“And you, son of man, say to your people, ¹  ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him if he rebels. ²  As for the wicked, his wickedness will not make him stumble if he turns from it. ³  The righteous will not be able to live by his righteousness ⁴  if he sins.’ ⁵ 

And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, ¹  so that he would become ²  the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, ³  that they too could have righteousness credited to them.

Offer the prescribed sacrifices ¹  and trust in the Lord! ² 

Whoever lives a blameless life, ¹  does what is right, and speaks honestly. ² 

You love evil more than good, lies more than speaking the truth. ¹  (Selah)

May my tongue sing about your instructions, ¹  for all your commands are just.

The faithful witness ¹  tells what is right, ²  but a false witness ³  speaks ⁴  deceit.

We will be innocent if we carefully keep all these commandments ¹  before the Lord our God, just as he demands.” ² 

I will maintain my righteousness and never let it go; my conscience ¹  will not reproach me for as long as I live. ² 

As for the Almighty, ¹  we cannot attain to him! He is great in power, but justice ²  and abundant righteousness he does not oppress.

I will thank the Lord for ¹  his justice; I will sing praises to the sovereign Lord! ² 

The praise you receive as far away as the ends of the earth is worthy of your reputation, O God. ¹  You execute justice! ² 

Rescue me from the guilt of murder, ¹  O God, the God who delivers me! Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your deliverance. ² 

I will tell about your justice, and all day long proclaim your salvation, ¹  though I cannot fathom its full extent. ² 

I saw something else on earth: ¹  In the place of justice, there was wickedness, and in the place of fairness, ²  there was wickedness.

This was ¹  also to demonstrate ²  his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just ³  and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness. ⁴ 

I do not set aside ¹  God’s grace, because if righteousness ²  could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing! ³ 

but of ¹  the Son he says, ²  “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ³  and a righteous scepter ⁴  is the scepter of your kingdom.

If you know that he is righteous, you also know ¹  that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered ²  by him.

Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness ¹  is righteous, just as Jesus ²  is righteous.