Psalms 106:3

106:3 How blessed are those who promote justice,

and do what is right all the time!

Ezekiel 18:5-9

18:5 “Suppose a man is righteous. He practices what is just and right, 18:6 does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains ¹  or pray to the idols ²  of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, does not have sexual relations with a ³  woman during her period, 18:7 does not oppress anyone, but gives the debtor back whatever was given in pledge, ⁴  does not commit robbery, ⁵  but gives his bread to the hungry and clothes the naked, 18:8 does not engage in usury or charge interest, ⁶  but refrains ⁷  from wrongdoing, promotes true justice ⁸  between men, 18:9 and follows my statutes and observes my regulations by carrying them out. ⁹  That man ¹⁰  is righteous; he will certainly live, ¹¹  declares the sovereign Lord.

Matthew 5:20

5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law ¹²  and the Pharisees, ¹³  you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 1:75

1:75 in holiness and righteousness ¹⁴  before him for as long as we live. ¹⁵ 

Acts 10:35

10:35 but in every nation ¹⁶  the person who fears him ¹⁷  and does what is right ¹⁸  is welcomed before him.

Romans 2:6-8

2:6 He ¹⁹  will reward ²⁰  each one according to his works: ²¹  2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 2:8 but ²²  wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition ²³  and do not obey the truth but follow ²⁴  unrighteousness.

Romans 2:13

2:13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous. ²⁵ 

Romans 6:16-18

6:16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves ²⁶  as obedient slaves, ²⁷  you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting in righteousness? ²⁸  6:17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed ²⁹  from the heart that pattern ³⁰  of teaching you were entrusted to, 6:18 and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.

Ephesians 5:9

5:9 for the fruit of the light ³¹  consists in ³²  all goodness, righteousness, and truth –

Philippians 1:11

1:11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul ³³  and Timothy, slaves ³⁴  of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, ³⁵  with the overseers ³⁶  and deacons.

Philippians 2:24

2:24 though I am confident in the Lord that I too will be coming to see you ³⁷  soon.

[18:6]  ¹ tn Heb, “on the mountains he does not eat.” The mountains are often mentioned as the place where idolatrous sacrifices were eaten (Ezek 20:28; 22:9; 34:6).

[18:6]  ² tn Heb, “does not lift up his eyes.” This refers to looking to idols for help.

[18:6]  ³ tn Heb, “does not draw near to.” “Draw near” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse (Lev 18:14; Deut 22:14; Isa 8:3).

[18:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “restores to the debtor his pledge.” The root occurs in Exod 22:25 in reference to restoring a man’s garment as a pledge before nightfall.

[18:7]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term refers to seizure of property, usually by the rich (Isa 3:14; 10:2; Mic 2:2 [see Lev 5:21, 22]).

[18:8]  ⁶ sn This law was given in Lev 25:36.

[18:8]  ⁷ tn Heb, “turns back his hand.”

[18:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “justice of truth.”

[18:9]  ⁹ tc The MT reads לַעֲשׂוֹת אֱמֶת (la’asot ’emet, “to do with integrity”), while the LXX reads “to do them,” presupposing לַעֲשׂוֹת אֹתָם (la’asot ’otam). The ם (mem) and ת (tav) have been reversed in the MT. The LXX refelcts the original, supported by similar phrasing in Ezekiel 11:20; 20:19.

[18:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he.”

[18:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “living, he will live.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[5:20]  ¹² tn Or “that of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[5:20]  ¹³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[1:75]  ¹⁴ sn The phrases that we…might serve him…in holiness and righteousness from Luke 1:74-75 well summarize a basic goal for a believer in the eyes of Luke. Salvation frees us up to serve God without fear through a life full of ethical integrity.

[1:75]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “all our days.”

[10:35]  ¹⁶ sn See Luke 24:47.

[10:35]  ¹⁷ tn Or “shows reverence for him.”

[10:35]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “works righteousness”; the translation “does what is right” for this phrase in this verse is given by L&N 25.85.

[2:6]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Ps 62:12; Prov 24:12; a close approximation to Matt 16:27.

[2:8]  ²² tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:8]  ²³ tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”

[2:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”

[2:13]  ²⁵ tn The Greek sentence expresses this contrast more succinctly than is possible in English. Grk “For not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous.”

[6:16]  ²⁶ tn Grk “to whom you present yourselves.”

[6:16]  ²⁷ tn Grk “as slaves for obedience.” See the note on the word “slave” in 1:1.

[6:16]  ²⁸ tn Grk “either of sin unto death, or obedience unto righteousness.”

[6:17]  ²⁹ tn Grk “you were slaves of sin but you obeyed.”

[6:17]  ³⁰ tn Or “type, form.”

[5:9]  ³¹ tc Several mss (Ì⁴⁶ D² Ψ Ï) have πνεύματος (pneumatos, “Spirit”) instead of φωτός (fwtos, “light”). Although most today regard φωτός as obviously original (UBS⁴ gives it an “A” rating), a case could be made that πνεύματος is what the author wrote. First, although this is largely a Byzantine reading (D² often, if not normally, assimilates to the Byzantine text), Ì⁴⁶ gives the reading much greater credibility. Internally, the φωτός at the end of v. 8 could have lined up above the πνεύματος in v. 9 in a scribe’s exemplar, thus occasioning dittography. (It is interesting to note that in both Ì⁴⁹ and א the two instances of φωτός line up.) However, written in a contracted form, as a nomen sacrum (pMnMs) – a practice found even in the earliest mss – πνεύματος would not have been easily confused with fwtos (there being only the last letter to occasion homoioteleuton rather than the last three). Further, the external evidence for φωτός is quite compelling (Ì⁴⁹ א A B D* F G P 33 81 1739 1881 2464 pc latt co); it is rather doubtful that the early and widespread witnesses all mistook πνεύματος for φωτός. In addition, πνεύματος can be readily explained as harking back to Gal 5:22 (“the fruit of the Spirit”). Thus, on balance, φωτός appears to be original, giving rise to the reading πνεύματος.

[5:9]  ³² tn Grk “in.” The idea is that the fruit of the light is “expressed in” or “consists of.”

[1:1]  ³³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³⁴ tn Traditionally, “servants” or “bondservants.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ³⁵ map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[1:1]  ³⁶ sn The overseers (or “church leaders,” L&N 53.71) is another term for the same official position of leadership as the “elder.” This is seen in the interchange of the two terms in Titus 1:6-7 and in Acts 20:17, 28, as well as in the parallels between Titus 1:6-7 and 1 Tim 3:1-7.

[2:24]  ³⁷ tn The words “to see you” are not in the Greek text, but are implied, and are supplied in the translation for clarity.