Psalms 51:18

51:18 Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her! ¹ 

Fortify ²  the walls of Jerusalem! ³ 

Luke 12:32

12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is well pleased ⁴  to give you the kingdom.

Ephesians 1:5

1:5 He did this by predestining ⁵  us to adoption as his ⁶  sons ⁷  through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure ⁸  of his will –

Ephesians 1:9

1:9 He did this when he revealed ⁹  to us the secret ¹⁰  of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth ¹¹  in Christ, ¹² 

Philippians 2:13

2:13 for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.

Titus 3:4-7

3:4 ¹³  But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 3:6 whom he poured out on us in full measure ¹⁴  through Jesus Christ our Savior. 3:7 And so, ¹⁵  since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.” ¹⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “do what is good for Zion in your favor.”

² tn Or “Build.” The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴ tn Or perhaps, “your Father chooses.”

⁵ tn Grk “by predestining.” Verse 5 begins with an aorist participle dependent on the main verb in v. 4 (“chose”).

⁶ tn Grk “to himself” after “through Jesus Christ.”

⁷ tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB, ESV), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as…sons.”

⁸ tn Or “good pleasure.”

⁹ tn Or “He did this by revealing”; Grk “making known, revealing.” Verse 9 begins with a participle dependent on “lavished” in v. 8; the adverbial participle could be understood as temporal (“when he revealed”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “lavished,” or as means (“by revealing”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.

¹⁰ tn Or “mystery.” In the NT μυστήριον (musthrion) refers to a divine secret previously undisclosed.

¹¹ tn Or “purposed,” “publicly displayed.” Cf. Rom 3:25.

¹² tn Grk “in him”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

¹³ tn Verses 4-7 are set as poetry in NA²⁶/NA²⁷. These verses probably constitute the referent of the expression “this saying” in v. 8.

¹⁴ tn Or “on us richly.”

¹⁵ tn This is the conclusion of a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek encompassing Titus 3:4-7. Showing the goal of God’s merciful salvation, v. 7 begins literally, “in order that, being justified…we might become heirs…”

¹⁶ tn Grk “heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”