Proverbs 24:10

24:10 If you faint ¹  in the day of trouble, ² 

your strength is small! ³ 

Job 4:5

4:5 But now the same thing ⁴  comes to you,

and you are discouraged; ⁵ 

it strikes you,

and you are terrified. ⁶ 

Isaiah 40:30-31

40:30 Even youths get tired and weary;

even strong young men clumsily stumble. ⁷ 

40:31 But those who wait for the Lord’s help ⁸  find renewed strength;

they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, ⁹ 

they run without growing weary,

they walk without getting tired.

Isaiah 40:2

40:2 “Speak kindly to ¹⁰  Jerusalem, ¹¹  and tell her

that her time of warfare is over, ¹² 

that her punishment is completed. ¹³ 

For the Lord has made her pay double ¹⁴  for all her sins.”

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Colossians 4:16-17

4:16 And after ¹⁵  you have read this letter, have it read ¹⁶  to the church of Laodicea. In turn, read the letter from Laodicea ¹⁷  as well. 4:17 And tell Archippus, “See to it that you complete the ministry you received in the Lord.”

Hebrews 12:3

12:3 Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up.

Hebrews 12:7-12

12:7 Endure your suffering ¹⁸  as discipline; ¹⁹  God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 12:8 But if you do not experience discipline, ²⁰  something all sons ²¹  have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. 12:9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from ²²  our earthly fathers ²³  and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? ²⁴  12:10 For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. 12:11 Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. ²⁵  But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness ²⁶  for those trained by it. 12:12 Therefore, strengthen ²⁷  your listless hands and your weak knees, ²⁸ 

[24:10]  ¹ tn Heb “show yourself slack” (NASB similar). The verb רָפָה (rafah) means “to sink; to relax.” In the causative stems it means “to let slacken; to let go; to refrain; to fail; to do nothing.” In the Hitpael stem BDB 952 s.v. defines it as “to show yourself slack.” It has also been rendered as “give up” (NCV, CEV); “fail” (NLT); “falter” (NIV). The colon implies a condition, for which the second part of the verse is the apodosis.

[24:10]  ² tn The verse employs a paronomasia to underscore the point: “trouble” is צָרָה (tsarah), literally “a bind; a strait [or, narrow] place”; “small” is צַר (tsar), with the same idea of “narrow” or “close.”

[24:10]  ³ sn The test of strength is adversity, for it reveals how strong a person is. Of course a weak person can always plead adverse conditions in order to quit. This is the twenty-fourth saying.

[4:5]  ⁴ tn The sentence has no subject, but the context demands that the subject be the same kind of trouble that has come upon people that Job has helped.

[4:5]  ⁵ tn This is the same verb used in v. 2, meaning “to be exhausted” or “impatient.” Here with the vav (ו) consecutive the verb describes Job’s state of mind that is a consequence of the trouble coming on him. In this sentence the form is given a present tense translation (see GKC 329 §111.t).

[4:5]  ⁶ tn This final verb in the verse is vivid; it means “to terrify, dismay” (here the Niphal preterite). Job will go on to speak about all the terrors that come on him.

[40:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “stumbling they stumble.” The verbal idea is emphasized by the infinitive absolute.

[40:31]  ⁸ tn The words “for the Lord’s help” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[40:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “they rise up [on] wings like eagles” (TEV similar).

[40:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.

[40:2]  ¹¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[40:2]  ¹² tn Heb “that she is filled [with] her warfare.” Some understand צָבָא (tsavah, “warfare”) as meaning “hard service” or “compulsory labor” in this context.

[40:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”

[40:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for she has received from the hand of the Lord double.” The principle of the double portion in punishment is also seen in Jer 16:18; 17:18 and Rev 18:6. For examples of the double portion in Israelite law, see Exod 22:4, 7, 9 (double restitution by a thief) and Deut 21:17 (double inheritance portion for the firstborn).

[4:16]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “when.”

[4:16]  ¹⁶ tn The construction beginning with the imperative ποιήσατε ἵνα…ἀναγνωσθῇ (poihsate Jina…anagnwsqh) should be translated as “have it read” where the conjunction ἵνα functions to mark off its clause as the direct object of the imperative ποιήσατε. The content of the clause (“reading the letter”) is what Paul commands with the imperative ποιήσατε. Thus the translation “have it read” has been used here.

[4:16]  ¹⁷ sn This letter is otherwise unknown, but some have suggested that it is the letter known today as Ephesians.

[12:7]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “endure,” with the object (“your suffering”) understood from the context.

[12:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or “in order to become disciplined.”

[12:8]  ²⁰ tn Grk “you are without discipline.”

[12:8]  ²¹ tn Grk “all”; “sons” is implied by the context.

[12:9]  ²² tn Grk “we had our earthly fathers as discipliners.”

[12:9]  ²³ tn Grk “the fathers of our flesh.” In Hebrews, “flesh” is a characteristic way of speaking about outward, physical, earthly life (cf. Heb 5:7; 9:10, 13), as opposed to the inward or spiritual dimensions of life.

[12:9]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and live.”

[12:11]  ²⁵ tn Grk “all discipline at the time does not seem to be of joy, but of sorrow.”

[12:11]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

[12:12]  ²⁷ tn Or “straighten.”

[12:12]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 35:3. Strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees refers to the readers’ need for renewed resolve and fresh strength in their struggles (cf. Heb 10:36-39; 12:1-3).