Psalms 33:2-3

33:2 Give thanks to the Lord with the harp!

Sing to him to the accompaniment of a ten-stringed instrument!

33:3 Sing to him a new song! ¹ 

Play skillfully as you shout out your praises to him! ² 

Psalms 40:3

40:3 He gave me reason to sing a new song, ³ 

praising our God. ⁴ 

May many see what God has done,

so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord! ⁵ 

Psalms 98:1

Psalm 98 ⁶ 

A psalm.

98:1 Sing to the Lord a new song, ⁷ 

for he performs ⁸  amazing deeds!

His right hand and his mighty arm

accomplish deliverance. ⁹ 

Psalms 149:1

Psalm 149 ¹⁰ 

149:1 Praise the Lord!

Sing to the Lord a new song!

Praise him in the assembly of the godly! ¹¹ 

Revelation 5:9-10

5:9 They were singing a new song: ¹² 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ¹³ 

and at the cost of your own blood ¹⁴  you have purchased ¹⁵  for God

persons ¹⁶  from every tribe, language, ¹⁷  people, and nation.

5:10 You have appointed ¹⁸  them ¹⁹  as a kingdom and priests ²⁰  to serve ²¹  our God, and they will reign ²²  on the earth.”

Revelation 14:3

14:3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No ²³  one was able to learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth.

[33:3]  ¹ sn A new song is appropriate because the Lord is constantly intervening in the lives of his people in fresh and exciting ways.

[33:3]  ² tn Heb “play skillfully with a loud shout.”

[40:3]  ³ sn A new song was appropriate because the Lord had intervened in the psalmist’s experience in a fresh and exciting way.

[40:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he placed in my mouth a new song, praise to our God.”

[40:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “may many see and fear and trust in the Lord.” The translation assumes that the initial prefixed verbal form is a jussive (“may many see”), rather than an imperfect (“many will see”). The following prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) conjunctive are taken as indicating purpose or result (“so that they might swear allegiance…and trust”) after the introductory jussive.

[98:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 98. The psalmist summons the whole earth to praise God because he reveals his justice and delivers Israel.

[98:1]  ⁷ sn A new song is appropriate because the Lord is constantly intervening in the world as its just king. See Ps 96:1.

[98:1]  ⁸ tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 1-3 are understood here as describing characteristic divine activities. Another option is to translate them as present perfects, “has performed…has accomplished deliverance, etc.” referring to completed actions that have continuing results.

[98:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “his right hand delivers for him and his holy arm.” The right hand and arm symbolize his power as a warrior-king (see Isa 52:10). His arm is “holy” in the sense that it is in a category of its own; God’s power is incomparable.

[149:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 149. The psalmist calls upon God’s people to praise him because he is just and avenges them.

[149:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his praise in the assembly of the godly ones.”

[5:9]  ¹² tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

[5:9]  ¹³ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:9]  ¹⁴ tn The preposition ἐν (en) is taken to indicate price here, like the Hebrew preposition ב (bet) does at times. BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 5.b states, “The ἐν which takes the place of the gen. of price is also instrumental ἠγόρασας ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου Rv 5:9 (cp. 1 Ch 21:24 ἀγοράζω ἐν ἀργυρίῳ).”

[5:9]  ¹⁵ tc The Greek text as it stands above (i.e., the reading τῷ θεῷ [tw qew] alone) is found in codex A. א 2050 2344 Ï sy add the term “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas), either before or after τῷ θεῷ, as an attempt to clarify the object of “purchased” (ἠγόρασας, hgorasa"). A few mss (1 vg^ms) delete the reference to God altogether and simply replace it with “us” (ἡμᾶς). This too is an attempt to remove ambiguity in the phrase and provide an object for “purchased.” The shorter reading, supported by the best witness for Revelation, best accounts for the other readings.

[5:9]  ¹⁶ tn The word “persons” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:9]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “and language,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[5:10]  ¹⁸ tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoihsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.

[5:10]  ¹⁹ tc The vast majority of witnesses have αὐτούς (autous, “them”) here, while the Textus Receptus reads ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”) with insignificant support (pc gig vg^cl sa Prim Bea). There is no question that the original text read αὐτούς here.

[5:10]  ²⁰ tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”

[5:10]  ²¹ tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”

[5:10]  ²² tc The textual problem here between the present tense βασιλεύουσιν (basileuousin, “they are reigning”; so A 1006 1611 Ï^K pc) and the future βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, “they will reign”; so א 1854 2053 Ï^A pc lat co) is a difficult one. Both readings have excellent support. On the one hand, the present tense seems to be the harder reading in this context. On the other hand, codex A elsewhere mistakes the future for the present (20:6). Further, the lunar sigma in uncial script could have been overlooked by some scribes, resulting in the present tense. All things considered, there is a slight preference for the future.

[14:3]  ²³ tn Grk “elders, and no one.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but because of the length and complexity of the sentence a new sentence was started here in the translation.