Psalms 81:1-3

Psalm 81 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the gittith style; ²  by Asaph.

81:1 Shout for joy to God, our source of strength!

Shout out to the God of Jacob!

81:2 Sing ³  a song and play the tambourine,

the pleasant sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument!

81:3 Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon, ⁴ 

and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins. ⁵ 

Psalms 122:1

Psalm 122 ⁶ 

A song of ascents, ⁷  by David.

122:1 I was glad because ⁸  they said to me,

“We will go to the Lord’s temple.”

Deuteronomy 16:11

16:11 You shall rejoice before him ⁹  – you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites in your villages, ¹⁰  the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows among you – in the place where the Lord chooses to locate his name.

Deuteronomy 16:14-15

16:14 You are to rejoice in your festival, you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows who are in your villages. ¹¹  16:15 You are to celebrate the festival seven days before the Lord your God in the place he ¹²  chooses, for he ¹³  will bless you in all your productivity and in whatever you do; ¹⁴  so you will indeed rejoice!

Deuteronomy 16:2

16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal ¹⁵  (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he ¹⁶  chooses to locate his name.

Deuteronomy 7:10

7:10 but who pays back those who hate ¹⁷  him as they deserve and destroys them. He will not ignore ¹⁸  those who hate him but will repay them as they deserve!

Deuteronomy 30:1

The Results of Covenant Reaffirmation

30:1 “When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses ¹⁹  I have set before you, you will reflect upon them ²⁰  in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you.

Isaiah 30:29

30:29 You will sing

as you do in the evening when you are celebrating a festival.

You will be happy like one who plays a flute

as he goes to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock who shelters Israel. ²¹ 

Nahum 1:15

Proclamation of the Deliverance of Judah

1:15 (2:1) ²²  Look! A herald is running ²³  on the mountains!

A messenger is proclaiming deliverance: ²⁴ 

“Celebrate your sacred festivals, O Judah!

Fulfill your sacred vows to praise God! ²⁵ 

For never again ²⁶  will the wicked ²⁷  Assyrians ²⁸  invade ²⁹  you,

they ³⁰  have been completely destroyed.” ³¹ 

[81:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 81. The psalmist calls God’s people to assemble for a festival and then proclaims God’s message to them. The divine speech (vv. 6-16) recalls how God delivered the people from Egypt, reminds Israel of their rebellious past, expresses God’s desire for his people to obey him, and promises divine protection in exchange for obedience.

[81:1]  ² tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הַגִּתִּית (haggittit) is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or instrument. See the superscription to Ps 8.

[81:2]  ³ tn Heb “lift up.”

[81:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “at the new moon.”

[81:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “at the full moon on the day of our festival.” The Hebrew word כֶּסֶה (keseh) is an alternate spelling of כֶּסֶא (kese’, “full moon”).

[122:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 122. The psalmist expresses his love for Jerusalem and promises to pray for the city’s security.

[122:1]  ⁷ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[122:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the ones saying to me.” After the verb שָׂמַח (samakh), the preposition בְּ (bet) usually introduces the reason for joy.

[16:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.

[16:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “gates.”

[16:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in your gates.”

[16:15]  ¹² tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 16:1.

[16:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 16:1.

[16:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in all the work of your hands” (so NASB, NIV); NAB, NRSV “in all your undertakings.”

[16:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[16:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.

[7:10]  ¹⁷ tn For the term “hate” as synonymous with rejection or disobedience see note on the word “reject” in Deut 5:9 (cf. NRSV “reject”).

[7:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he will not hesitate concerning.”

[30:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the blessing and the curse.”

[30:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and you bring (them) back to your heart.”

[30:29]  ²¹ tn Heb “[you will have] joy of heart, like the one going with a flute to enter the mountain of the Lord to the Rock of Israel.” The image here is not a foundational rock, but a rocky cliff where people could hide for protection (for example, the fortress of Masada).

[1:15]  ²² sn Beginning with 1:15, the verse numbers through 2:13 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 1:15 ET = 2:1 HT, 2:1 ET = 2:2 HT, etc., through 2:13 ET = 2:14 HT. Beginning with 3:1, the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[1:15]  ²³ tn Heb “the feet of a herald.”

[1:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “a messenger of peace.” The Hebrew noun translated “peace” is sometimes used in reference to deliverance or freedom from enemy attack or destruction (e.g., Jer 4:10; 6:14; 8:11; 12:5; 28:9; 29:7).

[1:15]  ²⁵ sn The sacred vows to praise God were often made by Israelites as a pledge to proclaim the mercy of the Lord if he would be gracious to deliver (e.g., Gen 28:20; 31:13; Lev 7:16; Judg 11:30, 39; 1 Sam 1:11, 21; 2 Sam 15:7-8; Pss 22:25 [26]; 50:14; 56:12 [13]; 61:5 [6], 8 [9]; 65:1 [2]; 66:13; 116:14, 18; Eccl 5:4 [3]; Jonah 1:16; 2:9 [10]). The words “to praise God” are not in the Hebrew, but are added in the translation for clarification.

[1:15]  ²⁶ tc The LXX reflects the plural יוֹסִיפוּ (yosifu, “they shall [never]”). The MT reads the singular יוֹסִיף (yosif, “he shall [never]”) which is also found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QpNah). The subject of the verb is the singular noun בְּלִיַּעַל (bÿliyya’al, “the wicked one”) which is also misunderstood by the LXX (see below).

[1:15]  ²⁷ tc The MT reads בְּלִיַּעַל (bÿliyya’al, “the wicked one”; so ASV, NASB). The LXX reading εἰς παλαίωσιν (ei" palaiwsin, “to old age”) mistakenly derived בְּלִיַּעַל from בָּלָה (balah, “to become worn”). There are several places in the book of Nahum where the LXX produced poor translations.

[1:15]  ²⁸ tn The term “Assyrians” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied from context for clarity. If left unspecified, the prophetic statement could be understood to mean that the wicked [i.e., wicked conquerors in general] would never again invade Judah. Cf. NLT “your enemies from Nineveh.”

[1:15]  ²⁹ tn Or “pass through you” (NASB); or “march against you”; NCV “attack you.”

[1:15]  ³⁰ tn Heb “he.” This is in agreement with the singular “wicked one” in the previous line.

[1:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “he is completely cut off.”