Isaiah 51:7

51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,

you people who are aware of my law! ¹ 

Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;

don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!

Psalms 94:15

94:15 For justice will prevail, ² 

and all the morally upright ³  will be vindicated. ⁴ 

Proverbs 15:9

15:9 The Lord abhors ⁵  the way of the wicked,

but he loves those ⁶  who pursue ⁷  righteousness.

Proverbs 21:21

21:21 The one who pursues righteousness and love ⁸ 

finds life, bounty, ⁹  and honor.

Matthew 5:6

5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger ¹⁰  and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Matthew 6:33

6:33 But above all pursue his kingdom ¹¹  and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Romans 9:30-32

Israel’s Rejection Culpable

9:30 What shall we say then? – that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith, 9:31 but Israel even though pursuing ¹²  a law of righteousness ¹³  did not attain it. ¹⁴  9:32 Why not? Because they pursued ¹⁵  it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. ¹⁶  They stumbled over the stumbling stone, ¹⁷ 

Romans 14:19

14:19 So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another.

Philippians 3:13

3:13 Brothers and sisters, ¹⁸  I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded: ¹⁹  Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead,

Philippians 3:1

True and False Righteousness

3:1 Finally, my brothers and sisters, ²⁰  rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

Philippians 1:11

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

Philippians 1:2

1:2 Grace and peace to you ²¹  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Philippians 2:22

2:22 But you know his qualifications, that like a son working with his father, he served with me in advancing the gospel.

Hebrews 12:14

Do Not Reject God’s Warning

12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, ²²  for without it no one will see the Lord.

¹ tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”

² tn Heb “for judgment will return to justice.”

³ tn Heb “all the pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 97:11).

⁴ tn Heb “and after it [are] the pure of heart.”

⁵ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.”

⁶ tn Heb “the one who” (so NRSV).

⁷ sn God hates the way of the wicked, that is, their lifestyle and things they do. God loves those who pursue righteousness, the Piel verb signifying a persistent pursuit. W. G. Plaut says, “He who loves God will be moved to an active, persistent, and even dangerous search for justice” (Proverbs, 170).

⁸ sn These two attributes, “righteousness” (צְדָקָה, tsÿdaqah) and “loyal love” (חֶסֶד, khesed) depict the life style of the covenant-believer who is pleasing to God and a blessing to others. The first term means that he will do what is right, and the second means that he will be faithful to the covenant community.

⁹ sn The Hebrew term translated “bounty” is צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) again, so there is a wordplay on the term in the verse. The first use of the word had the basic meaning of “conduct that conforms to God’s standard”; this second use may be understood as a metonymy of cause, indicating the provision or reward (“bounty”) that comes from keeping righteousness (cf. NIV “prosperity”; NCV “success”). The proverb is similar to Matt 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”

¹⁰ sn Those who hunger are people like the poor Jesus has already mentioned. The term has OT roots both in conjunction with the poor (Isa 32:6-7; 58:6-7, 9-10; Ezek 18:7, 16) or by itself (Ps 37:16-19; 107:9).

¹¹ tc ‡ Most mss (L W Θ 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy mae) read τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ (thn basileian tou qeou kai thn dikaiosunhn aujtou, “the kingdom of God and his righteousness”) here, but the words “of God” are lacking in א B pc sa bo Eus. On the one hand, there is the possibility of accidental omission on the part of these Alexandrian witnesses, but it seems unlikely that the scribe’s eye would skip over both words (especially since τοῦ θεοῦ is bracketed by first declension nouns). Intrinsically, the author generally has a genitive modifier with βασιλεία – especially θεοῦ or οὐρανῶν (ouranwn) – but this argument cuts both ways: Although he might be expected to use such an adjunct here, scribes might also be familiar with his practice and would thus naturally insert it if it were missing in their copy of Matthew. Although a decision is difficult, the omission of τοῦ θεοῦ is considered most likely to be original. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

¹² tn Or “who pursued.” The participle could be taken adverbially or adjectivally.

¹³ tn Or “a legal righteousness,” that is, a righteousness based on law. This translation would treat the genitive δικαιοσύνης (dikaiosunh") as an attributed genitive (see ExSyn 89-91).

¹⁴ tn Grk “has not attained unto the law.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “Why? Because not by faith but as though by works.” The verb (“they pursued [it]”) is to be supplied from the preceding verse for the sake of English style; yet a certain literary power is seen in Paul’s laconic style.

¹⁶ tc Most mss, especially the later ones (א² D Ψ 33 Ï sy), read νόμου (nomou, “of the law”) here, echoing Paul’s usage in Rom 3:20, 28 and elsewhere. The qualifying phrase is lacking in א* A B F G 6 629 630 1739 1881 pc lat co. The longer reading thus is weaker externally and internally, being motivated apparently by a need to clarify.

¹⁷ tn Grk “the stone of stumbling.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

¹⁹ tn Grk “But this one thing (I do).”

²⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

²¹ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

²² sn The references to peace and holiness show the close connection between this paragraph and the previous one. The pathway toward “holiness” and the need for it is cited in Heb 12:10 and 14. More importantly Prov 4:26-27 sets up the transition from one paragraph to the next: It urges people to stay on godly paths (Prov 4:26, quoted here in v. 13) and promises that God will lead them in peace if they do so (Prov 4:27 [LXX], quoted in v. 14).