Leviticus 16:21

16:21 Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, ¹  and thus he is to put them ²  on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready. ³ 

Leviticus 26:40

26:40 However, when ⁴  they confess their iniquity and their ancestors’ iniquity which they committed by trespassing against me, ⁵  by which they also walked ⁶  in hostility against me ⁷ 

Job 33:27-28

33:27 That person sings ⁸  to others, ⁹  saying:

‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,

but I was not punished according to what I deserved. ¹⁰ 

33:28 He redeemed my life ¹¹ 

from going down to the place of corruption,

and my life sees the light!’

Psalms 32:5

32:5 Then I confessed my sin;

I no longer covered up my wrongdoing.

I said, “I will confess ¹²  my rebellious acts to the Lord.”

And then you forgave my sins. ¹³  (Selah)

Proverbs 28:13

28:13 The one who covers ¹⁴  his transgressions will not prosper, ¹⁵ 

but whoever confesses them and forsakes them will find mercy. ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 3:13

3:13 However, you must confess that you have done wrong, ¹⁷ 

and that you have rebelled against the Lord your God.

You must confess ¹⁸  that you have given yourself to ¹⁹  foreign gods under every green tree,

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

Ezekiel 16:63

16:63 Then you will remember, be ashamed, and remain silent ²⁰  when I make atonement for all you have done, ²¹  declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Ezekiel 36:31

36:31 Then you will remember your evil behavior ²²  and your deeds which were not good; you will loathe yourselves on account of your sins and your abominable deeds.

Matthew 3:6

3:6 and he was baptizing them ²³  in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Romans 10:10

10:10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness ²⁴  and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. ²⁵ 

Romans 10:1

10:1 Brothers and sisters, ²⁶  my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites ²⁷  is for their salvation.

Romans 1:9

1:9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospel ²⁸  of his Son, is my witness that ²⁹  I continually remember you

[16:21]  ¹ tn Heb “transgressions to all their sins.”

[16:21]  ² tn Heb “and he shall give them.”

[16:21]  ³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term עִתִּי (’itti) is uncertain. It is apparently related to עֵת (’et, “time”), and could perhaps mean either that he has been properly “appointed” (i.e., designated) for the task (e.g., NIV and NRSV) or “ready” (e.g., NASB and NEB).

[26:40]  ⁴ tn Heb “And.” Many English versions take this to be a conditional clause (“if…”) though there is no conditional particle (see, e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV; but see the very different rendering in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 190). The temporal translation offered here (“when”) takes into account the particle אָז (’az, “then”), which occurs twice in v. 41. The obvious contextual contrast between vv. 39 and 40 is expressed by “however” in the translation.

[26:40]  ⁵ tn Heb “in their trespassing which they trespassed in me.” See the note on Lev 5:15, although the term is used in a more technical sense there in relation to the “guilt offering.”

[26:40]  ⁶ tn Heb “and also which they walked.”

[26:40]  ⁷ tn Heb “with me.”

[33:27]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “to men.”

[33:27]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ sn See note on “him” in v. 24.

[32:5]  ¹² tn The Hiphil of ידה normally means “give thanks, praise,” but here, as in Prov 28:13, it means “confess.”

[32:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “the wrongdoing of my sin.” By joining synonyms for “sin” in this way, the psalmist may be emphasizing the degree of his wrongdoing.

[28:13]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew participles provide the subject matter in this contrast. On the one hand is the person who covers over (מְכַסֶּה, mÿkhasseh) his sins. This means refusing to acknowledge them in confession, and perhaps rationalizing them away. On the other hand there is the one who both “confesses” (מוֹדֶה, modeh) and “forsakes” (עֹזֵב, ’ozev) the sin. To “confess” sins means to acknowledge them, to say the same thing about them that God does.

[28:13]  ¹⁵ sn The verse contrasts the consequences of each. The person who refuses to confess will not prosper. This is an understatement (a figure of speech known as tapeinosis); the opposite is the truth, that eventually such a person will be undone and ruined. On the other hand, the penitent will find mercy. This expression is a metonymy of cause for the effect – although “mercy” is mentioned, what mercy provides is intended, i.e., forgiveness. In other passages the verb “conceal” is used of God’s forgiveness – he covers over the iniquity (Ps 32:1). Whoever acknowledges sin, God will cover it; whoever covers it, God will lay it open.

[28:13]  ¹⁶ sn This verse is unique in the book of Proverbs; it captures the theology of forgiveness (e.g., Pss 32 and 51). Every part of the passage is essential to the point: Confession of sins as opposed to concealing them, coupled with a turning away from them, results in mercy.

[3:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Only acknowledge your iniquity.”

[3:13]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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.

[16:63]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and your mouth will not be open any longer.”

[16:63]  ²¹ tn Heb “when I make atonement for you for all which you have done.”

[36:31]  ²² tn Heb “ways.”

[3:6]  ²³ tn Grk “they were being baptized by him.” The passive construction has been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.

[10:10]  ²⁴ tn Grk “believes to righteousness.”

[10:10]  ²⁵ tn Grk “confesses to salvation.”

[10:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[10:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “on behalf of them”; the referent (Paul’s fellow Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ²⁸ tn Grk “whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel.”

[1:9]  ²⁹ tn Grk “as.”