Psalms 9:18

9:18 for the needy are not permanently ignored, ¹ 

the hopes of the oppressed are not forever dashed. ² 

Psalms 72:12

72:12 For he will rescue the needy ³  when they cry out for help,

and the oppressed ⁴  who have no defender.

Deuteronomy 4:29

4:29 But if you seek the Lord your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul. ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 32:36

32:36 The Lord will judge his people,

and will change his plans concerning ⁶  his servants;

when he sees that their power has disappeared,

and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.

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 ⁷  against you – both I myself and my family ⁸  have sinned.

Nehemiah 1:11--2:8

1:11 Please, ⁹  O Lord, listen attentively ¹⁰  to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect ¹¹  to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me ¹²  in the presence of this man.”

Now ¹³  I was cupbearer for the king.

Nehemiah Is Permitted to Go to Jerusalem

2:1 Then in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought to me, ¹⁴  I took the wine and gave it to the king. Previously ¹⁵  I had not been depressed ¹⁶  in the king’s presence. ¹⁷  2:2 So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.

2:3 I replied to the king, “O king, live forever! Why would I not appear dejected when the city with the graves of my ancestors ¹⁸  lies desolate and its gates destroyed ¹⁹  by fire?” 2:4 The king responded, ²⁰  “What is it you are seeking?” Then I quickly prayed to the God of heaven 2:5 and said to the king, “If the king is so inclined ²¹  and if your servant has found favor in your sight, dispatch me to Judah, to the city with the graves of my ancestors, so that I can rebuild it.” 2:6 Then the king, with his consort ²²  sitting beside him, replied, “How long would your trip take, and when would you return?” Since the king was amenable to dispatching me, ²³  I gave him a time. 2:7 I said to the king, “If the king is so inclined, let him give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates ²⁴  that will enable me to travel safely until I reach Judah, 2:8 and a letter for Asaph the keeper of the king’s nature preserve, ²⁵  so that he will give me timber for beams for the gates of the fortress adjacent to the temple and for the city wall ²⁶  and for the house to which I go.” So the king granted me these requests, ²⁷  for the good hand of my God was on me.

Jeremiah 29:11-14

29:11 For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ²⁸  ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you ²⁹  a future filled with hope. ³⁰  29:12 When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, ³¹  I will hear your prayers. ³²  29:13 When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, ³³  29:14 I will make myself available to you,’ ³⁴  says the Lord. ³⁵  ‘Then I will reverse your plight ³⁶  and will regather you from all the nations and all the places where I have exiled you,’ says the Lord. ³⁷  ‘I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.’

Daniel 9:3-21

9:3 So I turned my attention ³⁸  to the Lord God ³⁹  to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. ⁴⁰  9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God, confessing in this way:

“O Lord, ⁴¹  great and awesome God who is faithful to his covenant ⁴²  with those who love him and keep his commandments, 9:5 we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards. 9:6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority ⁴³  to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, ⁴⁴  and to all the inhabitants ⁴⁵  of the land as well.

9:7 “You are righteous, ⁴⁶  O Lord, but we are humiliated this day ⁴⁷  – the people ⁴⁸  of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you. 9:8 O LORD, we have been humiliated ⁴⁹  – our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors – because we have sinned against you. 9:9 Yet the Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving, ⁵⁰  even though we have rebelled against him. 9:10 We have not obeyed ⁵¹  the LORD our God by living according to ⁵²  his laws ⁵³  that he set before us through his servants the prophets.

9:11 “All Israel has broken ⁵⁴  your law and turned away by not obeying you. ⁵⁵  Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened ⁵⁶  in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you. ⁵⁷  9:12 He has carried out his threats ⁵⁸  against us and our rulers ⁵⁹  who were over ⁶⁰  us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven! 9:13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to pacify ⁶¹  the LORD our God by turning back from our sin and by seeking wisdom ⁶²  from your reliable moral standards. ⁶³  9:14 The LORD was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the LORD our God is just ⁶⁴  in all he has done, ⁶⁵  and we have not obeyed him. ⁶⁶ 

9:15 “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with great power ⁶⁷  and made a name for yourself that is remembered to this day – we have sinned and behaved wickedly. 9:16 O Lord, according to all your justice, ⁶⁸  please turn your raging anger ⁶⁹  away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. For due to our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people are mocked by all our neighbors.

9:17 “So now, our God, accept ⁷⁰  the prayer and requests of your servant, and show favor to ⁷¹  your devastated sanctuary for your own sake. ⁷²  9:18 Listen attentively, ⁷³  my God, and hear! Open your eyes and look on our desolated ruins ⁷⁴  and the city called by your name. ⁷⁵  For it is not because of our own righteous deeds that we are praying to you, ⁷⁶  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.” ⁷⁷ 

Gabriel Gives to Daniel a Prophecy of Seventy Weeks

9:20 While I was still speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my request before the LORD my God concerning his holy mountain ⁷⁸  – 9:21 yes, while I was still praying, ⁷⁹  the man Gabriel, whom I had seen previously ⁸⁰  in a vision, was approaching me in my state of extreme weariness, ⁸¹  around the time of the evening offering.

[9:18]  ¹ tn Or “forgotten.”

[9:18]  ² tn Heb “the hope of the afflicted does [not] perish forever.” The negative particle is understood by ellipsis; note the preceding line. The imperfect verbal forms express what typically happens.

[72:12]  ³ tn The singular is representative. The typical needy individual here represents the entire group.

[72:12]  ⁴ tn The singular is representative. The typical oppressed individual here represents the entire group.

[4:29]  ⁵ tn Or “mind and being.” See Deut 6:5.

[32:36]  ⁶ tn The translation understands the verb in the sense of “be grieved, relent” (cf. HALOT 689 s.v. נחם hitp 2); cf. KJV, ASV “repent himself”; NLT “will change his mind.” Another option is to translate “will show compassion to” (see BDB 637 s.v. נחם); cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV.

[1:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “have sinned.” For stylistic reasons – to avoid redundancy in English – this was translated as “committed.”

[1:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “the house of my father.”

[1:11]  ⁹ tn The interjection אָנָּא (’anna’) is an emphatic term of entreaty: “please!” (BDB 58 s.v.; HALOT 69-70 s.v.). This term is normally reserved for pleas for mercy from God in life-and-death situations (2 Kgs 20:3 = Isa 38:3; Pss 116:4; 118:25; Jonah 1:14; 4:2) and for forgiveness of heinous sins that would result or have resulted in severe judgment from God (Exod 32:31; Dan 9:4; Neh 1:5, 11).

[1:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”

[1:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fear.”

[1:11]  ¹² tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.

[1:11]  ¹³ tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (va’ani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.

[2:1]  ¹⁴ tc The translation reads with the LXX וְיַיִן לְפָנַי (vÿyayin lÿfanay, “and wine before me”) rather than יַיִן לְפָנָיו (yayin lÿfanayv, “wine before him”) of the MT. The initial vav (ו) on original וְיַיִן probably dropped out due to haplograpy or orthographic confusion with the two yods (י) which follow. The final vav on לְפָנָיו in the MT was probably added due to dittography with the vav on the immediately following word.

[2:1]  ¹⁵ tc The translation reads לְפָנֵים (lÿfanim, “formerly”) rather than לְפָנָיו (lÿfanayv, “to his face”) of the MT. The MT seems to suggest that Nehemiah was not sad before the king, which is contrary to what follows.

[2:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “showed him a sullen face.” See HALOT 1251 s.v. רַע, רָע 9.

[2:1]  ¹⁷ tn This expression is either to be inferred from the context, or perhaps one should read לְפָנָיו (lÿfanayv, “before him”; cf. the MT) in addition to לְפָנִים (lÿfanim, “formerly”). See preceding note on the word “previously.”

[2:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 5).

[2:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “devoured” or “eaten” (so also in Neh 2:13).

[2:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “said to me.”

[2:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good.” So also in v. 7.

[2:6]  ²² tn Or “queen,” so most English versions (cf. HALOT 1415 s.v. שֵׁגַל); TEV “empress.”

[2:6]  ²³ tn Heb “It was good before the king and he sent me.”

[2:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “across the river,” here and often elsewhere in the Book of Nehemiah.

[2:8]  ²⁵ tn Or “forest.” So HALOT 963 s.v. פַּרְדֵּס 2.

[2:8]  ²⁶ tc One medieval Hebrew MS, the Syriac Peshitta, Vulgate, and the Arabic read here the plural וּלְחוֹמוֹת (ulÿkhomot, “walls”) against the singular וּלְחוֹמַת (ulÿkhomat) in the MT. The plural holem vav (וֹ) might have dropped out due to dittography or the plural form might have been written defectively.

[2:8]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text does not include the expression “these requests,” but it is implied.

[29:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[29:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I know the plans that I am planning for you, oracle of the Lord, plans of well-being and not for harm to give to you….”

[29:11]  ³⁰ tn Or “the future you hope for”; Heb “a future and a hope.” This is a good example of hendiadys where two formally coordinated nouns (adjectives, verbs) convey a single idea where one of the terms functions as a qualifier of the other. For this figure see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 658-72. This example is discussed on p. 661.

[29:12]  ³¹ tn Heb “come and pray to me.” This is an example of verbal hendiadys where two verb formally joined by “and” convey a main concept with the second verb functioning as an adverbial qualifier.

[29:12]  ³² tn Or “You will call out to me and come to me in prayer and I will hear your prayers.” The verbs are vav consecutive perfects and can be taken either as unconditional futures or as contingent futures. See GKC 337 §112.kk and 494 §159.g and compare the usage in Gen 44:22 for the use of the vav consecutive perfects in contingent futures. The conditional clause in the middle of 29:13 and the deuteronomic theology reflected in both Deut 30:1-5 and 1 Kgs 8:46-48 suggest that the verbs are continent futures here. For the same demand for wholehearted seeking in these contexts which presuppose exile see especially Deut 30:2, 1 Kgs 8:48.

[29:13]  ³³ tn Or “If you wholeheartedly seek me”; Heb “You will seek me and find [me] because you will seek me with all your heart.” The translation attempts to reflect the theological nuances of “seeking” and “finding” and the psychological significance of “heart” which refers more to intellectual and volitional concerns in the OT than to emotional ones.

[29:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I will let myself be found by you.” For this nuance of the verb see BDB 594 s.v. מָצָא Niph.1.f and compare the usage in Isa 65:1; 2 Chr 15:2. The Greek version already noted that nuance when it translated the phrase “I will manifest myself to you.”

[29:14]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[29:14]  ³⁶ tn Heb “restore your fortune.” Alternately, “I will bring you back from exile.” This idiom occurs twenty-six times in the OT and in several cases it is clearly not referring to return from exile but restoration of fortunes (e.g., Job 42:10; Hos 6:11–7:1; Jer 33:11). It is often followed as here by “regather” or “bring back” (e.g., Jer 30:3; Ezek 29:14) so it is often misunderstood as “bringing back the exiles.” The versions (LXX, Vulg., Tg., Pesh.) often translate the idiom as “to go away into captivity,” deriving the noun from שְׁבִי (shÿvi, “captivity”). However, the use of this expression in Old Aramaic documents of Sefire parallels the biblical idiom: “the gods restored the fortunes of the house of my father again” (J. A. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire [BibOr], 100-101, 119-20). The idiom means “to turn someone's fortune, bring about change” or “to reestablish as it was” (HALOT 1386 s.v. 3.c). In Ezek 16:53 it is paralleled by the expression “to restore the situation which prevailed earlier.” This amounts to restitutio in integrum, which is applicable to the circumstances surrounding the return of the exiles.

[29:14]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[9:3]  ³⁸ tn Heb “face.”

[9:3]  ³⁹ tn The Hebrew phrase translated “Lord God” here is אֲדֹנָי הָאֱלֹהִים (’adonay ha’elohim).

[9:3]  ⁴⁰ sn When lamenting, ancient Israelites would fast, wear sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads to show their sorrow and contrition.

[9:4]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 7, 9, 15, 16, and 19 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[9:6]  ⁴³ tn Heb “in your name.” Another option is to translate, “as your representatives.”

[9:6]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “our fathers” (also in vv. 8, 16). The Hebrew term translated “father” can refer to more distant relationships such as grandfathers or ancestors.

[9:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “people.”

[9:7]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “to you (belongs) righteousness.”

[9:7]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and to us (belongs) shame of face like this day.”

[9:7]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “men.”

[9:8]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “to us (belongs) shame of face.”

[9:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “to the Lord our God (belong) compassion and forgiveness.”

[9:10]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “paid attention to the voice of,” which is an idiomatic expression for obedience (cf. NASB “nor have we obeyed the voice of”).

[9:10]  ⁵² tn Heb “to walk in.”

[9:10]  ⁵³ tc The LXX and Vulgate have the singular.

[9:11]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “transgressed.” The Hebrew verb has the primary sense of crossing a boundary, in this case, God’s law.

[9:11]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “by not paying attention to your voice.”

[9:11]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “the curse and the oath which is written.” The term “curse” refers here to the judgments threatened in the Mosaic law (see Deut 28) for rebellion. The expression “the curse and the oath” is probably a hendiadys (cf. Num 5:21; Neh 10:29) referring to the fact that the covenant with its threatened judgments was ratified by solemn oath and made legally binding upon the covenant community.

[9:11]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “him.”

[9:12]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “he has fulfilled his word(s) which he spoke.”

[9:12]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “our judges.”

[9:12]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “who judged.”

[9:13]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “we have not pacified the face of.”

[9:13]  ⁶² tn Or “by gaining insight.”

[9:13]  ⁶³ tn Heb “by your truth.” The Hebrew term does not refer here to abstract truth, however, but to the reliable moral guidance found in the covenant law. See vv 10-11.

[9:14]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “righteous.”

[9:14]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “in all his deeds which he has done.”

[9:14]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “we have not listened to his voice.”

[9:15]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “with a powerful hand.”

[9:16]  ⁶⁸ tn Or “righteousness.”

[9:16]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “your anger and your rage.” The synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of God’s anger. This is best expressed in English by making one of the terms adjectival (cf. NLT “your furious anger”; CEV “terribly angry”).

[9:17]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “hear.” Here the verb refers to hearing favorably, accepting the prayer and responding positively.

[9:17]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “let your face shine.” This idiom pictures God smiling in favor. See Pss 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19.

[9:17]  ⁷² tn Heb “for the sake of my Lord.” Theodotion has “for your sake.” Cf. v. 19.

[9:18]  ⁷³ tn Heb “turn your ear.”

[9:18]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “desolations.” The term refers here to the ruined condition of Judah’s towns.

[9:18]  ⁷⁵ 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]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “praying our supplications before you.”

[9:19]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “for your name is called over your city and your people.” See the note on this expression in v 18.

[9:20]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “the holy mountain of my God.”

[9:21]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “speaking in prayer.”

[9:21]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “in the beginning.”

[9:21]  ⁸¹ tn The Hebrew expression בִּיעָף מֻעָף (mu’af bi’af) is very difficult. The issue is whether the verb derives from עוּף (’uf, “to fly”) or from יָעַף (ya’af, “to be weary”). Many ancient versions and modern commentators take the first of these possibilities and understand the reference to be to the swift flight of the angel Gabriel in his coming to Daniel. The words more likely refer to the extreme weariness, not of the angel, but of Daniel. Cf. 7:28; 8:27; 10:8-9, 16-17; also NASB.