Matthew 11:29

11:29 Take my yoke ¹  on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Psalms 94:13

94:13 in order to protect him from times of trouble, ² 

until the wicked are destroyed. ³ 

Psalms 116:7

116:7 Rest once more, my soul, ⁴ 

for the Lord has vindicated you. ⁵ 

Isaiah 11:10

Israel is Reclaimed and Reunited

11:10 At that time ⁶  a root from Jesse ⁷  will stand like a signal flag for the nations. Nations will look to him for guidance, ⁸  and his residence will be majestic.

Isaiah 28:12

28:12 In the past he said to them, ⁹ 

“This is where security can be found.

Provide security for the one who is exhausted!

This is where rest can be found.” ¹⁰ 

But they refused to listen.

Isaiah 48:17-18

48:17 This is what the Lord, your protector, ¹¹  says,

the Holy One of Israel: ¹² 

“I am the Lord your God,

who teaches you how to succeed,

who leads you in the way you should go.

48:18 If only you had obeyed my ¹³  commandments,

prosperity would have flowed to you like a river, ¹⁴ 

deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 6:16

6:16 The Lord said to his people: ¹⁶ 

“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. ¹⁷ 

Ask where the old, reliable paths ¹⁸  are.

Ask where the path is that leads to blessing ¹⁹  and follow it.

If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”

But they said, “We will not follow it!”

Jeremiah 6:2

6:2 I will destroy ²⁰  Daughter Zion, ²¹ 

who is as delicate and defenseless as a young maiden. ²² 

Jeremiah 1:7

1:7 The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go ²³  to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you.

Hebrews 4:1

God’s Promised Rest

4:1 Therefore we must be wary ²⁴  that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.

[11:29]  ¹ sn A yoke is a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals like oxen or horses so that they can pull a wagon, plow, etc. together. Here it is used figuratively of the restrictions that a teacher or rabbi would place on his followers.

[94:13]  ² tn Heb “to give him rest from the days of trouble.”

[94:13]  ³ tn Heb “until a pit is dug for the wicked.”

[116:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “return, my soul, to your place of rest.”

[116:7]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense (cf. Ps 13:5).

[11:10]  ⁶ tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[11:10]  ⁷ sn See the note at v. 1.

[11:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “ a root from Jesse, which stands for a signal flag of the nations, of him nations will inquire” [or “seek”].

[28:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “who said to them.”

[28:12]  ¹⁰ sn This message encapsulates the Lord’s invitation to his people to find security in his protection and blessing.

[48:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[48:17]  ¹² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[48:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “paid attention to” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “had listened to.”

[48:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “like a river your peace would have been.” שָׁלוֹם (shalom) probably refers here to the peace and prosperity which God promised in return for obedience to the covenant.

[48:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) probably refers here to divine deliverance from enemies. See v. 19.

[6:16]  ¹⁶ tn The words, “to his people” are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[6:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Stand at the crossroads and look.”

[6:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the ancient path,” i.e., the path the Lord set out in ancient times (cf. Deut 32:7).

[6:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the way of/to the good.”

[6:2]  ²⁰ tn The verb here is another example of the Hebrew verb form that indicates the action is as good as done (a Hebrew prophetic perfect).

[6:2]  ²¹ sn Jerusalem is personified as a young maiden who is helpless in the hands of her enemies.

[6:2]  ²² tn Heb “The beautiful and delicate one I will destroy, the daughter of Zion. The English versions and commentaries are divided over the rendering of this verse because (1) there are two verbs with these same consonants, one meaning “to be like” and the other meaning “to be destroyed” (intransitive) or “to destroy” (transitive), and (2) the word rendered “beautiful” (נָוָה, navah) can be understood as a noun meaning “pasture” or as a defective writing of an adjective meaning “beautiful, comely” (נָאוָה, na’vah). Hence some render “Fair Zion, you are like a lovely pasture,” reading the verb form as an example of the old second feminine singular perfect. Although this may fit the imagery of the next verse, that rendering ignores the absence of a preposition (לְ or אֶל, lÿ or ’el, both of which can be translated “to”) that normally goes with the verb “be like” and drops the conjunction in front of the adjective “delicate.” The parallel usage of the verb in Hos 4:5 argues for the meaning “destroy.”

[1:7]  ²³ tn Or “For you must go and say.” The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is likely adversative here after a negative statement (cf. BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.e). The Lord is probably not giving a rationale for the denial of Jeremiah’s objection but redirecting his focus, i.e., “do not say…but go…and say.”

[4:1]  ²⁴ tn Grk “let us fear.”