2 Tawarikh 14:7

14:7 He said to the people of Judah: ¹  “Let’s build these cities and fortify them with walls, towers, and barred gates. ²  The land remains ours because we have followed ³  the Lord our God and he has made us secure on all sides.” ⁴  So they built the cities ⁵  and prospered.

2 Tawarikh 20:26

20:26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, where ⁶  they praised the Lord. So that place is called the Valley of Berachah ⁷  to this very day.

2 Tawarikh 26:5

26:5 He followed ⁸  God during the lifetime of ⁹  Zechariah, who taught him how to honor God. As long as he followed ¹⁰  the Lord, God caused him to succeed. ¹¹ 

Yosua 1:7-8

1:7 Make sure you are ¹²  very strong and brave! Carefully obey ¹³  all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! ¹⁴  Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful ¹⁵  in all you do. ¹⁶  1:8 This law scroll must not leave your lips! ¹⁷  You must memorize it ¹⁸  day and night so you can carefully obey ¹⁹  all that is written in it. Then you will prosper ²⁰  and be successful. ²¹ 

Yosua 1:1

The Lord Commissions Joshua

1:1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant:

Yosua 22:13

22:13 The Israelites sent Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest, to the land of Gilead to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

Mazmur 1:3

1:3 He is like ²²  a tree planted by flowing streams; ²³ 

it ²⁴  yields ²⁵  its fruit at the proper time, ²⁶ 

and its leaves never fall off. ²⁷ 

He succeeds in everything he attempts. ²⁸ 

Matius 6:33

6:33 But above all pursue his kingdom ²⁹  and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matius 7:24-27

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 

[14:7]  ¹ tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the people of Judah.

[14:7]  ² tn Heb “and we will surround [them] with wall[s] and towers, doors, and bars.”

[14:7]  ³ tn Heb “sought.”

[14:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he has given us rest all around.”

[14:7]  ⁵ tn The words “the cities” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[20:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “for there.”

[20:26]  ⁷ sn The name Berachah, which means “blessing” in Hebrew, is derived from the verbal root “to praise [or “to bless”],” which appears earlier in the verse.

[26:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “sought.”

[26:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the days of.”

[26:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the days of his seeking.”

[26:5]  ¹¹ tn Or “prosper.”

[1:7]  ¹² tn Or “Only be.”

[1:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”

[1:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “commanded you.”

[1:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

[1:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in all which you go.”

[1:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “mouth.”

[1:8]  sn This law scroll must not leave your lips. The ancient practice of reading aloud to oneself as an aid to memorization is in view here.

[1:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “read it in undertones,” or “recite it quietly” (see HALOT 1:237).

[1:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “be careful to do.”

[1:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “you will make your way prosperous.”

[1:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “and be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

[1:3]  ²² tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same characteristic force as the imperfect in the preceding verse. According to the psalmist, the one who studies and obeys God’s commands typically prospers.

[1:3]  ²³ tn Heb “channels of water.”

[1:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “which.”

[1:3]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in v. 3 draw attention to the typical nature of the actions/states they describe.

[1:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “in its season.”

[1:3]  ²⁷ tn Or “fade”; “wither.”

[1:3]  sn The author compares the godly individual to a tree that has a rich water supply (planted by flowing streams), develops a strong root system, and is filled with leaves and fruit. The simile suggests that the godly have a continual source of life which in turn produces stability and uninterrupted prosperity.

[1:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and all which he does prospers”; or “and all which he does he causes to prosper.” (The simile of the tree does not extend to this line.) It is not certain if the Hiphil verbal form (יַצְלִיחַ, yatsliakh) is intransitive-exhibitive (“prospers”) or causative (“causes to prosper”) here. If the verb is intransitive, then כֹּל (kol, “all, everything”) is the subject. If the verb is causative, then the godly individual or the Lord himself is the subject and כֹּל is the object. The wording is reminiscent of Josh 1:8, where the Lord tells Joshua: “This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper (literally, “cause your way to prosper”) and be successful.”

[6:33]  ²⁹ tc ‡ Most mss (L W Θ 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy mae) read τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ (thn basileian tou qeou kai thn dikaiosunhn aujtou, “the kingdom of God and his righteousness”) here, but the words “of God” are lacking in א B pc sa bo Eus. On the one hand, there is the possibility of accidental omission on the part of these Alexandrian witnesses, but it seems unlikely that the scribe’s eye would skip over both words (especially since τοῦ θεοῦ is bracketed by first declension nouns). Intrinsically, the author generally has a genitive modifier with βασιλεία – especially θεοῦ or οὐρανῶν (ouranwn) – but this argument cuts both ways: Although he might be expected to use such an adjunct here, scribes might also be familiar with his practice and would thus naturally insert it if it were missing in their copy of Matthew. Although a decision is difficult, the omission of τοῦ θεοῦ is considered most likely to be original. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

[6:33]  sn God’s kingdom is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong.

[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.”