Psalms 37:6

37:6 He will vindicate you in broad daylight,

and publicly defend your just cause. ¹ 

Psalms 37:33

37:33 But the Lord does not surrender the godly,

or allow them to be condemned in a court of law. ² 

Psalms 37:2

37:2 For they will quickly dry up like grass,

and wither away like plants. ³ 

Psalms 1:6

1:6 Certainly ⁴  the Lord guards the way of the godly, ⁵ 

but the way of the wicked ends in destruction. ⁶ 

Jude 1:24

Final Blessing

1:24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, ⁷  and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, ⁸  without blemish ⁹  before his glorious presence, ¹⁰ 

¹ tn Heb “and he will bring out like light your vindication, and your just cause like noonday.”

² tn Heb “the Lord does not abandon him into his hand or condemn him when he is judged.” The imperfects draw attention to the Lord’s characteristic behavior in this regard.

³ tn Heb “like green vegetation.”

⁴ tn The translation understands כי as asseverative. Another option is to translate “for,” understanding v. 6 as a theological explanation for vv. 3-5, which contrasts the respective destinies of the godly and the wicked.

⁵ tn Heb “the Lord knows the way of the righteous.” To “know a way” means, in its most basic sense, “to recognize/acknowledge a pathway, route, or prescribed way of life” (see Josh 3:4; Job 21:14; Ps 67:2; Isa 42:16; Jer 5:4-5). Here it could refer to the Lord recognizing the behavior of the godly and, by metonymy, rewarding their godliness with security and prosperity (resulting in the translation, “the Lord rewards the behavior of the godly”). The present translation takes the verb in the sense of “mark out” (cf. Job 23:10), which metonymically could mean “watch over, protect, guard.” In this case the “way of the godly” is not their behavior, but their course of life or destiny; a translation reflecting this would be “the Lord protects the lives of the godly” or “the Lord watches over the destiny of the godly” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). The Hebrew active participle יוֹדֵעַ (yodea’, “knows”) has here a characteristic durative force.

⁶ tn Heb “but the way of the wicked perishes.” The “way of the wicked” may refer to their course of life (Ps 146:9; Prov 4:19; Jer 12:1) or their sinful behavior (Prov 12:26; 15:9). The Hebrew imperfect verbal form probably describes here what typically happens, though one could take the form as indicating what will happen (“will perish”).

⁵ tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “free from falling” is the adjectival complement.

⁶ tn Grk “with rejoicing.” The prepositional clause is placed after “his glorious presence” in Greek, but most likely goes with “cause you to stand.”

⁷ tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “without blemish” is the adjectival complement.

⁸ tn Or “in the presence of his glory,” “before his glory.”