Genesis 18:19

18:19 I have chosen him ¹  so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep ²  the way of the Lord by doing ³  what is right and just. Then the Lord will give ⁴  to Abraham what he promised ⁵  him.”

Joshua 24:15

24:15 If you have no desire ⁶  to worship ⁷  the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, ⁸  whether it be the gods whom your ancestors ⁹  worshiped ¹⁰  beyond the Euphrates, ¹¹  or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family ¹²  will worship ¹³  the Lord!”

Psalms 101:2-7

101:2 I will walk in ¹⁴  the way of integrity.

When will you come to me?

I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace. ¹⁵ 

101:3 I will not even consider doing what is dishonest. ¹⁶ 

I hate doing evil; ¹⁷ 

I will have no part of it. ¹⁸ 

101:4 I will have nothing to do with a perverse person; ¹⁹ 

I will not permit ²⁰  evil.

101:5 I will destroy anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.

I will not tolerate anyone who has a cocky demeanor and an arrogant attitude. ²¹ 

101:6 I will favor the honest people of the land, ²² 

and allow them to live with me. ²³ 

Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me. ²⁴ 

101:7 Deceitful people will not live in my palace. ²⁵ 

Liars will not be welcome in my presence. ²⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “For I have known him.” The verb יָדַע (yada’) here means “to recognize and treat in a special manner, to choose” (see Amos 3:2). It indicates that Abraham stood in a special covenantal relationship with the Lord.

² tn Heb “and they will keep.” The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the subjective nuance of the preceding imperfect verbal form (translated “so that he may command”).

³ tn The infinitive construct here indicates manner, explaining how Abraham’s children and his household will keep the way of the Lord.

⁴ tn Heb “bring on.” The infinitive after לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) indicates result here.

⁵ tn Heb “spoke to.”

⁶ tn Heb “if it is bad in your eyes.”

⁷ tn Or “to serve.”

⁸ tn Or “will serve.”

⁹ tn Heb “your fathers.”

¹⁰ tn Or “served.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.

¹² tn Heb “house.”

¹³ tn Or “will serve.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “take notice of.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “I will walk about in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “I will not set before my eyes a thing of worthlessness.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “the doing of swerving [deeds] I hate.” The Hebrew term סֵטִים (setim) is probably an alternate spelling of שֵׂטִים (setim), which appears in many medieval Hebrew mss. The form appears to be derived from a verbal root שׂוּט (sut, “to fall away; to swerve”; see Ps 40:4).

¹⁸ tn Heb “it [i.e., the doing of evil deeds] does not cling to me.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “a perverse heart will turn aside from me.” The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted; crooked” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse (see Ps 18:26). It appears frequently in the Book of Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20), and life styles (2:15; 28:6).

²⁰ tn Heb “know.” The king will not willingly allow perverse individuals to remain in his royal court.

²¹ tn Heb “[one who has] pride of eyes and wideness [i.e., arrogance] of heart, him I will not endure.”

²² tn Heb “my eyes [are] on the faithful of the land.”

²³ tn The Hebrew text simply reads, “in order to live with me.”

²⁴ tn Heb “one who walks in the way of integrity, he will minister to me.”

²⁵ tn Heb “he will not live in the midst of my house, one who does deceit.”

²⁶ tn Heb “one who speaks lies will not be established before my eyes.”