Psalms 19:14

19:14 May my words and my thoughts

be acceptable in your sight, ¹ 

O Lord, my sheltering rock ²  and my redeemer. ³ 

Isaiah 56:7

56:7 I will bring them to my holy mountain;

I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me. ⁴ 

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar,

for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.” ⁵ 

Romans 12:1-2

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ⁶  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ⁷  – which is your reasonable service. 12:2 Do not be conformed ⁸  to this present world, ⁹  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve ¹⁰  what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Ephesians 1:6

1:6 to the praise of the glory of his grace ¹¹  that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son. ¹² 

Ephesians 5:10

5:10 trying to learn ¹³  what is pleasing to the Lord.

Philippians 4:18

4:18 For I have received everything, and I have plenty. I have all I need because I received from Epaphroditus what you sent – a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, very pleasing to God.

Philippians 4:1

Christian Practices

4:1 So then, my brothers and sisters, ¹⁴  dear friends whom I long to see, my joy and crown, stand in the Lord in this way, my dear friends!

Philippians 2:5

2:5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, ¹⁵ 

Philippians 2:20

2:20 For there is no one here like him who will readily demonstrate his deep concern for you. ¹⁶ 

[19:14]  ¹ tn Heb “may the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart be acceptable before you.” The prefixed verbal form at the beginning of the verse is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate the form as an imperfect continuing the thought of v. 14b: “[Then] the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart will be acceptable before you.”

[19:14]  ² tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”

[19:14]  ³ tn Heb “and the one who redeems me.” The metaphor casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis.

[56:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the house of my prayer.”

[56:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”

[12:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[12:1]  ⁷ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

[12:2]  ⁸ tn Although συσχηματίζεσθε (suschmatizesqe) could be either a passive or middle, the passive is more likely since it would otherwise have to be a direct middle (“conform yourselves”) and, as such, would be quite rare for NT Greek. It is very telling that being “conformed” to the present world is viewed as a passive notion, for it may suggest that it happens, in part, subconsciously. At the same time, the passive could well be a “permissive passive,” suggesting that there may be some consciousness of the conformity taking place. Most likely, it is a combination of both.

[12:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “to this age.”

[12:2]  ¹⁰ sn The verb translated test and approve (δοκιμάζω, dokimazw) carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.”

[1:6]  ¹¹ tn Or “to the praise of his glorious grace.” Many translations translate δόξης τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ (doxh" th" carito" autou, literally “of the glory of his grace”) with τῆς χάριτος as an attributed genitive (cf., e.g., NIV, NRSV, ESV). The translation above has retained a literal rendering in order to make clear the relationship of this phrase to the other two similar phrases in v. 12 and 14, which affect the way one divides the material in the passage.

[1:6]  ¹² tn Grk “the beloved.” The term ἠγαπημένῳ (hgaphmenw) means “beloved,” but often bears connotations of “only beloved” in an exclusive sense. “His dearly loved Son” picks up this connotation.

[5:10]  ¹³ tn BDAG 255 s.v. δοκιμάζω 1 translates δοκιμάζοντες (dokimazonte") in Eph 5:10 as “try to learn.”

[4:1]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[2:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which also [was] in Christ Jesus,” or “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which [you] also [have] in Christ Jesus.”

[2:20]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “For I have no one who is like-minded who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.”