Deuteronomy 6:1

Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Principles

6:1 Now these are the commandments, ¹  statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed ² 

Psalms 25:8-9

25:8 The Lord is both kind and fair; ³ 

that is why he teaches sinners the right way to live. ⁴ 

25:9 May he show ⁵  the humble what is right! ⁶ 

May he teach ⁷  the humble his way!

Psalms 25:12

25:12 The Lord shows his faithful followers

the way they should live. ⁸ 

Isaiah 54:13

54:13 All your children will be followers of the Lord,

and your children will enjoy great prosperity. ⁹ 

Matthew 11:25-30

Jesus’ Invitation

11:25 At that time Jesus said, ¹⁰  “I praise ¹¹  you, Father, Lord ¹²  of heaven and earth, because ¹³  you have hidden these things from the wise ¹⁴  and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. 11:26 Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will. ¹⁵  11:27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. ¹⁶  No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides ¹⁷  to reveal him. 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 11:29 Take my yoke ¹⁸  on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 11:30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”

John 6:45

6:45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ ¹⁹  Everyone who hears and learns from the Father ²⁰  comes to me.

John 7:17

7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will, ²¹  he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority. ²² 

Acts 10:32-33

10:32 Therefore send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter. This man is staying as a guest in the house of Simon the tanner, ²³  by the sea.’ 10:33 Therefore I sent for you at once, and you were kind enough to come. ²⁴  So now we are all here in the presence of God ²⁵  to listen ²⁶  to everything the Lord has commanded you to say to us.” ²⁷ 

Acts 13:42

13:42 As Paul and Barnabas ²⁸  were going out, ²⁹  the people ³⁰  were urging ³¹  them to speak about these things ³²  on the next Sabbath.

James 1:19-25

Living Out the Message

1:19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! ³³  Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. 1:20 For human ³⁴  anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. ³⁵  1:21 So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly ³⁶  welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls. 1:22 But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves. 1:23 For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone ³⁷  who gazes at his own face ³⁸  in a mirror. 1:24 For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets ³⁹  what sort of person he was. 1:25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, ⁴⁰  and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he ⁴¹  will be blessed in what he does. ⁴² 

[6:1]  ¹ tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.

[6:1]  ² tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”

[25:8]  ³ tn Heb “good and just.”

[25:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “teaches sinners in the way.”

[25:9]  ⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form is jussive; the psalmist expresses his prayer.

[25:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “may he guide the humble into justice.” The Hebrew term עֲנָוִים (’anavim, “humble”) usually refers to the oppressed, but in this context, where the psalmist confesses his sin and asks for moral guidance, it apparently refers to sinners who humble themselves before God and seek deliverance from their sinful condition.

[25:9]  ⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form is interpreted as a jussive (it stands parallel to the jussive form, “may he guide”).

[25:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “Who is this man, the one who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.” The singular (note “man”) is representative here (see v. 14, where the plural is used), and has thus been translated as a plural (“followers…they”).

[54:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “and great [will be] the peace of your sons.”

[11:25]  ¹¹ tn Grk “At that time, answering, Jesus said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[11:25]  ¹² tn Or “thank.”

[11:25]  ¹³ sn The title Lord is an important name for God, showing his sovereignty, but it is interesting that it comes next to a reference to the Father, a term indicative of God’s care. The two concepts are often related in the NT; see Eph 1:3-6.

[11:25]  ¹⁴ tn Or “that.”

[11:25]  ¹⁵ sn See 1 Cor 1:26-31.

[11:26]  ¹³ tn Grk “for (to do) thus was well-pleasing before you,” BDAG 325 s.v. ἔμπροσθεν 1.b.δ; speaking of something taking place “before” God is a reverential way of avoiding direct connection of the action to him.

[11:27]  ¹⁵ sn This verse has been noted for its conceptual similarity to teaching in John’s Gospel (10:15; 17:2). The authority of the Son and the Father are totally intertwined.

[11:27]  ¹⁶ tn Or “wishes”; or “intends”; or “plans” (cf. BDAG 182 s.v. βούλομαι 2.b). Here it is the Son who has sovereignty.

[11:29]  ¹⁷ sn A yoke is a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals like oxen or horses so that they can pull a wagon, plow, etc. together. Here it is used figuratively of the restrictions that a teacher or rabbi would place on his followers.

[6:45]  ¹⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 54:13.

[6:45]  ²⁰ tn Or “listens to the Father and learns.”

[7:17]  ²¹ tn Grk “his will.”

[7:17]  ²² tn Grk “or whether I speak from myself.”

[10:32]  ²³ tn Or “with a certain Simon Berseus.” Although most modern English translations treat βυρσεῖ (bursei) as Simon’s profession (“Simon the tanner”), it is possible that the word is actually Simon’s surname (“Simon Berseus” or “Simon Tanner”). BDAG 185 s.v. βυρσεύς regards it as a surname.

[10:33]  ²⁵ tn Grk “you have done well by coming.” The idiom καλῶς ποιεῖν (kalw" poiein) is translated “be kind enough to do someth.” by BDAG 505-6 s.v. καλῶς 4.a. The participle παραγενόμενος (paragenomeno") has been translated as an English infinitive due to the nature of the English idiom (“kind enough to” + infinitive).

[10:33]  ²⁶ tn The translation “we are here in the presence of God” for ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ πάρεσμεν (enwpion tou qeou paresmen) is given by BDAG 773 s.v. πάρειμι 1.a.

[10:33]  ²⁷ tn Or “to hear everything.”

[10:33]  ²⁸ tn The words “to say to us” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Cornelius knows Peter is God’s representative, bringing God’s message.

[13:42]  ²⁷ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Paul and Barnabas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:42]  ²⁸ tn Or “were leaving.” The participle ἐξιόντων (exiontwn) is taken temporally.

[13:42]  ²⁹ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:42]  ³⁰ tn Or “begging,” “inviting.”

[13:42]  ³¹ tn Or “matters.”

[1:19]  ²⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[1:20]  ³¹ tn The word translated “human” here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” But it sometimes is used generically to mean “anyone,” “a person” (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 2), and in this context, contrasted with “God’s righteousness,” the point is “human” anger (not exclusively “male” anger).

[1:20]  ³² sn God’s righteousness could refer to (1) God’s righteous standard, (2) the righteousness God gives, (3) righteousness before God, or (4) God’s eschatological righteousness (see P. H. Davids, James [NIGTC], 93, for discussion).

[1:21]  ³³ tn Or “with meekness.”

[1:23]  ³⁵ tn The word for “man” or “individual” is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” However, as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, here it is “equivalent to τὶς someone, a person.”

[1:23]  ³⁶ tn Grk “the face of his beginning [or origin].”

[1:24]  ³⁷ tn Grk “and he has gone out and immediately has forgotten.”

[1:25]  ³⁹ tn Grk “continues.”

[1:25]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “this one.”

[1:25]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “in his doing.”