John 1:17

1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.

Joshua 24:14

24:14 Now obey the Lord and worship him with integrity and loyalty. Put aside the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt and worship the Lord.

Joshua 24:1

Israel Renews its Commitment to the Lord

24:1 Joshua assembled all the Israelite tribes at Shechem. He summoned Israel’s elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and they appeared before God.

Joshua 12:24

12:24 the king of Tirzah (one),

a total of thirty-one kings.

Joshua 12:1

12:1 Now these are the kings of the land whom the Israelites defeated and drove from their land on the east side of the Jordan, 10  from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon, including all the eastern Arabah:

Joshua 1:17

1:17 Just as we obeyed 11  Moses, so we will obey you. But 12  may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses!

Psalms 17:1

Psalm 17 13 

A prayer of David.

17:1 Lord, consider my just cause! 14 

Pay attention to my cry for help!

Listen to the prayer

I sincerely offer! 15 

Psalms 32:2

32:2 How blessed is the one 16  whose wrongdoing the Lord does not punish, 17 

in whose spirit there is no deceit. 18 

Psalms 51:6

51:6 Look, 19  you desire 20  integrity in the inner man; 21 

you want me to possess wisdom. 22 

Isaiah 10:20

10:20 At that time 23  those left in Israel, those who remain of the family 24  of Jacob, will no longer rely on a foreign leader that abuses them. 25  Instead they will truly 26  rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 27 

Jeremiah 3:10

3:10 In spite of all this, 28  Israel’s sister, unfaithful Judah, has not turned back to me with any sincerity; she has only pretended to do so,” 29  says the Lord.

Jeremiah 4:2

4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright

when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ 30 

If you do, 31  the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are

and will make him the object of their boasting.” 32 


tn “But” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the implied contrast between the Mosaic law and grace through Jesus Christ. John 1:17 seems to indicate clearly that the Old Covenant (Sinai) was being contrasted with the New. In Jewish sources the Law was regarded as a gift from God (Josephus, Ant. 3.8.10 [3.223]; Pirqe Avot 1.1; Sifre Deut 31:4 §305). Further information can be found in T. F. Glasson, Moses in the Fourth Gospel (SBT).

sn Joshua quotes the Lord’s words in vv. 2b-13 (note that the Lord speaks in the first person in these verses); in vv. 14-15 Joshua himself exhorts the people (note the third person references to the Lord).

tn Heb “fear.”

tn Or “and serve.”

tn Heb “your fathers.”

tn Or “served.”

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

tn Or “and serve.”

tn Heb “and took possession of their land.”

10 tn Heb “beyond the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun.”

11 tn Heb “listened to.”

12 tn Or “Only.” Here and in v. 18 this word qualifies what precedes (see also v. 7).

13 sn Psalm 17. The psalmist asks God to intervene on his behalf because his life is threatened by dangerous enemies. He appeals to divine justice, for he is certain of his own innocence. Because he is innocent, he expects to encounter God and receive an assuring word.

14 tn Heb “hear, Lord, what is just.”

15 tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”

16 tn Heb “man.” The word choice reflects the perspective of the psalmist, who is male. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, the gender and age specific “man” has been translated with the more neutral “one.”

17 tn Heb “blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord does not impute wrongdoing.”

18 sn In whose spirit there is no deceit. The point is not that the individual is sinless and pure. In this context, which focuses on confession and forgiveness of sin, the psalmist refers to one who refuses to deny or hide his sin, but instead honestly confesses it to God.

19 sn The juxtaposition of two occurrences of “look” in vv. 5-6 draws attention to the sharp contrast between the sinful reality of the psalmist’s condition and the lofty ideal God has for him.

20 tn The perfect is used in a generalizing sense here.

21 tn Heb “in the covered [places],” i.e., in the inner man.

22 tn Heb “in the secret [place] wisdom you cause me to know.” The Hiphil verbal form is causative, while the imperfect is used in a modal sense to indicate God’s desire (note the parallel verb “desire”).

23 tn Or “in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

24 tn Heb “house” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

25 tn Heb “on one who strikes him down.” This individual is the king (“foreign leader”) of the oppressing nation (which NLT specifies as “the Assyrians”).

26 tn Or “sincerely”; KJV, ASV, NAB, NRSV “in truth.”

27 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

28 tn Heb “And even in all this.”

29 tn Heb “ has not turned back to me with all her heart but only in falsehood.”

30 tn Heb “If you [= you must, see the translator’s note on the word “do” later in this verse] swear/take an oath, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, justice, and righteousness…”

31 tn 4:1-2a consists of a number of “if” clauses, two of which are formally introduced by the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) while the others are introduced by the conjunction “and,” followed by a conjunction (“and” = “then”) with a perfect in 4:2b which introduces the consequence. The translation “You must…. If you do,” was chosen to avoid a long and complicated sentence.

32 tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”