Psalms 37:9

37:9 Wicked men ¹  will be wiped out, ² 

but those who rely on the Lord are the ones who will possess the land. ³ 

Psalms 37:11

37:11 But the oppressed will possess the land

and enjoy great prosperity. ⁴ 

Psalms 37:18

37:18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day ⁵ 

and they possess a permanent inheritance. ⁶ 

Psalms 37:27

37:27 Turn away from evil! Do what is right! ⁷ 

Then you will enjoy lasting security. ⁸ 

Deuteronomy 30:20

30:20 I also call on you ⁹  to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually ¹⁰  in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Proverbs 2:21

2:21 For the upright will reside in the land,

and those with integrity ¹¹  will remain in it,

Proverbs 2:2

2:2 by making ¹²  your ear ¹³  attentive to wisdom,

and ¹⁴  by turning ¹⁵  your heart ¹⁶  to understanding,

Proverbs 3:13

Blessings of Obtaining Wisdom

3:13 Blessed ¹⁷  is the one ¹⁸  who finds ¹⁹  wisdom,

and the one who obtains ²⁰  understanding.

Revelation 21:3-4

21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence ²¹  of God is among human beings. ²²  He ²³  will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. ²⁴  21:4 He ²⁵  will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more – or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.” ²⁶ 

Revelation 21:7

21:7 The one who conquers ²⁷  will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

¹ tn Heb “for evil men.” The conjunction כִּי (ki, “for”) relates to the exhortations in v. 8; there is no reason to be frustrated, for the evildoers will be punished in due time.

² tn Or “cut off, removed.”

³ tn Heb “and those who wait on the Lord, they will possess the land.”

⁴ tn Heb “and they will take delight in (see v. 4) abundance of peace.”

⁵ tn Heb “the Lord knows the days of the innocent ones.” He “knows” their days in the sense that he is intimately aware of and involved in their daily struggles. He meets their needs and sustains them.

⁶ tn Heb “and their inheritance is forever.”

⁷ tn Or “Do good!” The imperatives are singular (see v. 1).

⁸ tn Heb “and dwell permanently.” The imperative with vav (ו) is best taken here as a result clause after the preceding imperatives.

⁹ tn The words “I also call on you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 19-20 are one long sentence, which the translation divides into two.

¹⁰ tn Heb “he is your life and the length of your days to live.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the blameless” (so NASB, NIV); NAB “the honest”; NRSV “the innocent.” The term תְּמִימִים (tÿmimim, “the blameless”) describes those who live with integrity. They are blameless in that they live above reproach according to the requirements of the law.

¹² tn The Hiphil infinitive construct לְהַקְשִׁיב (lÿhaqshiv, “by making attentive”) functions as an epexegetical explanation of how one will receive the instruction.

¹³ sn The word “ear” is a metonymy of cause; the word is used as the instrument of hearing. But in parallelism with “heart” it indicates one aspect of the mental process of hearing and understanding. A “hearing ear” describes an obedient or responsive person (BDB 24 s.v. אֹזֶן 2).

¹⁴ tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

¹⁵ tn The Hiphil imperfect (“by turning”) continues the nuance introduced by the infinitive construct in the first colon (GKC 352 §114.r). The verb נָטָה (natah) normally means “to stretch out” and only occasionally “to turn” or “to incline” one’s heart to something, as is the case here.

¹⁶ tn Or “mind” (the center of the will, the choice).

¹⁷ tn Although the word אַשְׁרֵי (’ashre, “blessed”) is frequently translated “happy” here (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT), such a translation can be somewhat misleading because the word means more than that – “happiness” depends on one’s circumstances. This word reflects that inner joy and heavenly bliss which comes to the person who is pleasing to God, whose way is right before God.

¹⁸ tn Heb “the man” (also again in the following line).

¹⁹ tn The perfect tense verb may be classified as a characteristic or gnomic perfect, as the parallel imperfect tense verb suggests (see note on v. 13b).

²⁰ tn The imperfect tense verb may be classified as a progressive or habitual imperfect.

²¹ tn Or “dwelling place”; traditionally, “tabernacle”; literally “tent.”

²² tn Or “people”; Grk “men” (ἀνθρώπων, anqrwpwn), a generic use of the term. In the translation “human beings” was used here because “people” occurs later in the verse and translates a different Greek word (λαοί, laoi).

²³ tn Grk “men, and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

²⁴ tc ‡ Most mss (א Ï^K) do not add the words “[as] their God” (αὐτῶν θεός, autwn qeos) after “he will be with them.” The mss with these words include A 2030 2050 2329 al. The Andreas group (Ï^A) also has the words, but in a different arrangement with the preceding (ἔσται μετ᾿ αὐτῶν θεὸς αὐτῶν, estai met’ autwn qeo" autwn). Not only do the words float, but scribes may have been motivated to make a connection here more directly with Isa 7:14; 8:8; Jer 24:7; 31:33; Zech 8:8. In light of sufficient external evidence as well as the possibility that the longer reading is theologically motivated, the shorter reading is preferred. NA²⁷ places the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

²⁵ tn Grk “God, and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

²⁶ tn For the translation of ἀπέρχομαι (apercomai; here ἀπῆλθαν [aphlqan]) L&N 13.93 has “to go out of existence – ‘to cease to exist, to pass away, to cease.’”

²⁷ tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.”