Leviticus 23:27

23:27 “The ¹  tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. ²  It is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must humble yourselves ³  and present a gift to the Lord.

Psalms 35:13

35:13 When they were sick, I wore sackcloth, ⁴ 

and refrained from eating food. ⁵ 

(If I am lying, may my prayers go unanswered!) ⁶ 

Psalms 51:17

51:17 The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit ⁷  –

O God, a humble and repentant heart ⁸  you will not reject. ⁹ 

Psalms 69:10-11

69:10 I weep and refrain from eating food, ¹⁰ 

which causes others to insult me. ¹¹ 

69:11 I wear sackcloth

and they ridicule me. ¹² 

Psalms 126:5-6

126:5 Those who shed tears as they plant

will shout for joy when they reap the harvest. ¹³ 

126:6 The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag ¹⁴  of seed,

will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ¹⁶  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ¹⁷ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 57:18-19

57:18 I have seen their behavior, ¹⁹ 

but I will heal them and give them rest,

and I will once again console those who mourn. ²⁰ 

57:19 I am the one who gives them reason to celebrate. ²¹ 

Complete prosperity ²²  is available both to those who are far away and those who are nearby,”

says the Lord, “and I will heal them.

Isaiah 58:3-7

58:3 They lament, ²³  ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast?

Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’

Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, ²⁴ 

you oppress your workers. ²⁵ 

58:4 Look, your fasting is accompanied by ²⁶  arguments, brawls,

and fistfights. ²⁷ 

Do not fast as you do today,

trying to make your voice heard in heaven.

58:5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? ²⁸ 

Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, ²⁹ 

bowing their heads like a reed

and stretching out ³⁰  on sackcloth and ashes?

Is this really what you call a fast,

a day that is pleasing to the Lord?

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. ³¹ 

I want you ³²  to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed, ³³ 

and to break every burdensome yoke.

58:7 I want you ³⁴  to share your food with the hungry

and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. ³⁵ 

When you see someone naked, clothe him!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! ³⁶ 

Isaiah 61:3

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ³⁷  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ³⁸  instead of discouragement. ³⁹ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ⁴⁰ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ⁴¹ 

Matthew 5:4

5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ⁴² 

Matthew 5:1

The Beatitudes

5:1 When ⁴³  he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. ⁴⁴  After he sat down his disciples came to him.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁴⁵  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

[23:27]  ¹ tn Heb “Surely the tenth day” or perhaps “Precisely the tenth day.” The Hebrew adverbial particle אַךְ (’akh) is left untranslated by most recent English versions; cf. however NASB “On exactly the tenth day.”

[23:27]  ² sn See the description of this day and its regulations in Lev 16 and the notes there.

[23:27]  ³ tn Heb “you shall humble your souls.” See the note on Lev 16:29 above.

[35:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.” Sackcloth was worn by mourners. When the psalmist’s enemies were sick, he was sorry for their misfortune and mourned for them.

[35:13]  ⁵ sn Fasting was also a practice of mourners. By refraining from normal activities, such as eating food, the mourner demonstrated the sincerity of his sorrow.

[35:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “and my prayer upon my chest will return.” One could translate, “but my prayer was returning upon my chest,” but the use of the imperfect verbal form sets this line apart from the preceding and following lines (vv. 13a, 14), which use the perfect to describe the psalmist’s past actions.

[51:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “a broken spirit.”

[51:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “a broken and crushed heart.”

[51:17]  ⁹ tn Or “despise.”

[69:10]  ¹⁰ sn Fasting was a practice of mourners. By refraining from normal activities such as eating food, the mourner demonstrated the sincerity of his sorrow.

[69:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and it becomes insults to me.”

[69:11]  ¹² tn Heb “and I am an object of ridicule to them.”

[126:5]  ¹³ sn O. Borowski says regarding this passage: “The dependence on rain for watering plants, the uncertainty of the quantity and timing of the rains, and the possibility of crop failure due to pests and diseases appear to have kept the farmer in a gloomy mood during sowing” (Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 54). Perhaps the people were experiencing a literal drought, the effects of which cause them to lament their plight as they plant their seed in hopes that the rain would come. However, most take the language as metaphorical. Like a farmer sowing his seed, the covenant community was enduring hardship as they waited for a new outpouring of divine blessing. Yet they are confident that a time of restoration will come and relieve their anxiety, just as the harvest brings relief and joy to the farmer.

[126:6]  ¹⁴ tn The noun occurs only here and in Job 28:18 in the OT. See HALOT 646 s.v. I מֶשֶׁךְ which gives “leather pouch” as the meaning.

[126:6]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew noun אֲלֻמָּה (’alummah, “sheaf”) occurs only here and in Gen 37:7 in the OT.

[57:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[57:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his ways” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); TEV “how they acted.”

[57:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and I will restore consolation to him, to his mourners.”

[57:19]  ²¹ tc The Hebrew text has literally, “one who creates fruit of lips.” Perhaps the pronoun אֲנִי (’ani) should be inserted after the participle; it may have been accidentally omitted by haplography: נוּב שְׂפָתָיִם[אֲנִי] בּוֹרֵא (bore’ [’ani] nuv sÿfatayim). “Fruit of the lips” is often understood as a metonymy for praise; perhaps it refers more generally to joyful shouts (see v. 18).

[57:19]  ²² tn Heb “Peace, peace.” The repetition of the noun emphasizes degree.

[58:3]  ²³ tn The words “they lament” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “you find pleasure”; NASB “you find your desire.”

[58:3]  ²⁵ tn Or perhaps, “debtors.” See HALOT 865 s.v. * עָצֵב.

[58:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “you fast for” (so NASB); NRSV “you fast only to quarrel.”

[58:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and for striking with a sinful fist.”

[58:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”

[58:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:5]  ³⁰ tn Or “making [their] bed.”

[58:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6]  ³² tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6]  ³³ tn Heb “crushed.”

[58:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”

[58:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (mÿrudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.

[58:7]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”

[61:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ³⁸ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

[61:3]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[5:4]  ⁴² sn The promise they will be comforted is the first of several “reversals” noted in these promises. The beatitudes and the reversals that accompany them serve in the sermon as an invitation to enter into God’s care, because one can know God cares for those who turn to him.

[5:1]  ⁴³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[5:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “up a mountain” (εἰς τὸ ὄρος, eis to oro").

[1:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.