For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law ¹  and the Pharisees, ²  you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, ¹  his faith is credited as righteousness.

Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge ¹  of the whole earth do what is right?” ² 

Hear ¹  the sound of those who divide the sheep ²  among the watering places; there they tell of ³  the Lord’s victorious deeds, the victorious deeds of his warriors ⁴  in Israel. Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates –

During the days of my fleeting life ¹  I have seen both ²  of these things: Sometimes ³  a righteous person dies prematurely ⁴  in spite of ⁵  his righteousness, and sometimes ⁶  a wicked person lives long ⁷  in spite of his evil deeds.

Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. ¹  “My servant ²  will acquit many, ³  for he carried their sins. ⁴ 

“I, the Lord, promise ¹  that a new time will certainly come ²  when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, ³  a descendant of David. He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding ⁴  and will do what is just and right in the land. ⁵ 

“When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle ¹  before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death.

Evil men plot against the godly ¹  and viciously attack them. ² 

They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff, they ignore the just cause of the innocent. ¹ 

Do not judge according to external appearance, ¹  but judge with proper ²  judgment.”

they will say about me, “Yes, the Lord is a powerful deliverer.”’” ¹  All who are angry at him will cower before him. ² 

Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, ¹  and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign Lord.

Can horses run on rocky cliffs? Can one plow the sea with oxen? ¹  Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant, and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. ² 

Righteous Father, even if the world does not know you, I know you, and these men ¹  know that you sent me.

and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, ¹  when God ²  brought a flood on an ungodly world, ³ 

Abraham approached and said, “Will you sweep away the godly along with the wicked?

So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

What is man that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

For this reason ¹  the wicked cannot withstand ²  judgment, ³  nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly. ⁴