Deuteronomy 6:13

6:13 You must revere the Lord your God, serve him, and take oaths using only his name.

Psalms 34:9

34:9 Remain loyal to ¹  the Lord, you chosen people of his, ² 

for his loyal followers ³  lack nothing!

Psalms 128:1

Psalm 128 ⁴ 

A song of ascents. ⁵ 

128:1 How blessed is every one of the Lord’s loyal followers, ⁶ 

each one who keeps his commands! ⁷ 

Jeremiah 32:39-40

32:39 I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for ⁸  their own good and the good of the children who descend from them. 32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ⁹  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ¹⁰  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ¹¹  they will never again turn ¹²  away from me.

Acts 9:31

9:31 Then ¹³  the church throughout Judea, Galilee, ¹⁴  and Samaria experienced ¹⁵  peace and thus was strengthened. ¹⁶  Living ¹⁷  in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church ¹⁸  increased in numbers.

Acts 9:1

The Conversion of Saul

9:1 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing out threats ¹⁹  to murder ²⁰  the Lord’s disciples, went to the high priest

Acts 1:17

1:17 for he was counted as one of us and received a share in this ministry.” ²¹ 

[34:9]  ¹ tn Heb “fear.”

[34:9]  ² tn Heb “O holy ones of his.”

[34:9]  ³ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[128:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 128. The psalmist observes that the godly individual has genuine happiness because the Lord rewards such a person with prosperity and numerous children.

[128:1]  ⁵ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[128:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “every fearer of the Lord.”

[128:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “the one who walks in his ways.”

[32:39]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will give to them one heart and one way to [= in order that they may] fear me all the days for good to them.” The phrase “one heart” refers both to unanimity of will and accord (cf. 1 Chr 12:38 [12:39 HT]; 2 Chr 30:12) and to singleness of purpose or intent (cf. Ezek 11:19 and see BDB 525 s.v. ֵלב 4 where reference is made to “inclinations, resolutions, and determinations of the will”). The phrase “one way” refers to one way of life or conduct (cf. BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a where reference is made to moral action and character), a way of life that is further qualified by the goal of showing “fear, reverence, respect” for the Lord. The Hebrew sentence has been broken up to avoid a long complex sentence in English which is contrary to contemporary English style. However, an attempt has been made to preserve all the connections of the original.

[32:40]  ⁹ tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.

[32:40]  ¹⁰ tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”

[32:40]  ¹¹ tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.

[32:40]  ¹² tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.

[9:31]  ¹³ tn Or “Therefore.” This verse is another summary text in Acts (cf. 2:41-47; 4:32-37; 5:12-16; 6:7).

[9:31]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and Galilee,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[9:31]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “had.”

[9:31]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Built up.” The participle οἰκοδομουμένη (oikodomoumenh) has been translated as a participle of result related to εἶχεν (eicen). It could also be understood as adverbial to ἐπληθύνετο (eplhquneto): “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace. Strengthened and living in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.” Although some scholars do not regard the participle of result as a legitimate category, it is actually fairly common (see ExSyn 637-39).

[9:31]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And living.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[9:31]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the church) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Saul, making dire threats.”

[9:1]  ²⁰ tn The expression “breathing out threats and murder” is an idiomatic expression for “making threats to murder” (see L&N 33.293). Although the two terms “threats” and “murder” are syntactically coordinate, the second is semantically subordinate to the first. In other words, the content of the threats is to murder the disciples.

[1:17]  ²¹ tn Or “and was chosen to have a share in this ministry.” The term λαγχάνω (lancanw) here and in 2 Pet 1:1 can be understood as referring to the process of divine choice and thus be translated, “was chosen to have.”