Ecclesiastes 7:18

7:18 It is best to take hold of one warning ¹  without letting go of the other warning; ² 

for the one who fears God will follow ³  both warnings. ⁴ 

Psalms 37:11

37:11 But the oppressed will possess the land

and enjoy great prosperity. ⁵ 

Psalms 37:18-19

37:18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day ⁶ 

and they possess a permanent inheritance. ⁷ 

37:19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come; ⁸ 

when famine comes they will have enough to eat. ⁹ 

Psalms 112:1

Psalm 112 ¹⁰ 

112:1 Praise the Lord!

How blessed is the one ¹¹  who obeys ¹²  the Lord,

who takes great delight in keeping his commands. ¹³ 

Psalms 115:13

115:13 He will bless his loyal followers, ¹⁴ 

both young and old. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 1:32-33

1:32 For the waywardness ¹⁶  of the

simpletons will kill ¹⁷  them,

and the careless ease ¹⁸  of fools will destroy them.

1:33 But the one who listens ¹⁹  to me will live in security, ²⁰ 

and will be at ease ²¹  from the dread of harm.

Isaiah 3:10-11

3:10 Tell the innocent ²²  it will go well with them, ²³ 

for they will be rewarded for what they have done. ²⁴ 

3:11 Too bad for the wicked sinners!

For they will get exactly what they deserve. ²⁵ 

Isaiah 65:13-14

65:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry!

Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty!

Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated!

65:14 Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts! ²⁶ 

But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; ²⁷ 

you will wail because your spirits will be crushed. ²⁸ 

Isaiah 65:20-24

65:20 Never again will one of her infants live just a few days ²⁹ 

or an old man die before his time. ³⁰ 

Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred, ³¹ 

anyone who fails to reach ³²  the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.

65:21 They will build houses and live in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

65:22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, ³³ 

or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, ³⁴ 

for my people will live as long as trees, ³⁵ 

and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. ³⁶ 

65:23 They will not work in vain,

or give birth to children that will experience disaster. ³⁷ 

For the Lord will bless their children

and their descendants. ³⁸ 

65:24 Before they even call out, ³⁹  I will respond;

while they are still speaking, I will hear.

Matthew 25:34

25:34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Matthew 25:41-46

25:41 “Then he will say ⁴⁰  to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels! 25:42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. 25:43 I was a stranger and you did not receive me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 25:44 Then they too will answer, ⁴¹  ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not give you whatever you needed?’ 25:45 Then he will answer them, ⁴²  ‘I tell you the truth, ⁴³  just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’ 25:46 And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Luke 1:50

1:50 from ⁴⁴  generation to generation he is merciful ⁴⁵  to those who fear ⁴⁶  him.

[7:18]  ¹ tn The word “warning” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation two times in this line for clarity.

[7:18]  ² sn The other warning. Qoheleth is referring to the two words of advice in 7:16-17. He is not, as some suggest, urging his readers to grasp righteousness without letting go of wickedness. His point is not that people should live their lives with a balance of modest righteousness and modest wickedness. Because he urges the fear of God in 7:18b, he cannot be inconsistent in suggesting that his readers offend the fear of God by indulging in some degree of sin in order to counterbalance an overly righteous life. Rather, the proper fear of God will prevent a person from trusting in righteousness and wisdom alone for his security, and it will also prevent indulgence in wickedness and folly.

[7:18]  ³ tn Or “will escape both”; or “will go forth in both.” The Hebrew phrase יֵצֵא אֶת־כֻּלָּם (yetse’ ’et-kullam, “he will follow both of them”) has been interpreted in several ways: (1) To adopt a balanced lifestyle that is moderately righteous while allowing for self-indulgence in moderate wickedness (“to follow both of them,” that is, to follow both righteousness and wickedness). However, this seems to unnecessarily encourage an antinomian rationalization of sin and moral compromise. (2) To avoid the two extremes of being over-righteous and over-wicked. This takes יֵצֵא in the sense of “to escape,” e.g., Gen 39:12, 15; 1 Sam 14:14; Jer 11:11; 48:9; cf. HALOT 426 s.v. יצא 6.c; BDB 423 s.v. יָצָא 1.d. (3) To follow both of the warnings given in 7:16-17. This approach finds parallels in postbiblical rabbinic literature denoting the action of discharging one’s duty of obedience and complying with instruction. In postbiblical rabbinic literature the phrase יַדֵי יֵצֵא (yetse’ yade, “to go out of the hands”) is an idiom meaning “to comply with the requirements of the law” (Jastrow 587 s.v. יָצָא Hif.5.a). This fits nicely with the context of 7:16-17 in which Qoheleth issued two warnings. In 7:18a Qoheleth exhorted his readers to follow both of his warnings: “It is best to grasp the first warning without letting go of the second warning.” The person who fears God will heed both warnings. He will not depend upon his own righteousness and wisdom, but upon God’s sovereign bestowal of blessings. Likewise, he will not exploit the exceptions to the doctrine of retribution to indulge in sin, rationalizing sin away just because the wicked sometimes do not get what they deserve.

[7:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “both.” The term “warnings” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Alternately, “both [extremes]” or “both [fates].” The point of this expression is either (1) “ he achieves both things,” (2) “he escapes all these misfortunes,” (3) “he does his duty by both,” or (4) “he avoids both extremes.” See D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 3:580–81.

[37:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they will take delight in (see v. 4) abundance of peace.”

[37:18]  ⁶ 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.

[37:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “and their inheritance is forever.”

[37:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “in a time of trouble.”

[37:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “in days of famine they will be satisfied.”

[112:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[112:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.

[112:1]  ¹² tn Heb “fears.”

[112:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.

[115:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the fearers of the Lord.”

[115:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the small along with the great.” The translation assumes that “small” and “great” here refer to age (see 2 Chr 15:13). Another option is to translate “both the insignificant and the prominent” (see Job 3:19; cf. NEB “high and low alike”).

[1:32]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “turning away” (so KJV). The term מְשׁוּבַת (mÿshuvat, “turning away”) refers to moral defection and apostasy (BDB 1000 s.v.; cf. ASV “backsliding”). The noun מְשׁוּבַת (“turning away”) which appears at the end of Wisdom’s speech in 1:32 is from the same root as the verb תָּשׁוּבוּ (tashuvu, “turn!”) which appears at the beginning of this speech in 1:23. This repetition of the root שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn”) creates a wordplay: Because fools refuse to “turn to” wisdom (1:23), they will be destroyed by their “turning away” from wisdom (1:32). The wordplay highlights the poetic justice of their judgment. But here they have never embraced the teaching in the first place; so it means turning from the advice as opposed to turning to it.

[1:32]  ¹⁷ sn The Hebrew verb “to kill” (הָרַג, harag) is the end of the naive who refuse to change. The word is broad enough to include murder, massacre, killing in battle, and execution. Here it is judicial execution by God, using their own foolish choices as the means to ruin.

[1:32]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “complacency” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “smugness.” The noun שַׁלְוַה (shalvah) means (1) positively: “quietness; peace; ease” and (2) negatively: “self-sufficiency; complacency; careless security” (BDB 1017 s.v.), which is the sense here. It is “repose gained by ignoring or neglecting the serious responsibilities of life” (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 29).

[1:33]  ¹⁹ tn The participle is used substantivally here: “whoever listens” will enjoy the benefits of the instruction.

[1:33]  ²⁰ tn The noun בֶּטַח (betakh, “security”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner: “in security.” The phrase refers to living in a permanent settled condition without fear of danger (e.g., Deut 33:12; Ps 16:9). It is the antithesis of the dread of disaster facing the fool and the simple.

[1:33]  ²¹ tn The verb שַׁאֲנַן (sha’anan) is a Palel perfect of שָׁאַן (sha’an) which means “to be at ease; to rest securely” (BDB 983 s.v. שָׁאַן). Elsewhere it parallels the verb “to be undisturbed” (Jer 30:10), so it means “to rest undisturbed and quiet.” The reduplicated Palel stem stresses the intensity of the idea. The perfect tense functions in the so-called “prophetic perfect” sense, emphasizing the certainty of this blessing for the wise.

[3:10]  ²² tn Or “the righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, TEV); NLT “those who are godly.”

[3:10]  ²³ tn Heb “that it is good.”

[3:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “for the fruit of their deeds they will eat.”

[3:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “for the work of his hands will be done to him.”

[65:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “from the good of the heart.”

[65:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “from the pain of the heart.”

[65:14]  ²⁸ tn Heb “from the breaking of the spirit.”

[65:20]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and there will not be from there again a nursing infant of days,” i.e., one that lives just a few days.

[65:20]  ³⁰ tn Heb “or an old [man] who does not fill out his days.”

[65:20]  ³¹ tn Heb “for the child as a son of one hundred years will die.” The point seems to be that those who die at the age of a hundred will be considered children, for the average life span will be much longer than that. The category “child” will be redefined in light of the expanded life spans that will characterize this new era.

[65:20]  ³² tn Heb “the one who misses.” חָטָא (khata’) is used here in its basic sense of “miss the mark.” See HALOT 305 s.v. חטא. Another option is to translate, “and the sinner who reaches the age of a hundred will be cursed.”

[65:22]  ³³ tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”

[65:22]  ³⁴ tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”

[65:22]  ³⁵ tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”

[65:22]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”

[65:23]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and they will not give birth to horror.”

[65:23]  ³⁸ tn Heb “for offspring blessed by the Lord they [will be], and their descendants along with them.”

[65:24]  ³⁹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[25:41]  ⁴⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:44]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “Then they will answer, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[25:45]  ⁴² tn Grk “answer them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[25:45]  ⁴³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[1:50]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “and from.” Here καί (kai) has been translated by a semicolon to improve the English style.

[1:50]  ⁴⁵ sn God’s mercy refers to his “loyal love” or “steadfast love,” expressed in faithful actions, as the rest of the psalm illustrates.

[1:50]  ⁴⁶ tn That is, “who revere.” This refers to those who show God a reverential respect for his sovereignty.