Psalms 5:2

5:2 Pay attention to my cry for help,

my king and my God,

for I am praying to you!

Psalms 55:2-3

55:2 Pay attention to me and answer me!

I am so upset ¹  and distressed, ²  I am beside myself, ³ 

55:3 because of what the enemy says, ⁴ 

and because of how the wicked ⁵  pressure me, ⁶ 

for they hurl trouble ⁷  down upon me ⁸ 

and angrily attack me.

Psalms 61:1

Psalm 61 ⁹ 

For the music director; to be played on a stringed instrument; written by David.

61:1 O God, hear my cry for help!

Pay attention to my prayer!

Psalms 66:19

66:19 However, God heard;

he listened to my prayer.

Psalms 142:6

142:6 Listen to my cry for help,

for I am in serious trouble! ¹⁰ 

Rescue me from those who chase me,

for they are stronger than I am.

Psalms 142:2

142:2 I pour out my lament before him;

I tell him about ¹¹  my troubles.

Psalms 7:15

7:15 he digs a pit ¹² 

and then falls into the hole he has made. ¹³ 

Nehemiah 1:6

1:6 may your ear be attentive and your eyes be open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying to you today throughout both day and night on behalf of your servants the Israelites. I am confessing the sins of the Israelites that we have committed ¹⁴  against you – both I myself and my family ¹⁵  have sinned.

Daniel 9:18-19

9:18 Listen attentively, ¹⁶  my God, and hear! Open your eyes and look on our desolated ruins ¹⁷  and the city called by your name. ¹⁸  For it is not because of our own righteous deeds that we are praying to you, ¹⁹  but because your compassion is abundant. 9:19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, pay attention, and act! Don’t delay, for your own sake, O my God! For your city and your people are called by your name.” ²⁰ 

[55:2]  ¹ tn Or “restless” (see Gen 27:40). The Hiphil is intransitive-exhibitive, indicating the outward display of an inner attitude.

[55:2]  ² tn Heb “in my complaint.”

[55:2]  ³ tn The verb is a Hiphil cohortative from הוּם (hum), which means “to confuse someone” in the Qal and “to go wild” in the Niphal. An Arabic cognate means “to be out of one’s senses, to wander about.” With the vav (ו) conjunctive prefixed to it, the cohortative probably indicates the result or effect of the preceding main verb. Some prefer to emend the form to וְאֵהוֹמָה (vÿ’ehomah), a Niphal of הוּם (hum), or to וְאֶהַמֶה (vÿ’ehameh), a Qal imperfect from הָמָה (hamah, “to moan”). Many also prefer to take this verb with what follows (see v. 3).

[55:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “because of [the] voice of [the] enemy.”

[55:3]  ⁵ tn The singular forms “enemy” and “wicked” are collective or representative, as the plural verb forms in the second half of the verse indicate.

[55:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “from before the pressure of the wicked.” Some suggest the meaning “screech” (note the parallel “voice”; cf. NEB “shrill clamour”; NRSV “clamor”) for the rare noun עָקָה (’aqah, “pressure”).

[55:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “wickedness,” but here the term refers to the destructive effects of their wicked acts.

[55:3]  ⁸ tc The verb form in the MT appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוֹט (mot, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in the Kethib (consonantal text) of Ps 140:10, where the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read. Here in Ps 55:3 it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). It is odd for “rain down” to be used with an abstract object like “wickedness,” but in Job 20:23 God “rains down” anger (unless one emends the text there; see BHS).

[61:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 61. The psalmist cries out for help and expresses his confidence that God will protect him.

[142:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for I am very low.”

[142:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my trouble before him I declare.”

[7:15]  ¹² tn Heb “a pit he digs and he excavates it.” Apparently the imagery of hunting is employed; the wicked sinner digs this pit to entrap and destroy his intended victim. The redundancy in the Hebrew text has been simplified in the translation.

[7:15]  ¹³ tn The verb forms in vv. 15-16 describe the typical behavior and destiny of those who attempt to destroy others. The image of the evildoer falling into the very trap he set for his intended victim emphasizes the appropriate nature of God’s judgment.

[1:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “have sinned.” For stylistic reasons – to avoid redundancy in English – this was translated as “committed.”

[1:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the house of my father.”

[9:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “turn your ear.”

[9:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “desolations.” The term refers here to the ruined condition of Judah’s towns.

[9:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “over which your name is called.” Cf. v. 19. This expression implies that God is the owner of his city, Jerusalem. Note the use of the idiom in 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1; Amos 9:12.

[9:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “praying our supplications before you.”

[9:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for your name is called over your city and your people.” See the note on this expression in v 18.