Psalms 24:4-6

24:4 The one whose deeds are blameless

and whose motives are pure, ¹ 

who does not lie, ² 

or make promises with no intention of keeping them. ³ 

24:5 Such godly people are rewarded by the Lord, ⁴ 

and vindicated by the God who delivers them. ⁵ 

24:6 Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor,

Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him. ⁶  (Selah)

Habakkuk 2:4

2:4 Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, ⁷ 

but the person of integrity ⁸  will live ⁹  because of his faithfulness. ¹⁰ 

Romans 1:17

1:17 For the righteousness ¹¹  of God is revealed in the gospel ¹²  from faith to faith, ¹³  just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.” ¹⁴ 

James 2:18-26

2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” ¹⁵  Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by ¹⁶  my works. 2:19 You believe that God is one; well and good. ¹⁷  Even the demons believe that – and tremble with fear. ¹⁸ 

2:20 But would you like evidence, ¹⁹  you empty fellow, ²⁰  that faith without works is useless? ²¹  2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 2:22 You see that his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected by works. 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness,” ²²  and he was called God’s friend. ²³  2:24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 2:25 And similarly, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another way? 2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

James 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ²⁴  do not show prejudice ²⁵  if you possess faith ²⁶  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷ 

James 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ²⁸  do not show prejudice ²⁹  if you possess faith ³⁰  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ³¹ 

James 3:7

3:7 For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature ³²  is subdued and has been subdued by humankind. ³³ 

[24:4]  ¹ tn Heb “the innocent of hands and the pure of heart.” The “hands” allude to one’s actions, the “heart” to one’s thought life and motives.

[24:4]  ² tn Heb “who does not lift up for emptiness my life.” The first person pronoun on נַפְשִׁי (nafshiy, “my life”) makes little sense here; many medieval Hebrew mss support the ancient versions in reading a third person pronoun “his.” The idiom “lift the life” here means to “long for” or “desire strongly.” In this context (note the reference to an oath in the following line) “emptiness” probably refers to speech (see Ps 12:2).

[24:4]  ³ tn Heb “and does not swear an oath deceitfully.”

[24:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “he (the righteous individual described in v. 4) lifts up a blessing from the Lord.” The singular subject is representative here, as v. 6 makes clear. The referent (godly people like the individual in v. 4) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The imperfect verbal form is generalizing; such people are typically rewarded for their deeds.

[24:5]  ⁵ tn “and vindication from the God of his deliverance.”

[24:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “this [is the] generation of the ones seeking him, the ones seeking your face, Jacob.” To “seek the Lord’s face” means to seek his favor through prayer (see 2 Sam 21:1; Pss 27:8; 105:4).

[2:4]  ⁷ tn The meaning of this line is unclear, primarily because of the uncertainty surrounding the second word, עֲפְּלָה (’apÿlah). Some read this as an otherwise unattested verb עָפַל (’afal, “swell”) from which are derived nouns meaning “mound” and “hemorrhoid.” This “swelling” is then understood in an abstract sense, “swell with pride.” This would yield a translation, “As for the proud, his desires are not right within him” (cf. NASB “as for the proud one”; NIV “he is puffed up”; NRSV “Look at the proud!”). A multitude of other interpretations of this line, many of which involve emendations of the problematic form, may be found in the commentaries and periodical literature. The present translation assumes an emendation to a Pual form of the verb עָלַף (’alaf, “be faint, exhausted”). (See its use in the Pual in Isa 51:20, and in the Hitpael in Amos 8:13 and Jonah 4:8.) In the antithetical parallelism of the verse, it corresponds to חָיָה (khayah, “live”). The phrase לֹא יָשְׁרָה נַפְשׁוֹ בּוֹ (lo’ yoshrah nafsho bo), literally, “not upright his desire within him,” is taken as a substantival clause that contrasts with צַדִּיק (tsadiq, “the righteous one”) and serves as the subject of the preceding verb. Here נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is understood in the sense of “desire” (see BDB 660-61 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ for a list of passages where the word carries this sense).

[2:4]  ⁸ tn Or “righteous.” The oppressed individuals mentioned in 1:4 are probably in view here.

[2:4]  ⁹ tn Or “will be preserved.” In the immediate context this probably refers to physical preservation through both the present oppression and the coming judgment (see Hab 3:16-19).

[2:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “loyalty”; or “integrity.” The Hebrew word אֱמוּנָה (’emunah) has traditionally been translated “faith,” but the term nowhere else refers to “belief” as such. When used of human character and conduct it carries the notion of “honesty, integrity, reliability, faithfulness.” The antecedent of the suffix has been understood in different ways. It could refer to God’s faithfulness, but in this case one would expect a first person suffix (the original form of the LXX has “my faithfulness” here). Others understand the “vision” to be the antecedent. In this case the reliability of the prophecy is in view. For a statement of this view, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 111-12. The present translation assumes that the preceding word “[the person of] integrity” is the antecedent. In this case the Lord is assuring Habakkuk that those who are truly innocent will be preserved through the coming oppression and judgment by their godly lifestyle, for God ultimately rewards this type of conduct. In contrast to these innocent people, those with impure desires (epitomized by the greedy Babylonians; see v. 5) will not be able to withstand God’s judgment (v. 4a).

[1:17]  ¹¹ tn The nature of the “righteousness” described here and the force of the genitive θεοῦ (“of God”) which follows have been much debated. (1) Some (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:98) understand “righteousness” to refer to the righteous status given to believers as a result of God’s justifying activity, and see the genitive “of God” as a genitive of source (= “from God”). (2) Others see the “righteousness” as God’s act or declaration that makes righteous (i.e., justifies) those who turn to him in faith, taking the genitive “of God” as a subjective genitive (see E. Käsemann, Romans, 25-30). (3) Still others see the “righteousness of God” mentioned here as the attribute of God himself, understanding the genitive “of God” as a possessive genitive (“God’s righteousness”).

[1:17]  ¹² tn Grk “in it”; the referent (the gospel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ¹³ tn Or “by faith for faith,” or “by faith to faith.” There are many interpretations of the phrase ἐκ πίστεως εἰς πίστιν (ek pistew" ei" pistin). It may have the idea that this righteousness is obtained by faith (ἐκ πίστεως) because it was designed for faith (εἰς πίστιν). For a summary see J. Murray, Romans (NICNT), 1:363-74.

[1:17]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Hab 2:4.

[2:18]  ¹⁵ tn There is considerable doubt about where the words of the “someone” end and where James’ reply begins. Some see the quotation running to the end of v. 18; others to the end of v. 19. But most punctuate as shown above. The “someone” is then an objector, and the sense of his words is something like, “Some have faith; others have works; don’t expect everyone to have both.” James’ reply is that faith cannot exist or be seen without works.

[2:18]  ¹⁶ tn Or “from.”

[2:19]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “you do well.”

[2:19]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “believe and tremble.” The words “with fear” are implied.

[2:20]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “do you want to know.”

[2:20]  ²⁰ tn Grk “O empty man.” Here the singular vocative ἄνθρωπε (anqrwpe, “man”) means “person” or even “fellow.” Cf. BDAG 82 s.v. ἄνθρωπος 8 which views this as an instance of rhetorical address in a letter; the pejorative sense is also discussed under the previous heading (7).

[2:20]  ²¹ tc Most witnesses, including several important ones (א A C² P Ψ 33 Ï sy bo), have νεκρά (nekra, “dead”) here, while Ì⁷⁴ reads κενή (kenh, “empty”). Both variants are most likely secondary, derived from ἀργή (argh, “useless”). The reading of the majority is probably an assimilation to the statements in vv. 17 and 26, while Ì⁷⁴’s reading picks up on κενέ (kene) earlier in the verse. The external evidence (B C* 323 945 1739 sa) for ἀργή is sufficient for authenticity; coupled with the strong internal evidence for the reading (if νεκρά were original, how would ἀργή have arisen here and not in vv. 17 or 26?), it is strongly preferred.

[2:23]  ²² sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.

[2:23]  ²³ sn An allusion to 2 Chr 20:7; Isa 41:8; 51:2; Dan 3:35 (LXX), in which Abraham is called God’s “beloved.”

[2:1]  ²⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ²⁹ tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ³⁰ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[3:7]  ³² tn Grk (plurals), “every kind of animals and birds, of reptiles and sea creatures.”

[3:7]  ³³ tn Grk “the human species.”