Romans 2:25

2:25 For circumcision ¹  has its value if you practice the law, but ²  if you break the law, ³  your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

Deuteronomy 4:1

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances ⁴  I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ⁵  is giving you.

Deuteronomy 5:1

The Opening Exhortation

5:1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: ⁶  “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them!

Deuteronomy 6:3

6:3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number ⁷  – as the Lord, God of your ancestors, ⁸  said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 30:12-14

30:12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, “Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 30:13 And it is not across the sea, as though one must say, “Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 30:14 For the thing is very near you – it is in your mouth and in your mind ⁹  so that you can do it.

Ezekiel 20:11

20:11 I gave them my statutes ¹⁰  and revealed my regulations to them. The one ¹¹  who carries ¹²  them out will live by them! ¹³ 

Ezekiel 33:30-33

33:30 “But as for you, son of man, your people ¹⁴  (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, ¹⁵  ‘Come hear the word that comes ¹⁶  from the Lord.’ 33:31 They come to you in crowds, ¹⁷  and they sit in front of you as ¹⁸  my people. They hear your words, but do not obey ¹⁹  them. For they talk lustfully, ²⁰  and their heart is set on ²¹  their own advantage. ²²  33:32 Realize ²³  that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice and skilled musician. ²⁴  They hear your words, but they do not obey them. ²⁵  33:33 When all this comes true – and it certainly will ²⁶  – then they will know that a prophet was among them.”

Matthew 7:21-27

Judgment of Pretenders

7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ ²⁷  will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do ²⁸  many powerful deeds?’ 7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’ ²⁹ 

Hearing and Doing

7:24 “Everyone ³⁰  who hears these words of mine and does them is like ³¹  a wise man ³²  who built his house on rock. 7:25 The rain fell, the flood ³³  came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because it had been founded on rock. 7:26 Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 7:27 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed; it was utterly destroyed!” ³⁴ 

Luke 8:21

8:21 But he replied ³⁵  to them, “My mother and my brothers are those ³⁶  who hear the word of God and do it.” ³⁷ 

James 1:22-25

1:22 But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves. 1:23 For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone ³⁸  who gazes at his own face ³⁹  in a mirror. 1:24 For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets ⁴⁰  what sort of person he was. 1:25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, ⁴¹  and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he ⁴²  will be blessed in what he does. ⁴³ 

James 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From James, ⁴⁴  a slave ⁴⁵  of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. ⁴⁶  Greetings!

James 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ⁴⁷  do not show prejudice ⁴⁸  if you possess faith ⁴⁹  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵⁰ 

James 3:7

3:7 For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature ⁵¹  is subdued and has been subdued by humankind. ⁵² 

[2:25]  ¹ sn Circumcision refers to male circumcision as prescribed in the OT, which was given as a covenant to Abraham in Gen 17:10-14. Its importance for Judaism can hardly be overstated: According to J. D. G. Dunn (Romans [WBC], 1:120) it was the “single clearest distinguishing feature of the covenant people.” J. Marcus has suggested that the terms used for circumcision (περιτομή, peritomh) and uncircumcision (ἀκροβυστία, akrobustia) were probably derogatory slogans used by Jews and Gentiles to describe their opponents (“The Circumcision and the Uncircumcision in Rome,” NTS 35 [1989]: 77-80).

[2:25]  ² tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:25]  ³ tn Grk “if you should be a transgressor of the law.”

[4:1]  ⁴ tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).

[5:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “and Moses called to all Israel and he said to them”; NAB, NASB, NIV “Moses summoned (convened NRSV) all Israel.”

[6:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “may multiply greatly” (so NASB, NRSV); the words “in number” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 10, 18, 23).

[30:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “heart.”

[20:11]  ¹⁰ sn The laws were given at Mount Sinai.

[20:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the man.”

[20:11]  ¹² tn Heb “does.”

[20:11]  ¹³ tn The wording and the concept is contained in Lev 18:5 and Deut 30:15-19.

[33:30]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “sons of your people.”

[33:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “one to one, a man to his brother.”

[33:30]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “comes out.”

[33:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “as people come.” Apparently this is an idiom indicating that they come in crowds. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:264.

[33:31]  ¹⁸ tn The word “as” is supplied in the translation.

[33:31]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “do.”

[33:31]  ²⁰ tn Heb “They do lust with their mouths.”

[33:31]  ²¹ tn Heb “goes after.”

[33:31]  ²² tn The present translation understands the term often used for “unjust gain” in a wider sense, following M. Greenberg, who also notes that the LXX uses a term which can describe either sexual or ritual pollution. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:687.

[33:32]  ²³ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[33:32]  ²⁴ tn Heb “one who makes playing music well.”

[33:32]  ²⁵ sn Similar responses are found in Isa 29:13; Matt 21:28-32; James 1:22-25.

[33:33]  ²⁶ tn Heb “behold it is coming.”

[7:21]  ²⁷ sn The double use of the vocative is normally used in situations of high emotion or emphasis. Even an emphatic confession without action means little.

[7:22]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and in your name do.” This phrase was not repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:23]  ²⁹ tn Grk “workers of lawlessness.”

[7:24]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Therefore everyone.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

[7:24]  ³¹ tn Grk “will be like.” The same phrase occurs in v. 26.

[7:24]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Grk “the rivers.”

[7:27]  ³⁴ tn Grk “and great was its fall.”

[8:21]  ³⁵ tn Grk “answering, he said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “he replied.”

[8:21]  ³⁶ tn There is some discussion about the grammar of this verse in Greek. If “these” is the subject, then it reads, “These are my mother and brothers, those who.” If “these” is a nominative absolute, which is slightly more likely, then the verse more literally reads, “So my mother and brothers, they are those who.” The sense in either case is the same.

[8:21]  ³⁷ sn Hearing and doing the word of God is another important NT theme: Luke 6:47-49; Jas 1:22-25.

[1:23]  ³⁸ tn The word for “man” or “individual” is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” However, as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, here it is “equivalent to τὶς someone, a person.”

[1:23]  ³⁹ tn Grk “the face of his beginning [or origin].”

[1:24]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “and he has gone out and immediately has forgotten.”

[1:25]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “continues.”

[1:25]  ⁴² tn Grk “this one.”

[1:25]  ⁴³ tn Grk “in his doing.”

[1:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “James.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” 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.). 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles.

[2:1]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[3:7]  ⁵¹ tn Grk (plurals), “every kind of animals and birds, of reptiles and sea creatures.”

[3:7]  ⁵² tn Grk “the human species.”