Job 22:2

22:2 “Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit?

Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable? ¹ 

Malachi 3:14

3:14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped ²  by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? ³ 

Romans 6:21

6:21 So what benefit ⁴  did you then reap ⁵  from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.

Hebrews 11:24-26

11:24 By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 11:25 choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. 11:26 He regarded abuse suffered for Christ ⁶  to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on ⁷  the reward.

James 1:9-11

1:9 Now the believer ⁸  of humble means ⁹  should take pride ¹⁰  in his high position. ¹¹  1:10 But the rich person’s pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow. ¹²  1:11 For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever. ¹³  So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away.

¹ tn Some do not take this to be parallel to the first colon, taking this line as a statement, but the parallel expressions here suggest the question is repeated.

² tn Heb “What [is the] profit”; NIV “What did we gain.”

³ sn The people’s public display of self-effacing piety has gone unrewarded by the Lord. The reason, of course, is that it was blatantly hypocritical.

³ tn Grk “fruit.”

⁴ tn Grk “have,” in a tense emphasizing their customary condition in the past.

⁴ tn Grk “the abuse [or ‘reproach’] of Christ.”

⁵ tn Grk “he was looking away to.”

⁵ tn Grk “brother.” Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. TEV, NLT “Christians”; CEV “God’s people”). The term broadly connotes familial relationships within the family of God (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a).

⁶ tn Grk “the lowly brother,” but “lowly/humble” is clarified in context by the contrast with “wealthy” in v. 10.

⁷ tn Grk “let him boast.”

⁸ tn Grk “his height,” “his exaltation.”

⁶ tn Grk “a flower of grass.”

⁷ tn Or “perishes,” “is destroyed.”