I recall the old days; ¹  I meditate on all you have done; I reflect on your accomplishments. ² 

The Lord is good to all, and has compassion on all he has made. ¹ 

I will denounce your so-called righteousness and your deeds, ¹  but they will not help you.

Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather ¹  expose them. ² 

And, “You founded the earth in the beginning, Lord, ¹  and the heavens are the works of your hands.

If I had not performed ¹  among them the miraculous deeds ²  that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. ³  But now they have seen the deeds ⁴  and have hated both me and my Father. ⁵ 

and has a reputation for good works: as one who has raised children, ¹  practiced hospitality, washed the feet of the saints, helped those in distress – as one who has exhibited all kinds of good works. ² 

The one who practices sin is of the devil, ¹  because the devil has been sinning ²  from the beginning. For this purpose ³  the Son of God was revealed: to destroy ⁴  the works of the devil.

The Lord avenges me. ¹  O Lord, your loyal love endures. Do not abandon those whom you have made! ² 

Go, eat your food ¹  with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, because God has already approved your works.

In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.

Jesus answered, “Neither this man ¹  nor his parents sinned, but he was born blind so that ²  the acts ³  of God may be revealed ⁴  through what happens to him. ⁵ 

At ¹  that time ²  they made an idol in the form of a calf, ³  brought ⁴  a sacrifice to the idol, and began rejoicing ⁵  in the works of their hands. ⁶ 

For no one is declared righteous before him ¹  by the works of the law, ²  for through the law comes ³  the knowledge of sin.

Here is another way that our people ¹  can learn ²  to engage in good works to meet pressing needs and so not be unfruitful.

And to the one who conquers ¹  and who continues in ²  my deeds until the end, I will give him authority over the nations ³  –

known ¹  from long ago. ² 

Therefore we must progress beyond ¹  the elementary ²  instructions about Christ ³  and move on ⁴  to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God,

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our ¹  consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

It ranks first among the works of God, ¹  the One who made it has furnished it with a sword. ²