The invocation ends here with a confession of God as the merciful Lord, to whom Manasseh will confess himself to be a sinner in verses 8-10, and from whom he will beg for that mercy in verses 11-15.

The connector for at the beginning of this verse should be kept. It may also be rendered “Because.”

Lord Most High may be rendered “Ruler who is above all gods.”

Of great compassion, long-suffering, and very merciful, and repentest over the evils of men: The Greek achieves an interesting and moving literary effect in verse 7 which would be very difficult to translate (and is eliminated in Revised Standard Version). The lines of verses 4-6 are long and heavy, befitting their subject matter. The four key adjectives in those verses are elevated, of sophisticated construction. But with verse 7 everything lightens. The lines are short, the syntax is simple, and the four key adjectives (the fourth one being a participle) here are all compounds, but simple in Greek. (This is not so in the English text of Revised Standard Version, which renders them of great compassion, long-suffering, very merciful, and repentest.) Something of the same effect is seen in Isa 1.12-17, where the accusations made against the people are given in long involved lines, but where the utter simplicity of all God asks is expressed in contrasting lines that are short and simple. (This is evident even in the Revised Standard Version translation.) Compare the use of most of these words in Joel 2.13, which our author likely has in mind. Good News Translation has expressed long-suffering with the adjective “patient”; great compassion and very merciful are rendered “show mercy and compassion.” This is an effective restructuring. If Good News Translation had said “show great mercy,” it would have hit the target a bit closer. In some languages those who receive God’s mercy must be expressed; for example, the first two lines of this verse may be rendered “Because you, Lord Most High, are so patient with us, and are very merciful and compassionate towards us.”

At first glance repentest over the evils of men would seem to recall Gen 6.5-6, where people were so evil that God was sorry he ever made them. But in Joel 2.13, which the author surely has in mind (see the comment above), the line appears to mean that God “repents” of the disasters that befall people as a result of sin (compare the emotion ascribed to God in Hos 11.8-9). Evils here has the sense of troubles that beset people, rather than evils they commit. New English Bible expresses this line as “relenting when men suffer for their sins.” Charlesworth’s translation of the Syriac has “you feel sorry over the evils of men.” (Though this leaves unclear what “evils” means.) Good News Translation‘s wording is a sensitive statement of what the author is saying: “You make our punishment easier to bear when we suffer for our sins.” Contemporary English Version‘s statement is also a helpful model: “you punish us much less than we deserve.” Note that both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version render men with first person plural pronouns (“our,” “we,” and “us”). Some translators may prefer to do this also.

Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness may be rendered “Lord, you are very good [or, kind].”

Hast promised repentance and forgiveness to those who have sinned against thee may be rendered “You promise that those who sin against you may repent, and that you will forgive them when they do.”

In the multitude of thy mercies thou hast appointed repentance for sinners, that they may be saved: These lines repeat the same information as in the previous three lines, but use different words, and many translators will wish to combine them as Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version do (see the comments below). That they may be saved will be expressed in the active voice in many languages; for example, “You have promised to save them.” The last three lines of this verse may be rendered as follows:

You are kind and good,
so you have promised
to forgive and save
those who turn from their sins and obey you.

The word “repent” is a keyword in this verse. It is introduced first of God, who relents at the prospect of punishing people as they deserve, and then moves on to “repentance” as an opportunity granted people to spare themselves the punishment their sins deserve. In verse 8 the author applies it to himself.

The long second half of this verse, beginning with Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness, is not found in the two major Greek manuscripts on which our text is based. It is preserved in later Greek manuscripts as well as in some Latin and Syriac manuscripts. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation accept the addition, Good News Translation with a footnote (which Revised Standard Version should have had). New Revised Standard Version continues to use it, with a note. New English Bible also uses it, with a note, but Revised English Bible takes it out of the text and puts it into a footnote. Scholarly consensus is that these lines are original. Translators may accept the addition or reject it as they choose, but the Handbook would suggest accepting it. A textual footnote is appropriate in either case. Rahlfs’ edition of the Septuagint does not give the Greek text for these lines. It is found in his apparatus for the Göttingen Septuagint (1979 edition, page 362).

Good News Translation is shorter than Revised Standard Version for the second half of this verse, but this is because Good News Translation has restructured the lines in such a way that some combining takes place. Here is the Revised Standard Version structure:

A. Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness
B. hast promised repentance and forgiveness
C. to those who have sinned against thee;
D. and in the multitude of thy mercies
E. thou hast appointed repentance for sinners
F. that they may be saved.

Good News Translation combines A and D: “O Lord, in your great goodness and mercy” (similarly Contemporary English Version). The ideas of forgiveness and be saved from B and F are combined into “you promise forgiveness and salvation.” The idea of repentance from B is combined with lines C and E into “to those who repent of their sins against you.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see