Psalms 33:3

33:3 Sing to him a new song! ¹ 

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

Psalms 144:9

144:9 O God, I will sing a new song to you!

Accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, I will sing praises to you,

Revelation 5:9-10

5:9 They were singing a new song: ³ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ⁴ 

and at the cost of your own blood ⁵  you have purchased ⁶  for God

persons ⁷  from every tribe, language, ⁸  people, and nation.

5:10 You have appointed ⁹  them ¹⁰  as a kingdom and priests ¹¹  to serve ¹²  our God, and they will reign ¹³  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 ¹⁴  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.”

[5:9]  ³ tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

[5:9]  ⁴ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:9]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoihsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.

[5:10]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”

[5:10]  ¹² tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”

[5:10]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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.