2 Chronicles 25:2

25:2 He did what the Lord approved, ¹  but not with wholehearted devotion. ² 

Psalms 36:1

Psalm 36 ³ 

For the music director; written by the Lord’s servant, David; an oracle. ⁴ 

36:1 An evil man is rebellious to the core. ⁵ 

He does not fear God, ⁶ 

Psalms 78:36-37

78:36 But they deceived him with their words, ⁷ 

and lied to him. ⁸ 

78:37 They were not really committed to him, ⁹ 

and they were unfaithful to his covenant.

Habakkuk 2:4

2:4 Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, ¹⁰ 

but the person of integrity ¹¹  will live ¹²  because of his faithfulness. ¹³ 

Matthew 6:22-24

6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, ¹⁴  your whole body will be full of light. 6:23 But if your eye is diseased, ¹⁵  your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate ¹⁶  the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise ¹⁷  the other. You cannot serve God and money. ¹⁸ 

John 21:17

21:17 Jesus ¹⁹  said ²⁰  a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed ²¹  that Jesus ²²  asked ²³  him a third time, “Do you love me?” and said, ²⁴  “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus ²⁵  replied, ²⁶  “Feed my sheep.

Hebrews 4:13

4:13 And no creature is hidden from God, ²⁷  but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

Revelation 2:23

2:23 Furthermore, I will strike her followers ²⁸  with a deadly disease, ²⁹  and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will repay ³⁰  each one of you ³¹  what your deeds deserve. ³² 

[25:2]  ¹ tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord.”

[25:2]  ² tn Heb “a complete heart.”

[36:1]  ³ sn Psalm 36. Though evil men plan to harm others, the psalmist is confident that the Lord is the just ruler of the earth who gives and sustains all life. He prays for divine blessing and protection and anticipates God’s judgment of the wicked.

[36:1]  ⁴ tn In the Hebrew text the word נאם (“oracle”) appears at the beginning of the next verse (v. 2 in the Hebrew text because the superscription is considered v. 1). The resulting reading, “an oracle of rebellion for the wicked [is] in the midst of my heart” (cf. NIV) apparently means that the psalm, which foresees the downfall of the wicked, is a prophetic oracle about the rebellion of the wicked which emerges from the soul of the psalmist. One could translate, “Here is a poem written as I reflected on the rebellious character of evil men.” Another option, followed in the translation above, is to attach נאם (nÿ’um, “oracle”) with the superscription. For another example of a Davidic poem being labeled an “oracle,” see 2 Sam 23:1.

[36:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “[the] rebellion of an evil man [is] in the midst of my heart.” The translation assumes a reading “in the midst of his heart” (i.e., “to the core”) instead of “in the midst of my heart,” a change which finds support in a a few medieval Hebrew mss, the Hebrew text of Origen’s Hexapla, and the Syriac.

[36:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “there is no dread of God before his eyes.” The phrase “dread of God” refers here to a healthy respect for God which recognizes that he will punish evil behavior.

[78:36]  ⁷ tn Heb “with their mouth.”

[78:36]  ⁸ tn Heb “and with their tongue they lied to him.”

[78:37]  ⁹ tn Heb “and their heart was not firm with him.”

[2:4]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of this line is unclear, primarily because of the uncertainty surrounding the second word, עֲפְּלָה (’apÿlah). Some read this as an otherwise unattested verb עָפַל (’afal, “swell”) from which are derived nouns meaning “mound” and “hemorrhoid.” This “swelling” is then understood in an abstract sense, “swell with pride.” This would yield a translation, “As for the proud, his desires are not right within him” (cf. NASB “as for the proud one”; NIV “he is puffed up”; NRSV “Look at the proud!”). A multitude of other interpretations of this line, many of which involve emendations of the problematic form, may be found in the commentaries and periodical literature. The present translation assumes an emendation to a Pual form of the verb עָלַף (’alaf, “be faint, exhausted”). (See its use in the Pual in Isa 51:20, and in the Hitpael in Amos 8:13 and Jonah 4:8.) In the antithetical parallelism of the verse, it corresponds to חָיָה (khayah, “live”). The phrase לֹא יָשְׁרָה נַפְשׁוֹ בּוֹ (lo’ yoshrah nafsho bo), literally, “not upright his desire within him,” is taken as a substantival clause that contrasts with צַדִּיק (tsadiq, “the righteous one”) and serves as the subject of the preceding verb. Here נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is understood in the sense of “desire” (see BDB 660-61 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ for a list of passages where the word carries this sense).

[2:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “righteous.” The oppressed individuals mentioned in 1:4 are probably in view here.

[2:4]  ¹² tn Or “will be preserved.” In the immediate context this probably refers to physical preservation through both the present oppression and the coming judgment (see Hab 3:16-19).

[2:4]  ¹³ tn Or “loyalty”; or “integrity.” The Hebrew word אֱמוּנָה (’emunah) has traditionally been translated “faith,” but the term nowhere else refers to “belief” as such. When used of human character and conduct it carries the notion of “honesty, integrity, reliability, faithfulness.” The antecedent of the suffix has been understood in different ways. It could refer to God’s faithfulness, but in this case one would expect a first person suffix (the original form of the LXX has “my faithfulness” here). Others understand the “vision” to be the antecedent. In this case the reliability of the prophecy is in view. For a statement of this view, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 111-12. The present translation assumes that the preceding word “[the person of] integrity” is the antecedent. In this case the Lord is assuring Habakkuk that those who are truly innocent will be preserved through the coming oppression and judgment by their godly lifestyle, for God ultimately rewards this type of conduct. In contrast to these innocent people, those with impure desires (epitomized by the greedy Babylonians; see v. 5) will not be able to withstand God’s judgment (v. 4a).

[6:22]  ¹⁴ tn Or “sound” (so L&N 23.132 and most scholars). A few scholars take this word to mean something like “generous” here (L&N 57.107). partly due to the immediate context concerning money, in which case the “eye” is a metonymy for the entire person (“if you are generous”).

[6:23]  ¹⁵ tn Or “if your eye is sick” (L&N 23.149).

[6:24]  ¹⁶ sn The contrast between hate and love here is rhetorical. The point is that one will choose the favorite if a choice has to be made.

[6:24]  ¹⁷ tn Or “and treat [the other] with contempt.”

[6:24]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “God and mammon.”

[21:17]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.

[21:17]  ²¹ tn Or “was sad.”

[21:17]  ²² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ²³ tn Grk “said to.”

[21:17]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.

[21:17]  ²⁵ tc ‡ Most witnesses, especially later ones (A Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï), read ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsou", “Jesus”) here, while B C have ᾿Ιησοῦς without the article and א D W ˹ 33 565 al lat lack both. Because of the rapid verbal exchange in this pericope, “Jesus” is virtually required for clarity, providing a temptation to scribes to add the name. Further, the name normally occurs with the article. Although it is possible that B C accidentally omitted the article with the name, it is just as likely that they added the simple name to the text for clarity’s sake, while other witnesses added the article as well. The omission of ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς thus seems most likely to be authentic. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating some doubts as to their authenticity.

[21:17]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[4:13]  ²⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:23]  ²⁸ tn Grk “her children,” but in this context a reference to this woman’s followers or disciples is more likely meant.

[2:23]  ²⁹ tn Grk “I will kill with death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).

[2:23]  ³⁰ tn Grk “I will give.” The sense of δίδωμι (didwmi) in this context is more “repay” than “give.”

[2:23]  ³¹ sn This pronoun and the following one are plural in the Greek text.

[2:23]  ³² tn Grk “each one of you according to your works.”