Psalms 31:23

31:23 Love the Lord, all you faithful followers ¹  of his!

The Lord protects those who have integrity,

but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly. ² 

Psalms 37:28

37:28 For the Lord promotes ³  justice,

and never abandons ⁴  his faithful followers.

They are permanently secure, ⁵ 

but the children ⁶  of evil men are wiped out. ⁷ 

Psalms 97:10

97:10 You who love the Lord, hate evil!

He protects ⁸  the lives of his faithful followers;

he delivers them from the power ⁹  of the wicked.

Exodus 20:6

20:6 and showing covenant faithfulness ¹⁰  to a thousand generations ¹¹  of those who love me and keep my commandments.

John 10:27-29

10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 10:28 I give ¹²  them eternal life, and they will never perish; ¹³  no one will snatch ¹⁴  them from my hand. 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, ¹⁵  and no one can snatch ¹⁶  them from my Father’s hand.

Romans 8:28-30

8:28 And we know that all things work together ¹⁷  for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 8:29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son ¹⁸  would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ¹⁹  8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

James 2:5

2:5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! ²⁰  Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?

James 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ²¹  do not show prejudice ²²  if you possess faith ²³  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ 

James 1:5-8

1:5 But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him. 1:6 But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. 1:7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, 1:8 since he is a double-minded individual, ²⁵  unstable in all his ways.

[31:23]  ¹ tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[31:23]  ² tn The participial forms in the second and third lines characterize the Lord as one who typically protects the faithful and judges the proud.

[37:28]  ³ tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world. The active participle describes characteristic behavior.

[37:28]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.

[37:28]  ⁵ tn Or “protected forever.”

[37:28]  ⁶ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:28]  ⁷ tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.

[97:10]  ⁸ tn The participle may be verbal, though it might also be understood as substantival and appositional to “the Lord.” In this case one could translate, “Hate evil, you who love the Lord, the one who protects the lives…and delivers them.”

[97:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “hand.”

[20:6]  ¹⁰ tn Literally “doing loyal love” (עֹשֶׂה חֶסֶד, ’oseh khesed). The noun refers to God’s covenant loyalty, his faithful love to those who belong to him. These are members of the covenant, recipients of grace, the people of God, whom God will preserve and protect from evil and its effects.

[20:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to thousands” or “to thousandth.” After “tenth,” Hebrew uses cardinal numbers for ordinals also. This statement is the antithesis of the preceding line. The “thousands” or “thousandth [generation]” are those who love Yahweh and keep his commands. These are descendants from the righteous, and even associates with them, who benefit from the mercy that God extends to his people. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 195) says that this passage teaches that God’s mercy transcends his wrath; in his providence the beneficial consequences of a life of goodness extend indefinitely further than the retribution that is the penalty for persisting in sin. To say that God’s loyal love extends to thousands of generations or the thousandth generation is parallel to saying that it endures forever (Ps. 118). See also Exod 34:7; Deut 5:10; 7:9; Ps 18:51; Jer 32:18.

[10:28]  ¹² tn Grk “And I give.”

[10:28]  ¹³ tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”

[10:28]  ¹⁴ tn Or “no one will seize.”

[10:29]  ¹⁵ tn Or “is superior to all.”

[10:29]  ¹⁶ tn Or “no one can seize.”

[8:28]  ¹⁷ tc ὁ θεός (Jo qeos, “God”) is found after the verb συνεργεῖ (sunergei, “work”) in v. 28 by Ì⁴⁶ A B 81 sa; the shorter reading is found in א C D F G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï latt sy bo. Although the inclusion is supported by a significant early papyrus, the alliance of significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses favors the shorter reading. As well, the longer reading is evidently motivated by a need for clarification. Since ὁ θεός is textually suspect, it is better to read the text without it. This leaves two good translational options: either “he works all things together for good” or “all things work together for good.” In the first instance the subject is embedded in the verb and “God” is clearly implied (as in v. 29). In the second instance, πάντα (panta) becomes the subject of an intransitive verb. In either case, “What is expressed is a truly biblical confidence in the sovereignty of God” (C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:427).

[8:29]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God’s Son) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:29]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[2:5]  ²⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ²² tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ²³ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ²⁴ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:8]  ²⁵ tn Grk “a man of two minds,” continuing the description of the person in v. 7, giving the reason that he cannot expect to receive anything. The word for “man” or “individual” is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” But it sometimes is used generically to mean “anyone,” “a person,” as here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 2).