Exodus 19:5

19:5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me ¹  and keep ²  my covenant, then you will be my ³  special possession ⁴  out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine,

Deuteronomy 7:6

7:6 For you are a people holy ⁵  to the Lord your God. He ⁶  has chosen you to be his people, prized ⁷  above all others on the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 14:2

14:2 For you are a people holy ⁸  to the Lord your God. He ⁹  has chosen you to be his people, prized ¹⁰  above all others on the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 26:17-18

26:17 Today you have declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey him. 26:18 And today the Lord has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so you may keep all his commandments.

Psalms 135:4

135:4 Indeed, ¹¹  the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,

Israel to be his special possession. ¹² 

Isaiah 62:3-4

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, ¹³  you will be called “My Delight is in Her,” ¹⁴ 

and your land “Married.” ¹⁵ 

For the Lord will take delight in you,

and your land will be married to him. ¹⁶ 

Titus 2:14

2:14 He ¹⁷  gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, ¹⁸  who are eager to do good. ¹⁹ 

Titus 2:1

Conduct Consistent with Sound Teaching

2:1 But as for you, communicate the behavior that goes with ²⁰  sound teaching.

Titus 2:9

2:9 Slaves ²¹  are to be subject to their own masters in everything, ²²  to do what is wanted and not talk back,

¹ tn Heb “listen to my voice.” The construction uses the imperfect tense in the conditional clause, preceded by the infinitive absolute from the same verb. The idiom “listen to the voice of” implies obedience, not just mental awareness of sound.

² tn The verb is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea in the protasis of the sentence: “and [if you will] keep.”

³ tn The lamed preposition expresses possession here: “to me” means “my.”

⁴ tn The noun is סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah), which means a special possession. Israel was to be God’s special possession, but the prophets will later narrow it to the faithful remnant. All the nations belong to God, but Israel was to stand in a place of special privilege and enormous responsibility. See Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Ps 135:4; and Mal 3:17. See M. Greenburg, “Hebrew sÿgulla: Akkadian sikiltu,” JAOS 71 (1951): 172ff.

⁵ tn That is, “set apart.”

⁶ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

⁷ tn Or “treasured” (so NIV, NRSV); NLT “his own special treasure.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.

⁸ tn Or “set apart.”

⁹ tn Heb “The Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

¹⁰ tn Or “treasured.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.

¹¹ tn Or “for.”

¹² sn His special possession. The language echoes Exod 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18. See also Mal 3:17.

¹³ tn Or “for”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “but.”

¹⁴ tn Hebrew חֶפְצִי־בָהּ (kheftsi-vah), traditionally transliterated “Hephzibah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).

¹⁵ tn Hebrew בְּעוּלָה (bÿ’ulah), traditionally transliterated “Beulah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).

¹⁶ 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.

¹⁷ tn Grk “who” (as a continuation of the previous clause).

¹⁸ tn Or “a people who are his very own.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “for good works.”

²⁰ tn Grk “say what is fitting for sound teaching” (introducing the behavior called for in this chapter.).

²¹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 1:1.

²² tn Or “to be subject to their own masters, to do what is wanted in everything.”