Psalms 24:4-5

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 

Psalms 50:23

50:23 Whoever presents a thank-offering honors me. ⁶ 

To whoever obeys my commands, I will reveal my power to deliver.” ⁷ 

Psalms 103:17-18

103:17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers, ⁸ 

and is faithful to their descendants, ⁹ 

103:18 to those who keep his covenant,

who are careful to obey his commands. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 56:1-6

The Lord Invites Outsiders to Enter

56:1 This is what the Lord says,

“Promote ¹¹  justice! Do what is right!

For I am ready to deliver you;

I am ready to vindicate you openly. ¹² 

56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, ¹³ 

the people who commit themselves to obedience, ¹⁴ 

who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. ¹⁵ 

56:3 No foreigner who becomes a follower of ¹⁶  the Lord should say,

‘The Lord will certainly ¹⁷  exclude me from his people.’

The eunuch should not say,

‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”

56:4 For this is what the Lord says:

“For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths

and choose what pleases me

and are faithful to ¹⁸  my covenant,

56:5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument ¹⁹ 

that will be better than sons and daughters.

I will set up a permanent monument ²⁰  for them that will remain.

56:6 As for foreigners who become followers of ²¹  the Lord and serve him,

who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants –

all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

and who are faithful to ²²  my covenant –

Hosea 14:9

Concluding Exhortation

14:9 Who is wise?

Let him discern ²³  these things!

Who is discerning?

Let him understand them!

For the ways of the Lord are right;

the godly walk in them,

but in them the rebellious stumble.

Zephaniah 2:3

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ²⁴  all you humble people ²⁵  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ²⁶ 

Strive to do what is right! ²⁷  Strive to be humble! ²⁸ 

Maybe you will be protected ²⁹  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

Acts 10:35

10:35 but in every nation ³⁰  the person who fears him ³¹  and does what is right ³²  is welcomed before him.

Romans 2:13

2:13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous. ³³ 

Hebrews 8:8-12

8:8 But ³⁴  showing its fault, ³⁵  God ³⁶  says to them, ³⁷ 

“Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

8:9 “It will not be like the covenant ³⁸  that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.

8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put ³⁹  my laws in their minds ⁴⁰  and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. ⁴¹ 

8:11 “And there will be no need at all ⁴²  for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. ⁴³ 

8:12 “For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.” ⁴⁴ 

Hebrews 12:14

Do Not Reject God’s Warning

12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, ⁴⁵  for without it no one will see the Lord.

[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.”

[50:23]  ⁷ sn The reference to a thank-offering recalls the earlier statement made in v. 14. Gratitude characterizes genuine worship.

[50:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “and [to one who] sets a way I will show the deliverance of God.” Elsewhere the phrase “set a way” simply means “to travel” (see Gen 30:36; cf. NRSV). The present translation assumes an emendation of וְשָׂם דֶּרֶךְ (vÿsam derekh) to וְשֹׁמֵר דְּרָכַּי (vÿshomer dÿrakhay, “and [the one who] keeps my ways” [i.e., commands, see Pss 18:21; 37:34). Another option is to read וְשֹׁמֵר דַּרְכּוֹ (vÿshomer darko, “and [the one who] guards his way,” i.e., “the one who is careful to follow a godly lifestyle”; see Ps 39:1).

[103:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “but the loyal love of the Lord [is] from everlasting to everlasting over those who fear him.”

[103:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and his righteousness to sons of sons.”

[103:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “to those who remember his precepts to do them.”

[56:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “guard”; KJV “Keep”; NAB “Observe”; NASB “Preserve”; NIV, NRSV “Maintain.”

[56:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for near is my deliverance to enter, and my vindication [or “righteousness”] to be revealed.”

[56:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”

[56:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”

[56:2]  ²¹ tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

[56:3]  ²² tn Heb “who attaches himself to.”

[56:3]  ²³ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[56:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and take hold of” (so KJV); NASB “hold fast.”

[56:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “a hand and a name.” For other examples where יָד (yad) refers to a monument, see HALOT 388 s.v.

[56:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “name” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[56:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “who attach themselves to.”

[56:6]  ³² tn Heb “and take hold of”; NAB “hold to”; NIV, NRSV “hold fast.”

[14:9]  ³⁴ tn The shortened form of the prefix-conjugation verb וְיָבֵן (vÿyaven) indicates that it is a jussive rather than an imperfect. When a jussive comes from a superior to an inferior, it may connote exhortation and instruction or advice and counsel. For the functions of the jussive, see IBHS 568-70 §34.3.

[2:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.

[2:3]  ³⁸ tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.

[2:3]  ³⁹ tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”

[2:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Seek what is right.”

[2:3]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Seek humility.”

[2:3]  ⁴² tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”

[10:35]  ⁴⁰ sn See Luke 24:47.

[10:35]  ⁴¹ tn Or “shows reverence for him.”

[10:35]  ⁴² tn Grk “works righteousness”; the translation “does what is right” for this phrase in this verse is given by L&N 25.85.

[2:13]  ⁴³ tn The Greek sentence expresses this contrast more succinctly than is possible in English. Grk “For not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous.”

[8:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “for,” but providing an explanation of the God-intended limitation of the first covenant from v. 7.

[8:8]  ⁴⁷ sn The “fault” or limitation in the first covenant was not in its inherent righteousness, but in its design from God himself. It was never intended to be his final revelation or provision for mankind; it was provisional, always pointing toward the fulfillment to come in Christ.

[8:8]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:8]  ⁴⁹ tc ‡ Several witnesses (א* A D* I K P Ψ 33 81 326 365 1505 2464 al latt co Cyr) have αὐτούς (autous) here, “[in finding fault with] them, [he says],” alluding to Israel’s failings mentioned in v. 9b. (The verb μέμφομαι [memfomai, “to find fault with”] can take an accusative or dative direct object.) The reading behind the text above (αὐτοίς, autoi"), supported by Ì⁴⁶ א² B D² 0278 1739 1881 Ï, is perhaps a harder reading theologically, and is more ambiguous in meaning. If αὐτοίς goes with μεμφόμενος (memfomeno", here translated “showing its fault”), the clause could be translated “in finding fault with them” or “in showing [its] faults to them.” If αὐτοίς goes with the following λέγει (legei, “he says”), the clause is best translated, “in finding/showing [its] faults, he says to them.” The accusative pronoun suffers no such ambiguity, for it must be the object of μεμφόμενος rather than λέγει. Although a decision is difficult, the dative form of the pronoun best explains the rise of the other reading and is thus more likely to be original.

[8:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “not like the covenant,” continuing the description of v. 8b.

[8:10]  ⁵² tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”

[8:10]  ⁵³ tn Grk “mind.”

[8:10]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “I will be to them for a God and they will be to me for a people,” following the Hebrew constructions of Jer 31.

[8:11]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “they will not teach, each one his fellow citizen…” The Greek makes this negation emphatic: “they will certainly not teach.”

[8:11]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “from the small to the great.”

[8:12]  ⁵⁸ sn A quotation from Jer 31:31-34.

[12:14]  ⁶¹ sn The references to peace and holiness show the close connection between this paragraph and the previous one. The pathway toward “holiness” and the need for it is cited in Heb 12:10 and 14. More importantly Prov 4:26-27 sets up the transition from one paragraph to the next: It urges people to stay on godly paths (Prov 4:26, quoted here in v. 13) and promises that God will lead them in peace if they do so (Prov 4:27 [LXX], quoted in v. 14).