Psalms 9:16

9:16 The Lord revealed himself;

he accomplished justice;

the wicked were ensnared by their own actions. ¹  (Higgaion. ²  Selah)

Psalms 64:9

64:9 and all people will fear. ³ 

They will proclaim ⁴  what God has done,

and reflect on his deeds.

Psalms 67:4

67:4 Let foreigners ⁵  rejoice and celebrate!

For you execute justice among the nations,

and govern the people living on earth. ⁶  (Selah)

Psalms 33:18

33:18 Look, the Lord takes notice of his loyal followers, ⁷ 

those who wait for him to demonstrate his faithfulness ⁸ 

Psalms 96:13

96:13 before the Lord, for he comes!

For he comes to judge the earth!

He judges the world fairly, ⁹ 

and the nations in accordance with his justice. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 98:9

98:9 before the Lord!

For he comes to judge the earth!

He judges the world fairly, ¹¹ 

and the nations in a just manner.

Malachi 2:17

Resistance to the Lord through Self-deceit

2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, ¹²  and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Malachi 2:2

2:2 If you do not listen and take seriously ¹³  the need to honor my name,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will send judgment ¹⁴  on you and turn your blessings into curses – indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.

Malachi 3:4-10

3:4 The offerings ¹⁵  of Judah and Jerusalem ¹⁶  will be pleasing to the Lord as in former times and years past.

3:5 “I ¹⁷  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ¹⁸  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ¹⁹  who refuse to help ²⁰  the immigrant ²¹  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Resistance to the Lord through Selfishness

3:6 “Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises, ²²  you, sons of Jacob, have not perished. 3:7 From the days of your ancestors you have ignored ²³  my commandments ²⁴  and have not kept them! Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord who rules over all. “But you say, ‘How should we return?’ 3:8 Can a person rob ²⁵  God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions! ²⁶  3:9 You are bound for judgment ²⁷  because you are robbing me – this whole nation is guilty. ²⁸ 

3:10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse ²⁹  so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.

[9:16]  ¹ tn Heb “by the work of his hands [the] wicked [one] was ensnared. The singular form רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) is collective or representative here (see vv. 15, 17). The form נוֹקֵשׁ (noqesh) appears to be an otherwise unattested Qal form (active participle) from נָקַשׁ (naqash), but the form should be emended to נוֹקַשׁ (noqash), a Niphal perfect from יָקַשׁ (yaqash).

[9:16]  ² tn This is probably a technical musical term.

[64:9]  ³ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read וַיִּרְאוּ (vayyir’u, “and they will see”) instead of וַיִּירְאוּ (vayyirÿ’u, “and they will proclaim”).

[64:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “the work of God,” referring to the judgment described in v. 7.

[67:4]  ⁵ tn Or “peoples.”

[67:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “for you judge nations fairly, and [as for the] peoples in the earth, you lead them.” The imperfects are translated with the present tense because the statement is understood as a generalization about God’s providential control of the world. Another option is to understand the statement as anticipating God’s future rule (“for you will rule…and govern”).

[33:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “look, the eye of the Lord [is] toward the ones who fear him.” The expression “the eye…[is] toward” here indicates recognition and the bestowing of favor. See Ps 34:15. The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

[33:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “for the ones who wait for his faithfulness.”

[96:13]  ⁹ tn The verbal forms in v. 13 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions, in which case they could be translated “will judge the world.”

[96:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the nations with his integrity.”

[98:9]  ¹¹ tn The verbal forms in v. 9 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions (“will judge…”).

[2:17]  ¹² tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

[2:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”

[2:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”

[3:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “gift.”

[3:4]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:5]  ¹⁷ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

[3:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ²¹ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”

[3:6]  ²² tn Heb “do not change.” This refers to God’s ongoing commitment to his covenant promises to Israel.

[3:7]  ²³ tn Heb “turned aside from.”

[3:7]  ²⁴ tn Or “statutes” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “decrees”; NLT “laws.”

[3:8]  ²⁵ tc The LXX presupposes an underlying Hebrew text of עָקַב (’aqav, “deceive”), a metathesis of קָבַע (qava’, “rob”), in all four uses of the verb here (vv. 8-9). The intent probably is to soften the impact of “robbing” God, but the language of the passage is intentionally bold and there is no reason to go against the reading of the MT (which is followed here by most English versions).

[3:8]  ²⁶ sn The tithes and contributions mentioned here are probably those used to sustain the Levites (see Num 18:8, 11, 19, 21-24).

[3:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “cursed with a curse” that is, “under a curse” (so NIV, NLT, CEV).

[3:9]  ²⁸ tn The phrase “is guilty” is not present in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

[3:10]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew phrase בֵּית הָאוֹצָר (bet ha’otsar, here translated “storehouse”) refers to a kind of temple warehouse described more fully in Nehemiah (where the term לִשְׁכָּה גְדוֹלָה [lishkah gÿdolah, “great chamber”] is used) as a place for storing grain, frankincense, temple vessels, wine, and oil (Neh 13:5). Cf. TEV “to the Temple.”