Amsal 15:8

15:8 The Lord abhors ¹  the sacrifices ²  of the wicked, ³ 

but the prayer ⁴  of the upright pleases him. ⁵ 

Ayub 15:31

15:31 Let him not trust in what is worthless, ⁶ 

deceiving himself;

for worthlessness will be his reward. ⁷ 

Mazmur 145:18-19

145:18 The Lord is near all who cry out to him,

all who cry out to him sincerely. ⁸ 

145:19 He satisfies the desire ⁹  of his loyal followers; ¹⁰ 

he hears their cry for help and delivers them.

Yesaya 59:2

59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;

your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers. ¹¹ 

Yohanes 9:31

9:31 We know that God doesn’t listen to ¹²  sinners, but if anyone is devout ¹³  and does his will, God ¹⁴  listens to ¹⁵  him. ¹⁶ 

[15:8]  ¹ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.” Cf. NIV “the Lord detests”; NCV, NLT “the Lord hates”; CEV “the Lord is disgusted.”

[15:8]  ² tn Heb “sacrifice” (so many English versions).

[15:8]  ³ sn The sacrifices of the wicked are hated by the Lord because the worshipers are insincere and blasphemous (e.g., Prov 15:29; 21:3; 28:9; Ps 40:6-8; Isa 1:10-17). In other words, the spiritual condition of the worshiper determines whether or not the worship is acceptable to God.

[15:8]  ⁴ sn J. H. Greenstone notes that if God will accept the prayers of the upright, he will accept their sacrifices; for sacrifice is an outer ritual and easily performed even by the wicked, but prayer is a private and inward act and not usually fabricated by unbelievers (Proverbs, 162).

[15:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “[is] his pleasure.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix functions as a subjective genitive: “he is pleased.” God is pleased with the prayers of the upright.

[15:31]  ⁶ tn The word, although difficult in its form, is “vanity,” i.e., that which is worthless. E. Dhorme (Job, 224) thinks that the form שָׁוְא (shav’) conceals the word שִׁיאוֹ (shi’o, “his stature”). But Dhorme reworks most of the verse. He changes נִתְעָה (nit’ah, “deceived”) to נֵדַע (neda’, “we know”) to arrive at “we know that it is vanity.” The last two words of the verse are then moved to the next. The LXX has “let him not think that he shall endure, for his end shall be vanity.”

[15:31]  ⁷ tn This word is found in Job 20:18 with the sense of “trading.” It can mean the exchange of goods or the profit from them. Some commentators change תְמוּרָתוֹ (tÿmurato, “his reward”) because they wish to put it with the next verse as the LXX seems to have done (although the LXX does not represent this). Suggestions include תִּמֹרָתוֹ (timorato, “his palm tree”) and זְמֹרָתוֹ (zÿmorato, “his vine shoot”). A number of writers simply delete all of v. 31. H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 115) suggests the best reading (assuming one were going to make changes) would be, “Let him not trust in his stature, deceiving himself, for it is vanity.” And then put “his palm tree” with the next verse, he thinks that achieves the proper balance.

[145:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “in truth.”

[145:19]  ⁹ tn In this context “desire” refers to the followers’ desire to be delivered from wicked enemies.

[145:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the desire of those who fear him, he does.”

[59:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”

[9:31]  ¹² tn Grk “God does not hear.”

[9:31]  ¹³ tn Or “godly.”

[9:31]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:31]  ¹⁵ tn Or “hears.”

[9:31]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “this one.”