Psalms 30:5

30:5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,

and his good favor restores one’s life. ¹ 

One may experience sorrow during the night,

but joy arrives in the morning. ² 

Psalms 126:5-6

126:5 Those who shed tears as they plant

will shout for joy when they reap the harvest. ³ 

126:6 The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag ⁴  of seed,

will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain. ⁵ 

Isaiah 12:1

12:1 At that time ⁶  you will say:

“I praise you, O Lord,

for even though you were angry with me,

your anger subsided, and you consoled me.

Isaiah 40:1-2

The Lord Returns to Jerusalem

40:1 “Comfort, comfort my people,”

says your ⁷  God.

40:2 “Speak kindly to ⁸  Jerusalem, ⁹  and tell her

that her time of warfare is over, ¹⁰ 

that her punishment is completed. ¹¹ 

For the Lord has made her pay double ¹²  for all her sins.”

Isaiah 61:3

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ¹³  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ¹⁴  instead of discouragement. ¹⁵ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ¹⁶ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 65:18-19

65:18 But be happy and rejoice forevermore

over what I am about to create!

For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem ¹⁸  to be a source of joy, ¹⁹ 

and her people to be a source of happiness. ²⁰ 

65:19 Jerusalem will bring me joy,

and my people will bring me happiness. ²¹ 

The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow

will never be heard in her again.

Jeremiah 31:12-13

31:12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion.

They will be radiant with joy ²²  over the good things the Lord provides,

the grain, the fresh wine, the olive oil,

the young sheep and calves he has given to them.

They will be like a well-watered garden

and will not grow faint or weary any more.

31:13 The Lord says, ²³  “At that time young women will dance and be glad.

Young men and old men will rejoice. ²⁴ 

I will turn their grief into gladness.

I will give them comfort and joy in place of their sorrow.

Matthew 5:4

5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ²⁵ 

John 16:20

16:20 I tell you the solemn truth, ²⁶  you will weep ²⁷  and wail, ²⁸  but the world will rejoice; you will be sad, ²⁹  but your sadness will turn into ³⁰  joy.

Revelation 7:14-17

7:14 So ³¹  I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.” ³²  Then ³³  he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They ³⁴  have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb! 7:15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve ³⁵  him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them. ³⁶  7:16 They will never go hungry or be thirsty again, and the sun will not beat down on them, nor any burning heat, ³⁷  7:17 because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” ³⁸ 

[30:5]  ¹ tn Heb “for [there is] a moment in his anger, [but] life in his favor.” Because of the parallelism with “moment,” some understand חַיִּים (khayyim) in a quantitative sense: “lifetime” (cf. NIV, NRSV). However, the immediate context, which emphasizes deliverance from death (see v. 3), suggests that חַיִּים has a qualitative sense: “physical life” or even “prosperous life” (cf. NEB “in his favour there is life”).

[30:5]  ² tn Heb “in the evening weeping comes to lodge, but at morning a shout of joy.” “Weeping” is personified here as a traveler who lodges with one temporarily.

[126:5]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew noun אֲלֻמָּה (’alummah, “sheaf”) occurs only here and in Gen 37:7 in the OT.

[12:1]  ⁶ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[40:1]  ⁷ tn The pronominal suffix is second masculine plural. The identity of the addressee is uncertain: (1) God’s people may be addressed, or (2) the unidentified heralds commanded to comfort Jerusalem.

[40:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.

[40:2]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[40:2]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”

[40:2]  ¹² 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).

[61:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[65:18]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[65:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Jerusalem, joy.” The next verse suggests the meaning: The Lord will create Jerusalem to be a source of joy to himself.

[65:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “her people, happiness.” See the preceding note.

[65:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “and I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be happy in my people.”

[31:12]  ²² tn Reading a Qal perfect from the root II נָהַר (nahar; so KBL 509 s.v. and HALOT 639 s.v.) rather than I נָהַר (so BDB 625 s.v.).

[31:13]  ²³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” This phrase has been brought up to the beginning of v. 13 from the end of v. 14 to introduce the transition from third person description by Jeremiah to first person address by the Lord.

[31:13]  ²⁴ tc The translation follows the reading of the LXX (Greek version). The Hebrew reads “will dance and be glad, young men and old men together.” The Greek version presupposes a Qal imperfect of a rare verb (יַחְדּוּ [yakhdu] from the verb חָדָה [khadah]; see BDB 292 s.v. II חָדָה Qal) as opposed to the Hebrew text which reads a common adverb יַחְדָּו (yakhdav). The consonantal text is the same but the vocalization is different. There are no other examples of the syntax of the adverb used this way (i.e., of a compound subject added to a third subject) and the vocalization of the Hebrew text can be explained on the basis of a scribe misvocalizing the text based on his greater familiarity with the adverb.

[5:4]  ²⁵ 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.

[16:20]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[16:20]  ²⁷ tn Or “wail,” “cry.”

[16:20]  ²⁸ tn Or “lament.”

[16:20]  ²⁹ tn Or “sorrowful.”

[16:20]  ³⁰ tn Grk “will become.”

[7:14]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous question.

[7:14]  ³² tn Though the expression “the answer” is not in the Greek text, it is clearly implied. Direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context.

[7:14]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[7:14]  ³⁴ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[7:15]  ³⁵ tn Or “worship.” The word here is λατρεύω (latreuw).

[7:15]  ³⁶ tn Grk “will spread his tent over them,” normally an idiom for taking up residence with someone, but when combined with the preposition ἐπί (epi, “over”) the idea is one of extending protection or shelter (BDAG 929 s.v. σκηνόω).

[7:16]  ³⁷ tn An allusion to Isa 49:10. The phrase “burning heat” is one word in Greek (καῦμα, kauma) that refers to a burning, intensely-felt heat. See BDAG 536 s.v.

[7:17]  ³⁸ sn An allusion to Isa 25:8.