinner has not been treated in accordance with his deeds: “I was not punished according to what I deserved.”

[33:28]  ⁸ sn See note on “him” in v. 24.

[3:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “Only acknowledge your iniquity.”

[3:13]  ¹⁰ tn The words “You must confess” are repeated to convey the connection. The Hebrew text has an introductory “that” in front of the second line and a coordinative “and” in front of the next two lines.

[3:13]  ¹¹ tc MT reads דְּרָכַיִךְ (dÿrakhayikh, “your ways”), but the BHS editors suggest דּוֹדַיִךְ (dodayikh, “your breasts”) as an example of orthographic confusion. While the proposal makes sense, it remains a conjectural emendation since it is not supported by any actual manuscripts or ancient versions.

[9:6]  ¹² tn Heb “in your name.” Another option is to translate, “as your representatives.”

[9:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “our fathers” (also in vv. 8, 16). The Hebrew term translated “father” can refer to more distant relationships such as grandfathers or ancestors.

[9:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “people.”

[9:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to you (belongs) righteousness.”

[9:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and to us (belongs) shame of face like this day.”

[9:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “men.”

[9:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to us (belongs) shame of face.”

[9:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to the Lord our God (belong) compassion and forgiveness.”

[9:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “paid attention to the voice of,” which is an idiomatic expression for obedience (cf. NASB “nor have we obeyed the voice of”).

[9:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “to walk in.”

[9:10]  ²² tc The LXX and Vulgate have the singular.

[9:11]  ²³ tn Or “transgressed.” The Hebrew verb has the primary sense of crossing a boundary, in this case, God’s law.

[9:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “by not paying attention to your voice.”

[9:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the curse and the oath which is written.” The term “curse” refers here to the judgments threatened in the Mosaic law (see Deut 28) for rebellion. The expression “the curse and the oath” is probably a hendiadys (cf. Num 5:21; Neh 10:29) referring to the fact that the covenant with its threatened judgments was ratified by solemn oath and made legally binding upon the covenant community.

[9:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “him.”

[9:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he has fulfilled his word(s) which he spoke.”

[9:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “our judges.”

[9:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “who judged.”

[9:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “we have not pacified the face of.”

[9:13]  ³¹ tn Or “by gaining insight.”

[9:13]  ³² tn Heb “by your truth.” The Hebrew term does not refer here to abstract truth, however, but to the reliable moral guidance found in the covenant law. See vv 10-11.

[9:14]  ³³ tn Or “righteous.”

[9:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “in all his deeds which he has done.”

[9:14]  ³⁵ tn Heb “we have not listened to his voice.”

[15:18]  ³⁶ sn In the confession “I have sinned” there is a recognition of wrong that pictures the penitent coming home and “being found.”

[15:18]  ³⁷ sn The phrase against heaven is a circumlocution for God.

[15:18]  ³⁸ tn According to BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνωπιον 4.a, “in relation to ἁμαρτάνειν ἐ. τινος sin against someone Lk 15:18, 21 (cf. Jdth 5:17; 1 Km 7:6; 20:1).”

[15:19]  ³⁹ tn Or “make me.” Here is a sign of total humility.