Psalms 94:20

94:20 Cruel rulers ¹  are not your allies,

those who make oppressive laws. ² 

Psalms 101:7

101:7 Deceitful people will not live in my palace. ³ 

Liars will not be welcome in my presence. ⁴ 

Psalms 140:13

140:13 Certainly the godly will give thanks to your name;

the morally upright will live in your presence.

John 14:23

14:23 Jesus replied, ⁵  “If anyone loves me, he will obey ⁶  my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him. ⁷ 

Hebrews 12:14

Do Not Reject God’s Warning

12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, ⁸  for without it no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 12:2

12:2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ⁹ 

Hebrews 3:13

3:13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception.

Revelation 21:23

21:23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Revelation 21:27

21:27 but ¹⁰  nothing ritually unclean ¹¹  will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable ¹²  or practices falsehood, ¹³  but only those whose names ¹⁴  are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

¹ tn Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.

² tn Heb “Is a throne of destruction united to you, one that forms trouble upon a statute?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course not!” The translation, while not preserving the interrogative form of the statement, reflects its rhetorical force.

³ tn Heb “he will not live in the midst of my house, one who does deceit.”

⁴ tn Heb “one who speaks lies will not be established before my eyes.”

⁵ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

⁶ tn Or “will keep.”

⁷ tn Grk “we will come to him and will make our dwelling place with him.” The context here is individual rather than corporate indwelling, so the masculine singular pronoun has been retained throughout v. 23. It is important to note, however, that the pronoun is used generically here and refers equally to men, women, and children.

⁸ sn The references to peace and holiness show the close connection between this paragraph and the previous one. The pathway toward “holiness” and the need for it is cited in Heb 12:10 and 14. More importantly Prov 4:26-27 sets up the transition from one paragraph to the next: It urges people to stay on godly paths (Prov 4:26, quoted here in v. 13) and promises that God will lead them in peace if they do so (Prov 4:27 [LXX], quoted in v. 14).

⁹ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

¹¹ tn Here BDAG 552 s.v. κοινός 2 states, “pert. to being of little value because of being common, common, ordinary, profane…b. specifically, of that which is ceremonially impure: Rv 21:27.”

¹² tn Or “what is abhorrent”; Grk “who practices abominations.”

¹³ tn Grk “practicing abomination or falsehood.” Because of the way βδέλυγμα (bdelugma) has been translated (“does what is detestable”) it was necessary to repeat the idea from the participle ποιῶν (poiwn, “practices”) before the term “falsehood.” On this term, BDAG 1097 s.v. ψεῦδος states, “ποιεῖν ψεῦδος practice (the things that go with) falsehood Rv 21:27; 22:15.” Cf. Rev 3:9.

¹⁴ tn Grk “those who are written”; the word “names” is implied.