Zephaniah 3:19-20

3:19 Look, at that time I will deal with those who mistreated you.

I will rescue the lame sheep ¹ 

and gather together the scattered sheep.

I will take away their humiliation

and make the whole earth admire and respect them. ² 

3:20 At that time I will lead you –

at the time I gather you together. ³ 

Be sure of this! ⁴  I will make all the nations of the earth respect and admire you ⁵ 

when you see me restore you,” ⁶  says the Lord.

Psalms 49:5

49:5 Why should I be afraid in times of trouble, ⁷ 

when the sinful deeds of deceptive men threaten to overwhelm me? ⁸ 

Isaiah 45:17

45:17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord; ⁹ 

you will never again be ashamed or humiliated. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 54:4

54:4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame!

Don’t be intimidated, ¹¹  for you will not be humiliated!

You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;

you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment. ¹² 

Isaiah 61:7

61:7 Instead of shame, you will get a double portion; ¹³ 

instead of humiliation, they will rejoice over the land they receive. ¹⁴ 

Yes, ¹⁵  they will possess a double portion in their land

and experience lasting joy.

Isaiah 65:13-14

65:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry!

Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty!

Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated!

65:14 Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts! ¹⁶ 

But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; ¹⁷ 

you will wail because your spirits will be crushed. ¹⁸ 

Joel 2:26-27

2:26 You will have plenty to eat,

and your hunger will be fully satisfied; ¹⁹ 

you will praise the name of the Lord your God,

who has acted wondrously in your behalf.

My people will never again be put to shame.

2:27 You will be convinced that I am in the midst of Israel.

I am the Lord your God; there is no other.

My people will never again be put to shame.

Romans 9:33

9:33 just as it is written,

“Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble

and a rock that will make them fall, ²⁰ 

yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ²¹ 

Romans 9:1

Israel’s Rejection Considered

9:1 ²² I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures me ²³  in the Holy Spirit –

Romans 2:6

2:6 He ²⁴  will reward ²⁵  each one according to his works: ²⁶ 

[3:19]  ¹ tn The word “sheep” is supplied for clarification. As in Mic 4:6-7, the exiles are here pictured as injured and scattered sheep whom the divine shepherd rescues from danger.

[3:19]  ² tn Heb “I will make them into praise and a name, in all the earth, their shame.” The present translation assumes that “their shame” specifies “them” and that “name” stands here for a good reputation.

[3:20]  ³ tn In this line the second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that the exiles are addressed.

[3:20]  ⁴ tn Or “for.”

[3:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will make you into a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth.” Here the word “name” carries the nuance of “good reputation.”

[3:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “when I restore your fortunes to your eyes.” See the note on the phrase “restore them” in 2:7.

[49:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “days of trouble.” The phrase also occurs in Ps 94:13. The question is rhetorical; there is no reason to be afraid when the rich oppressors threaten the weak (see v. 17). The following verses explain why this is so.

[49:5]  ⁸ tc The MT has, “the iniquity of my heels surrounds me.” The clause is best understood as temporal and as elaborating on the preceding phrase “times of trouble.” If the MT is retained, the genitive “of my heels” would probably indicate location (“the iniquity at my heels”); the sinful actions of the rich threaten to overtake the psalmist, as it were. It is better, however, to emend עֲקֵבַי (’aqivay, “my heels”) to either (1) עֲקֻבַּי (’aqubay, “my deceitful ones,” i.e., “those who deceive me” [from the adjective עָקֹב (’aqov), “deceitful,” see Jer 17:9]) or (2) עֹקְבַי (’oqÿvay, “those who deceive me” [a suffixed active participle from עָקַב, ’aqav, “betray, deceive”]). Origen’s transliteration of the Hebrew text favors the first of these options. Either of the emendations provides a much smoother transition to v. 6, because “those who trust in their wealth” would then be appositional to “those who deceive me.”

[45:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “Israel will be delivered by the Lord [with] a permanent deliverance.”

[45:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you will not be ashamed and you will not be humiliated for ages of future time.”

[54:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”

[54:4]  ¹² tn Another option is to translate, “the disgrace of our widowhood” (so NRSV). However, the following context (vv. 6-7) refers to Zion’s husband, the Lord, abandoning her, not dying. This suggests that an אַלְמָנָה (’almanah) was a woman who had lost her husband, whether by death or abandonment.

[61:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “instead of your shame, a double portion.”

[61:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and [instead of] humiliation they will rejoice [over] their portion.” The term תָחָת (takhat, “instead of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[61:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “therefore” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “and so.”

[65:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from the good of the heart.”

[65:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “from the pain of the heart.”

[65:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from the breaking of the spirit.”

[2:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you will surely eat and be satisfied.”

[9:33]  ²⁰ tn Grk “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”

[9:33]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Isa 28:16; 8:14.

[9:1]  ²² sn Rom 9:1–11:36. These three chapters are among the most difficult and disputed in Paul’s Letter to the Romans. One area of difficulty is the relationship between Israel and the church, especially concerning the nature and extent of Israel’s election. Many different models have been constructed to express this relationship. For a representative survey, see M. Barth, The People of God (JSNTSup), 22-27. The literary genre of these three chapters has been frequently identified as a diatribe, a philosophical discussion or conversation evolved by the Cynic and Stoic schools of philosophy as a means of popularizing their ideas (E. Käsemann, Romans, 261 and 267). But other recent scholars have challenged the idea that Rom 9–11 is characterized by diatribe. Scholars like R. Scroggs and E. E. Ellis have instead identified the material in question as midrash. For a summary and discussion of the rabbinic connections, see W. R. Stegner, “Romans 9.6-29 – A Midrash,” JSNT 22 (1984): 37-52.

[9:1]  ²³ tn Or “my conscience bears witness to me.”

[2:6]  ²⁴ tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:6]  ²⁵ tn Or “will render,” “will recompense.” In this context Paul is setting up a hypothetical situation, not stating that salvation is by works.

[2:6]  ²⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 62:12; Prov 24:12; a close approximation to Matt 16:27.