Yesaya 55:11-13

55:11 In the same way, the promise that I make

does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. ¹ 

No, it is realized as I desire

and is fulfilled as I intend.” ² 

55:12 Indeed you will go out with joy;

you will be led along in peace;

the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you,

and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.

55:13 Evergreens will grow in place of thorn bushes,

firs will grow in place of nettles;

they will be a monument to the Lord, ³ 

a permanent reminder that will remain. ⁴ 

Yesaya 62:3-5

62:3 You will be a majestic crown in the hand of the Lord,

a royal turban in the hand of your God.

62:4 You will no longer be called, “Abandoned,”

and your land will no longer be called “Desolate.”

Indeed, ⁵  you will be called “My Delight is in Her,” ⁶ 

and your land “Married.” ⁷ 

For the Lord will take delight in you,

and your land will be married to him. ⁸ 

62:5 As a young man marries a young woman,

so your sons ⁹  will marry you.

As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,

so your God will rejoice over you.

Mazmur 72:7

72:7 During his days the godly will flourish; ¹⁰ 

peace will prevail as long as the moon remains in the sky. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 85:10-12

85:10 Loyal love and faithfulness meet; ¹² 

deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. ¹³ 

85:11 Faithfulness grows from the ground,

and deliverance looks down from the sky. ¹⁴ 

85:12 Yes, the Lord will bestow his good blessings, ¹⁵ 

and our land will yield ¹⁶  its crops.

Mazmur 147:11

147:11 The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers, ¹⁷ 

and in those who wait for his loyal love.

Mazmur 149:4

149:4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;

he exalts the oppressed by delivering them. ¹⁸ 

Yeremia 32:41

32:41 I will take delight in doing good to them. I will faithfully and wholeheartedly plant them ¹⁹  firmly in the land.’

Yehezkiel 33:11

33:11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior ²⁰  and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! ²¹  Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

Mikha 7:18

7:18 There is no other God like you! ²² 

You ²³  forgive sin

and pardon ²⁴  the rebellion

of those who remain among your people. ²⁵ 

You do not remain angry forever, ²⁶ 

but delight in showing loyal love.

Zefanya 3:17

3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst;

he is a warrior who can deliver.

He takes great delight in you; ²⁷ 

he renews you by his love; ²⁸ 

he shouts for joy over you.” ²⁹ 

Lukas 15:5-7

15:5 Then ³⁰  when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 15:6 Returning ³¹  home, he calls together ³²  his ³³  friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 15:7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner ³⁴  who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people ³⁵  who have no need to repent. ³⁶ 

Lukas 15:23-24

15:23 Bring ³⁷  the fattened calf ³⁸  and kill it! Let us eat ³⁹  and celebrate, 15:24 because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again – he was lost and is found!’ ⁴⁰  So ⁴¹  they began to celebrate.

Yohanes 6:37-40

6:37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away. ⁴²  6:38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. 6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me – that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up ⁴³  at the last day. 6:40 For this is the will of my Father – for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up ⁴⁴  at the last day.” ⁴⁵ 

Efesus 1:5

1:5 He did this by predestining ⁴⁶  us to adoption as his ⁴⁷  sons ⁴⁸  through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure ⁴⁹  of his will –

Efesus 1:9

1:9 He did this when he revealed ⁵⁰  to us the secret ⁵¹  of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth ⁵²  in Christ, ⁵³ 

Efesus 1:2

1:2 Grace and peace to you ⁵⁴  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Efesus 1:11

1:11 In Christ ⁵⁵  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ⁵⁶  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

[55:11]  ¹ tn Heb “so is the word which goes out from my mouth, it does not return to empty.” “Word” refers here to divine promises, like the ones made just prior to and after this (see vv. 7b, 12-13).

[55:11]  ² tn Heb “but it accomplishes what I desire, and succeeds [on the mission] which I send it.”

[55:11]  sn Verses 8-11 focus on the reliability of the divine word and support the promises before (vv. 3-5, 7b) and after (vv. 12-13) this. Israel can be certain that repentance will bring forgiveness and a new covenantal relationship because God’s promises are reliable. In contrast to human plans (or “thoughts”), which are destined to fail (Ps 94:11) apart from divine approval (Prov 19:21), and human deeds (or “ways”), which are evil and lead to destruction (Prov 1:15-19; 3:31-33; 4:19), God’s plans are realized and his deeds accomplish something positive.

[55:13]  ³ tn Heb “to the Lord for a name.” For שֵׁם (shem) used in the sense of “monument,” see also 56:5, where it stands parallel to יָד (yad).

[55:13]  ⁴ tn Or, more literally, “a permanent sign that will not be cut off.”

[62:4]  ⁵ tn Or “for”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “but.”

[62:4]  ⁶ tn Hebrew חֶפְצִי־בָהּ (kheftsi-vah), traditionally transliterated “Hephzibah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).

[62:4]  ⁷ tn Hebrew בְּעוּלָה (bÿ’ulah), traditionally transliterated “Beulah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).

[62:4]  ⁸ tn That is, the land will be restored to the Lord’s favor and once again enjoy his blessing and protection. To indicate the land’s relationship to the Lord, the words “to him” have been supplied at the end of the clause.

[62:5]  ⁹ tc The Hebrew text has “your sons,” but this produces an odd metaphor and is somewhat incongruous with the parallelism. In the context (v. 4b, see also 54:5-7) the Lord is the one who “marries” Zion. Therefore several prefer to emend “your sons” to בֹּנָיִךְ (bonayikh, “your builder”; e.g., NRSV). In Ps 147:2 the Lord is called the “builder of Jerusalem.” However, this emendation is not the best option for at least four reasons. First, although the Lord is never called the “builder” of Jerusalem in Isaiah, the idea of Zion’s children possessing the land does occur (Isa 49:20; 54:3; cf. also 14:1; 60:21). Secondly, all the ancient versions support the MT reading. Thirdly, although the verb בָּעַל (ba’al) can mean “to marry,” its basic idea is “to possess.” Consequently, the verb stresses a relationship more than a state. All the ancient versions render this verb “to dwell in” or “to dwell with.” The point is not just that the land will be reinhabited, but that it will be in a relationship of “belonging” to the Israelites. Hence a relational verb like בָּעַל is used (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:581). Finally, “sons” is a well-known metaphor for “inhabitants” (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 208).

[72:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sprout up,” like crops. This verse continues the metaphor of rain utilized in v. 6.

[72:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and [there will be an] abundance of peace until there is no more moon.”

[85:10]  ¹² tn The psalmist probably uses the perfect verbal forms in v. 10 in a dramatic or rhetorical manner, describing what he anticipates as if it were already occurring or had already occurred.

[85:10]  ¹³ sn Deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. The psalmist personifies these abstract qualities to emphasize that God’s loyal love and faithfulness will yield deliverance and peace for his people.

[85:11]  ¹⁴ sn The psalmist already sees undeniable signs of God’s faithfulness and expects deliverance to arrive soon.

[85:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “what is good.”

[85:12]  ¹⁶ tn Both “bestow” and “yield” translate the same Hebrew verb (נָתַן, natan). The repetition of the word emphasizes that agricultural prosperity is the direct result of divine blessing.

[147:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[149:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he honors the oppressed [with] deliverance.”

[32:41]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “will plant them in the land with faithfulness with all my heart and with all my soul.” The latter expressions are, of course, anthropomorphisms (see Deut 6:5).

[33:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “turn from his way.”

[33:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “ways.” This same word is translated “behavior” earlier in the verse.

[7:18]  ²² tn Heb “Who is a God like you?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!”

[7:18]  ²³ tn Heb “one who.” The prayer moves from direct address (second person) in v. 18a to a descriptive (third person) style in vv. 18b-19a and then back to direct address (second person) in vv. 19b-20. Due to considerations of English style and the unfamiliarity of the modern reader with alternation of persons in Hebrew poetry, the entire section has been rendered as direct address (second person) in the translation.

[7:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “pass over.”

[7:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “of the remnant of his inheritance.”

[7:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he does not keep hold of his anger forever.”

[3:17]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with joy.”

[3:17]  ²⁸ tc The MT reads, “he is silent in his love,” but this makes no sense in light of the immediately preceding and following lines. Some take the Hiphil verb form as causative (see Job 11:3) rather than intransitive and translate, “he causes [you] to be silent by his love,” that is, “he soothes [you] by his love.” The present translation follows the LXX and assumes an original reading יְחַדֵּשׁ (yÿkhaddesh, “he renews”) with ellipsis of the object (“you”).

[3:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with a shout of joy.”

[15:5]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:6]  ³¹ tn Grk “And coming into his…” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:6]  ³² sn A touch of drama may be present, as the term calls together can mean a formal celebration (1 Kgs 1:9-10).

[15:6]  ³³ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215). It occurs before “neighbors” as well (“his friends and his neighbors”) but has not been translated the second time because of English style.

[15:7]  ³⁴ sn There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. The pursuit of the sinner is a priority in spite of the presence of others who are doing well (see also Luke 5:32; 19:10). The theme of repentance, a major Lukan theme, is again emphasized.

[15:7]  ³⁵ tn Here δικαίοις (dikaioi") is an adjective functioning substantivally and has been translated “righteous people.”

[15:7]  ³⁶ tn Or “who do not need to repent”; Grk “who do not have need of repentance.”

[15:23]  ³⁷ tn Grk “And bring.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[15:23]  ³⁸ tn Or “the prize calf” (L&N 65.8). See also L&N 44.2, “grain-fattened.” Such a calf was usually reserved for religious celebrations.

[15:23]  ³⁹ tn The participle φαγόντες (fagontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[15:24]  ⁴⁰ sn This statement links the parable to the theme of 15:6, 9.

[15:24]  ⁴¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the father’s remarks in the preceding verses.

[6:37]  ⁴² tn Or “drive away”; Grk “cast out.”

[6:39]  ⁴³ tn Or “resurrect them all,” or “make them all live again”; Grk “raise it up.” The word “all” is supplied to bring out the collective nature of the neuter singular pronoun αὐτό (auto) in Greek. The plural pronoun “them” is used rather than neuter singular “it” because this is clearer in English, which does not use neuter collective singulars in the same way Greek does.

[6:40]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “resurrect him,” or “make him live again.”

[6:40]  ⁴⁵ sn Notice that here the result (having eternal life and being raised up at the last day) is produced by looking on the Son and believing in him. Compare John 6:54 where the same result is produced by eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood. This suggests that the phrase in 6:54 (eats my flesh and drinks my blood) is to be understood in terms of the phrase here (looks on the Son and believes in him).

[1:5]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “by predestining.” Verse 5 begins with an aorist participle dependent on the main verb in v. 4 (“chose”).

[1:5]  sn By predestining. The aorist participle may be translated either causally (“because he predestined,” “having predestined”) or instrumentally (“by predestining”). A causal nuance would suggest that God’s predestination of certain individuals prompted his choice of them. An instrumental nuance would suggest that the means by which God’s choice was accomplished was by predestination. The instrumental view is somewhat more likely in light of normal Greek syntax (i.e., an aorist participle following an aorist main verb is more likely to be instrumental than causal).

[1:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “to himself” after “through Jesus Christ.”

[1:5]  ⁴⁸ tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB, ESV), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as…sons.”

[1:5]  sn Adoption as his sons is different from spiritual birth as children. All true believers have been born as children of God and will be adopted as sons of God. The adoption is both a future reality, and in some sense, already true. To be adopted as a son means to have the full rights of an heir. Thus, although in the ancient world, only boys could be adopted as sons, in God’s family all children – both male and female – are adopted.

[1:5]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “good pleasure.”

[1:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “He did this by revealing”; Grk “making known, revealing.” Verse 9 begins with a participle dependent on “lavished” in v. 8; the adverbial participle could be understood as temporal (“when he revealed”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “lavished,” or as means (“by revealing”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.

[1:9]  ⁵¹ tn Or “mystery.” In the NT μυστήριον (musthrion) refers to a divine secret previously undisclosed.

[1:9]  ⁵² tn Or “purposed,” “publicly displayed.” Cf. Rom 3:25.

[1:9]  ⁵³ tn Grk “in him”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:9]  sn In Christ. KJV has “in himself” as though the antecedent were God the Father. Although possible, the notion of the verb set forth (Greek προτίθημι, protiqhmi) implies a plan that is carried out in history (cf. Rom 1:13; 3:25) and thus more likely refers to Christ.

[1:2]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:11]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

[1:11]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.

[1:11]  sn God’s own possession. Although God is not mentioned explicitly in the Greek text, it is clear from the context that he has chosen believers for himself. Just as with the nation Israel, the church is God’s chosen portion or possession (cf. Deut 32:8-9).