Psalms 37:28

37:28 For the Lord promotes ¹  justice,

and never abandons ²  his faithful followers.

They are permanently secure, ³ 

but the children ⁴  of evil men are wiped out. ⁵ 

Psalms 37:1

Psalm 37 ⁶ 

By David.

37:1 Do not fret ⁷  when wicked men seem to succeed! ⁸ 

Do not envy evildoers!

Psalms 12:1

Psalm 12 ⁹ 

For the music director; according to the sheminith style; ¹⁰  a psalm of David.

12:1 Deliver, Lord!

For the godly ¹¹  have disappeared; ¹² 

people of integrity ¹³  have vanished. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 49:14-15

The Lord Remembers Zion

49:14 “Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me,

the sovereign master ¹⁵  has forgotten me.’

49:15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? ¹⁶ 

Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? ¹⁷ 

Even if mothers ¹⁸  were to forget,

I could never forget you! ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 32:39-40

32:39 I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for ²⁰  their own good and the good of the children who descend from them. 32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ²¹  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ²²  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ²³  they will never again turn ²⁴  away from me.

John 10:27-31

10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 10:28 I give ²⁵  them eternal life, and they will never perish; ²⁶  no one will snatch ²⁷  them from my hand. 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, ²⁸  and no one can snatch ²⁹  them from my Father’s hand. 10:30 The Father and I ³⁰  are one.” ³¹ 

10:31 The Jewish leaders ³²  picked up rocks again to stone him to death.

Romans 8:30

8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

Romans 8:38-39

8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, ³³  nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 11:1-2

Israel’s Rejection not Complete nor Final

11:1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

Hebrews 13:5

13:5 Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.” ³⁴ 

[37:28]  ¹ tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world. The active participle describes characteristic behavior.

[37:28]  ² tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.

[37:28]  ³ tn Or “protected forever.”

[37:28]  ⁴ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:28]  ⁵ tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.

[37:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 37. The psalmist urges his audience not to envy the wicked, but to trust in and obey the Lord, for he will destroy sinners and preserve the godly. When the smoke of judgment clears, the wicked will be gone, but the godly will remain and inherit God’s promised blessings. The psalm is an acrostic; every other verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[37:1]  ⁷ tn The verb form is singular (see vv. 3-10 as well, where the second person verbs and pronouns are also singular). The psalmist’s exhortation has a wisdom flavor to it; it is personalized for each member of his audience.

[37:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “over sinners.” The context indicates that the psalmist has in mind the apparent power and success of sinners. See v. 7b.

[12:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 12. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene, for society is overrun by deceitful, arrogant oppressors and godly individuals are a dying breed. When the Lord announces his intention to defend the oppressed, the psalmist affirms his confidence in the divine promise.

[12:1]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.

[12:1]  ¹¹ tn The singular form is collective or representative. Note the plural form “faithful [ones]” in the following line. A “godly [one]” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[12:1]  ¹² tn Or “have come to an end.”

[12:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “the faithful [ones] from the sons of man.”

[12:1]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew verb פָּסַס (pasas) occurs only here. An Akkadian cognate means “efface, blot out.”

[49:14]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[49:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “her suckling”; NASB “her nursing child.”

[49:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb?”

[49:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “these” (so ASV, NASB).

[49:15]  ¹⁹ sn The argument of v. 15 seems to develop as follows: The Lord has an innate attachment to Zion, just like a mother does for her infant child. But even if mothers were to suddenly abandon their children, the Lord would never forsake Zion. In other words, the Lord’s attachment to Zion is like a mother’s attachment to her infant child, but even stronger.

[32:39]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I will give to them one heart and one way to [= in order that they may] fear me all the days for good to them.” The phrase “one heart” refers both to unanimity of will and accord (cf. 1 Chr 12:38 [12:39 HT]; 2 Chr 30:12) and to singleness of purpose or intent (cf. Ezek 11:19 and see BDB 525 s.v. ֵלב 4 where reference is made to “inclinations, resolutions, and determinations of the will”). The phrase “one way” refers to one way of life or conduct (cf. BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a where reference is made to moral action and character), a way of life that is further qualified by the goal of showing “fear, reverence, respect” for the Lord. The Hebrew sentence has been broken up to avoid a long complex sentence in English which is contrary to contemporary English style. However, an attempt has been made to preserve all the connections of the original.

[32:40]  ²¹ tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.

[32:40]  ²² tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”

[32:40]  ²³ tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.

[32:40]  ²⁴ tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.

[10:28]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And I give.”

[10:28]  ²⁶ tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”

[10:28]  ²⁷ tn Or “no one will seize.”

[10:29]  ²⁸ tn Or “is superior to all.”

[10:29]  ²⁹ tn Or “no one can seize.”

[10:30]  ³⁰ tn Grk “I and the Father.” The order has been reversed to reflect English style.

[10:30]  ³¹ tn The phrase ἕν ἐσμεν ({en esmen) is a significant assertion with trinitarian implications. ἕν is neuter, not masculine, so the assertion is not that Jesus and the Father are one person, but one “thing.” Identity of the two persons is not what is asserted, but essential unity (unity of essence).

[10:31]  ³² tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. See the notes on the phrases “Jewish people” in v. 19 and “Jewish leaders” in v. 24.

[8:38]  ³³ tn BDAG 138 s.v. ἀρχή 6 takes this term as a reference to angelic or transcendent powers (as opposed to merely human rulers). To clarify this, the adjective “heavenly” has been supplied in the translation. Some interpreters see this as a reference to fallen angels or demonic powers, and this view is reflected in some recent translations (NIV, NLT).

[13:5]  ³⁴ sn A quotation from Deut 31:6, 8.