¹ Give ear to me, you who are searching for righteousness, who are looking for the Lord: see the rock from which you were cut out, and the hole out of which you were taken.

⁷ Give ear to me, you who have knowledge of righteousness, in whose heart is my law; have no fear of the evil words of men, and give no thought to their curses.

¹⁴ Let your desire be for peace with all men, and to be made holy, without which no man may see the Lord;

¹⁵ But decisions will again be made in righteousness; and they will be kept by all whose hearts are true.

¹⁵ And God said, As for Sarai, your wife, from now her name will be not Sarai, but Sarah.

¹⁶ And I will give her a blessing so that you will have a son by her: truly my blessing will be on her, and she will be the mother of nations: kings of peoples will be her offspring.

¹⁷ Then Abraham went down on his face, and laughing, said in his heart, May a man a hundred years old have a child? will Sarah, at ninety years old, give birth?

⁹ The way of the evil-doer is disgusting to the Lord, but he who goes after righteousness is dear to him.

¹² Give ear to me, Jacob, and Israel, my loved one; I am he, I am the first and I am the last.

³⁰ What then may we say? That the nations who did not go after righteousness have got righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith:

³¹ But Israel, going after a law of righteousness, did not get it.

³² Why? Because they were not searching for it by faith, but by works. They came up against the stone which was in the way;

²² But keep yourself from those desires of the flesh which are strong when the body is young, and go after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those whose prayers go up to the Lord from a clean heart.

¹¹ But you, O man of God, keep yourself from these things, and go after righteousness, religion, faith, love, a quiet mind, gentle behaviour.

¹³ Brothers, it is clear to me that I have not come to that knowledge; but one thing I do, letting go those things which are past, and stretching out to the things which are before,

¹¹ For this reason keep it in mind that in the past you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are looked on as being outside the circumcision by those who have circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands;

¹² That you were at that time without Christ, being cut off from any part in Israel's rights as a nation, having no part in God's agreement, having no hope, and without God in the world.

¹⁹ So then, let us go after the things which make peace, and the things by which we may be a help to one another.

³³ But let your first care be for his kingdom and his righteousness; and all these other things will be given to you in addition.

³ Have glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who are searching after the Lord be glad.

⁴ Let your search be for the Lord and for his strength; let your hearts ever be turned to him.

²¹ He who goes after righteousness and mercy will get life, righteousness, and honour.

¹⁹ I have not given my word in secret, in a place in the underworld; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, Go into a waste land to make request of me: I the Lord say what is true, my word is righteousness.

³ Give ear to me, O family of Jacob, and all the rest of the people of Israel, who have been supported by me from their birth, and have been my care from their earliest days:

⁴ Even when you are old I will be the same, and when you are grey-haired I will take care of you: I will still be responsible for what I made; yes, I will take you and keep you safe.

⁴ Give attention to me, O my people; and give ear to me, O my nation; for teaching will go out from me, and the knowledge of the true God will be a light to the peoples.

² Why do you give your money for what is not bread, and the fruit of your work for what will not give you pleasure? Give ear to me, so that your food may be good, and you may have the best in full measure.

³ Give ear, and come to me, take note with care, so that your souls may have life: and I will make an eternal agreement with you, even the certain mercies of David.

⁶ Make search for the Lord while he is there, make prayer to him while he is near:

⁶ Go to the Lord for help so that you may have life; for fear that he may come like fire bursting out in the family of Joseph, causing destruction, and there will be no one to put it out in Beth-el.

³ Make search for the Lord, all you quiet ones of the earth, who have done what is right in his eyes; make search for righteousness and a quiet heart: it may be that you will be safely covered in the day of the Lord's wrath.

⁶ Happy are those whose heart's desire is for righteousness: for they will have their desire.

⁶ This is the generation of those whose hearts are turned to you, even to your face, O God of Jacob. (Selah.)