Leviticus 18:4-5

18:4 You must observe my regulations ¹  and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. ²  I am the Lord your God. 18:5 So you must keep ³  my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them. ⁴  I am the Lord.

Deuteronomy 11:13-15

11:13 Now, if you pay close attention ⁵  to my commandments that I am giving you today and love ⁶  the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, ⁷  11:14 then he promises, ⁸  “I will send rain for your land ⁹  in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, ¹⁰  so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. 11:15 I will provide pasture ¹¹  for your livestock and you will eat your fill.”

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

The Covenant Blessings

28:1 “If you indeed ¹²  obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving ¹³  you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. 28:2 All these blessings will come to you in abundance ¹⁴  if you obey the Lord your God: 28:3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. ¹⁵  28:4 Your children ¹⁶  will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:5 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed. 28:6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. ¹⁷  28:7 The Lord will cause your enemies who attack ¹⁸  you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction ¹⁹  but flee from you in seven different directions. 28:8 The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do – yes, he will bless you in the land he ²⁰  is giving you. 28:9 The Lord will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments ²¹  and obey him. ²²  28:10 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you belong to the Lord, ²³  and they will respect you. 28:11 The Lord will greatly multiply your children, ²⁴  the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he ²⁵  promised your ancestors ²⁶  he would give you. 28:12 The Lord will open for you his good treasure house, the heavens, to give you rain for the land in its season and to bless all you do; ²⁷  you will lend to many nations but you will not borrow from any. 28:13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his ²⁸  commandments which I am urging ²⁹  you today to be careful to do. 28:14 But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving ³⁰  you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship ³¹  them.

Joshua 23:14-15

23:14 “Look, today I am about to die. ³²  You know with all your heart and being ³³  that not even one of all the faithful promises the Lord your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized – not one promise is unfulfilled! ³⁴  23:15 But in the same way every faithful promise the Lord your God made to you has been realized, ³⁵  it is just as certain, if you disobey, that the Lord will bring on you every judgment ³⁶  until he destroys you from this good land which the Lord your God gave you.

Jude 1:1-2

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ³⁷  a slave ³⁸  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ³⁹  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ⁴⁰  God the Father and kept for ⁴¹  Jesus Christ. 1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ⁴² 

Psalms 81:12-16

81:12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; ⁴³ 

they did what seemed right to them. ⁴⁴ 

81:13 If only my people would obey me! ⁴⁵ 

If only Israel would keep my commands! ⁴⁶ 

81:14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,

and attack ⁴⁷  their adversaries.”

81:15 (May those who hate the Lord ⁴⁸  cower in fear ⁴⁹  before him!

May they be permanently humiliated!) ⁵⁰ 

81:16 “I would feed Israel the best wheat, ⁵¹ 

and would satisfy your appetite ⁵²  with honey from the rocky cliffs.” ⁵³ 

Isaiah 1:19

1:19 If you have a willing attitude and obey, ⁵⁴ 

then you will again eat the good crops of the land.

Isaiah 48:18-19

48:18 If only you had obeyed my ⁵⁵  commandments,

prosperity would have flowed to you like a river, ⁵⁶ 

deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea. ⁵⁷ 

48:19 Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand, ⁵⁸ 

and your children ⁵⁹  like its granules.

Their name would not have been cut off

and eliminated from my presence. ⁶⁰ 

Matthew 7:24-25

Hearing and Doing

7:24 “Everyone ⁶¹  who hears these words of mine and does them is like ⁶²  a wise man ⁶³  who built his house on rock. 7:25 The rain fell, the flood ⁶⁴  came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because it had been founded on rock.

Romans 2:7-10

2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 2:8 but ⁶⁵  wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition ⁶⁶  and do not obey the truth but follow ⁶⁷  unrighteousness. 2:9 There will be ⁶⁸  affliction and distress on everyone ⁶⁹  who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek, ⁷⁰  2:10 but ⁷¹  glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek.

Revelation 22:14

22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access ⁷²  to the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates.

[18:4]  ¹ tn Heb “My regulations you shall do”; KJV, NASB “my judgments”; NRSV “My ordinances”; NIV, TEV “my laws.”

[18:4]  ² tn Heb “and my statutes you shall keep [or “watch; guard”] to walk in them.”

[18:5]  ³ tn Heb “And you shall keep.”

[18:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “which the man shall do them and shall live in them.” The term for “a man, human being; mankind” (אָדָם, ’adam; see the note on Lev 1:2) in this case refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female. The expression וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living” so it is written וְחָיָה (vÿkhayah) in Smr, but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see HALOT 309 s.v. חיה qal and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 25:35).

[11:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “if hearing, you will hear.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute to emphasize the verbal idea. The translation renders this emphasis with the word “close.”

[11:13]  ⁶ tn Again, the Hebrew term אָהַב (’ahav) draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).

[11:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[11:14]  ⁸ tn The words “he promises” do not appear in the Hebrew text but are needed in the translation to facilitate the transition from the condition (v. 13) to the promise and make it clear that the Lord is speaking the words of vv. 14-15.

[11:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.

[11:14]  ¹⁰ sn The autumn and the spring rains. The “former” (יוֹרֶה, yoreh) and “latter” (מַלְקוֹשׁ, malqosh) rains come in abundance respectively in September/October and March/April. Planting of most crops takes place before the former rains fall and the harvests follow the latter rains.

[11:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “grass in your field.”

[28:1]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”

[28:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).

[28:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “come upon you and overtake you” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “come upon you and accompany you.”

[28:3]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in the country” (so NAB, NIV, NLT). This expression also occurs in v. 15.

[28:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[28:6]  ¹⁷ sn Come in…go out. To “come in” and “go out” is a figure of speech (merism) indicating all of life and its activities.

[28:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “who rise up against” (so NIV).

[28:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “way” (also later in this verse and in v. 25).

[28:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” Because English would not typically reintroduce the proper name following a relative pronoun (“he will bless…the Lord your God is giving”), the pronoun (“he”) has been employed here in the translation.

[28:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.

[28:9]  ²² tn Heb “and walk in his ways” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[28:10]  ²³ tn Heb “the name of the Lord is called over you.” The Hebrew idiom indicates ownership; see 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1, as well as BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph. 2.d.(4).

[28:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “will give you a lot of children.”

[28:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

[28:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 36, 64).

[28:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”

[28:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the Lord your God’s.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

[28:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV); NASB “which I charge you today.”

[28:14]  ³⁰ tn Heb “from all the words which I am commanding.”

[28:14]  ³¹ tn Heb “in order to serve.”

[23:14]  ³² tn Heb “go the way of all the earth.”

[23:14]  ³³ tn Or “soul.”

[23:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “one word from all these words which the Lord your God spoke to you has not fallen, the whole has come to pass for you, one word from it has not fallen.”

[23:15]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and it will be as every good word which the Lord your God spoke to you has come to pass.”

[23:15]  ³⁶ tn Heb “so the Lord will bring every injurious [or “evil”] word [or “thing”] upon you.”

[1:1]  ³⁷ tn Grk “Judas,” traditionally “Jude” in English versions to distinguish him from the one who betrayed Jesus. The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³⁸ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). At the same time, perhaps “servant” is apt in that the δοῦλος of Jesus Christ took on that role voluntarily, unlike a slave. The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ³⁹ sn Although Jude was half-brother of Jesus, he humbly associates himself with James, his full brother. By first calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ, it is evident that he wants no one to place stock in his physical connections. At the same time, he must identify himself further: Since Jude was a common name in the 1st century (two of Jesus’ disciples were so named, including his betrayer), more information was needed, that is to say, brother of James.

[1:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “loved in.” The perfect passive participle suggests that the audience’s relationship to God is not recent; the preposition ἐν (en) before πατρί (patri) could be taken as sphere or instrument (agency is unlikely, however). Another possible translation would be “dear to God.”

[1:1]  ⁴¹ tn Or “by.” Datives of agency are quite rare in the NT (and other ancient Greek), almost always found with a perfect verb. Although this text qualifies, in light of the well-worn idiom of τηρέω (threw) in eschatological contexts, in which God or Christ keeps the believer safe until the parousia (cf. 1 Thess 5:23; 1 Pet 1:4; Rev 3:10; other terms meaning “to guard,” “to keep” are also found in similar eschatological contexts [cf. 2 Thess 3:3; 2 Tim 1:12; 1 Pet 1:5; Jude 24]), it is probably better to understand this verse as having such an eschatological tinge. It is at the same time possible that Jude’s language was intentionally ambiguous, implying both ideas (“kept by Jesus Christ [so that they might be] kept for Jesus Christ”). Elsewhere he displays a certain fondness for wordplays; this may be a hint of things to come.

[1:2]  ⁴² tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[81:12]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”

[81:12]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).

[81:13]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “if only my people were listening to me.” The Hebrew particle לוּ (lu, “if not”) introduces a purely hypothetical or contrary to fact condition (see 2 Sam 18:12).

[81:13]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “[and if only] Israel would walk in my ways.”

[81:14]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “turn my hand against.” The idiom “turn the hand against” has the nuance of “strike with the hand, attack” (see Isa 1:25; Ezek 38:12; Amos 1:8; Zech 13:7).

[81:15]  ⁴⁸ tn “Those who hate the Lord” are also mentioned in 2 Chr 19:2 and Ps 139:21.

[81:15]  ⁴⁹ tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 66:3 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “to be weak; to be powerless” (see also Ps 109:24). The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, parallel to the jussive form in the next line.

[81:15]  ⁵⁰ tc Heb “and may their time be forever.” The Hebrew term עִתָּם (’ittam, “their time”) must refer here to the “time” of the demise and humiliation of those who hate the Lord. Some propose an emendation to בַּעֲתָתָם (ba’atatam) or בִּעֻתָם (bi’utam; “their terror”; i.e., “may their terror last forever”), but the omission of bet (ב) in the present Hebrew text is difficult to explain, making the proposed emendation unlikely.

[81:16]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and he fed him from the best of the wheat.” The Hebrew text has a third person form of the preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive attached. However, it is preferable, in light of the use of the first person in v. 14 and in the next line, to emend the verb to a first person form and understand the vav as conjunctive, continuing the apodosis of the conditional sentence of vv. 13-14. The third masculine singular pronominal suffix refers to Israel, as in v. 6.

[81:16]  ⁵² tn Heb “you.” The second person singular pronominal suffix refers to Israel, as in vv. 7-10.

[81:16]  ⁵³ sn The language in this verse, particularly the references to wheat and honey, is reminiscent of Deut 32:13-14.

[1:19]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “listen”; KJV “obedient”; NASB “If you consent and obey.”

[48:18]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “paid attention to” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “had listened to.”

[48:18]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “like a river your peace would have been.” שָׁלוֹם (shalom) probably refers here to the peace and prosperity which God promised in return for obedience to the covenant.

[48:18]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) probably refers here to divine deliverance from enemies. See v. 19.

[48:19]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “like sand”; NCV “as many as the grains of sand.”

[48:19]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “and the issue from your inner parts.”

[48:19]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “and his name would not be cut off and would not be destroyed from before me.”

[7:24]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “Therefore everyone.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

[7:24]  ⁶² tn Grk “will be like.” The same phrase occurs in v. 26.

[7:24]  ⁶³ tn Here and in v. 26 the Greek text reads ἀνήρ (anhr), while the parallel account in Luke 6:47-49 uses ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") in vv. 48 and 49.

[7:25]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “the rivers.”

[2:8]  ⁶⁵ tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:8]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”

[2:8]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”

[2:9]  ⁶⁸ tn No verb is expressed in this verse, but the verb “to be” is implied by the Greek construction. Literally “suffering and distress on everyone…”

[2:9]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “every soul of man.”

[2:9]  ⁷⁰ sn Paul uses the term Greek here and in v. 10 to refer to non-Jews, i.e., Gentiles.

[2:10]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “but even,” to emphasize the contrast. The second word has been omitted since it is somewhat redundant in English idiom.

[22:14]  ⁷² tn Grk “so that there will be to them authority over the tree of life.”