1 Samuel 12:23

12:23 As far as I am concerned, far be it from me to sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you! I will instruct you in the way that is good and upright.

Nehemiah 9:13

9:13 “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.

Psalms 73:28

73:28 But as for me, God’s presence is all I need. ¹ 

I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter,

as ²  I declare all the things you have done.

Lamentations 3:26

3:26 It is good to wait patiently ³ 

for deliverance from the Lord. ⁴ 

Luke 10:42

10:42 but one thing ⁵  is needed. Mary has chosen the best ⁶  part; it will not be taken away from her.”

Romans 7:16

7:16 But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good. ⁷ 

Romans 7:2

7:2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her ⁸  husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage. ⁹ 

Romans 2:16

2:16 on the day when God will judge ¹⁰  the secrets of human hearts, ¹¹  according to my gospel ¹²  through Christ Jesus.

¹ tn Heb “but as for me, the nearness of God for me [is] good.”

² tn The infinitive construct with -לְ (lÿ) is understood here as indicating an attendant circumstance. Another option is to take it as indicating purpose (“so that I might declare”) or result (“with the result that I declare”).

³ tn Heb “waiting and silently.” The two adjectives וְיָחִיל וְדוּמָם (vÿyakhil vÿdumam, “waiting and silently”) form a hendiadys: The first functions verbally and the second functions adverbially: “to wait silently.” The adjective דוּמָם (dumam, “silently”) also functions as a metonymy of association, standing for patience or rest (HALOT 217 s.v.). This metonymical nuance is captured well in less literal English versions: “wait in patience” (TEV) and “wait patiently” (CEV, NJPS). The more literal English versions do not express the metonymy as well: “quietly wait” (KJV, NKJV, ASV), “waits silently” (NASB), “wait quietly” (RSV, NRSV, NIV).

⁴ tn Heb “deliverance of the Lord.” In the genitive-construct, the genitive יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”) denotes source, that is, he is the source of the deliverance: “deliverance from the Lord.”

⁵ tc Or, with some mss (̳ [א] B C² L 070^vid ˹ 33 [579] pc), “few things are needed – or only one” (as well as other variants). The textual problem here is a difficult one to decide. The shorter reading is normally preferred, but it is not altogether clear how the variants would arise from it. However, the reading followed in the translation has good support (with some internal variations) from a number of witnesses (Ì^45,75 A C* W Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï lat sa).

⁶ tn Or “better”; Grk “good.” This is an instance of the positive adjective used in place of the superlative adjective. According to ExSyn 298, this could also be treated as a positive for comparative (“better”).

⁷ tn Grk “I agree with the law that it is good.”

⁸ tn Grk “the,” with the article used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

⁹ tn Grk “husband.”

¹⁰ tn The form of the Greek word is either present or future, but it is best to translate in future because of the context of future judgment.

¹¹ tn Grk “of people.”

¹² sn On my gospel cf. Rom 16:25; 2 Tim 2:8.