John 10:4

10:4 When he has brought all his own sheep ¹  out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize ²  his voice.

John 10:27

10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

John 6:37

6:37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away. ³ 

John 6:44-45

6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, ⁴  and I will raise him up at the last day. 6:45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ ⁵  Everyone who hears and learns from the Father ⁶  comes to me.

John 6:65

6:65 So Jesus added, ⁷  “Because of this I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has allowed him to come.” ⁸ 

John 8:47

8:47 The one who belongs to ⁹  God listens and responds ¹⁰  to God’s words. You don’t listen and respond, ¹¹  because you don’t belong to God.” ¹² 

John 12:37-40

The Outcome of Jesus’ Public Ministry Foretold

12:37 Although Jesus ¹³  had performed ¹⁴  so many miraculous signs before them, they still refused to believe in him, 12:38 so that the word ¹⁵  of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, ¹⁶  “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord ¹⁷  been revealed?” ¹⁸  12:39 For this reason they could not believe, ¹⁹  because again Isaiah said,

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart, ²⁰ 

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart, ²¹ 

and turn to me, ²²  and I would heal them.” ²³ 

Romans 11:7-8

11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The ²⁴  rest were hardened, 11:8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,

to this very day.” ²⁵ 

Romans 11:2

11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

Colossians 4:3-4

4:3 At the same time pray ²⁶  for us too, that ²⁷  God may open a door for the message ²⁸  so that we may proclaim ²⁹  the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ³⁰  4:4 Pray that I may make it known as I should. ³¹ 

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Colossians 4:6

4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone.

[10:4]  ¹ tn The word “sheep” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[10:4]  ² tn Grk “because they know.”

[6:37]  ³ tn Or “drive away”; Grk “cast out.”

[6:44]  ⁴ tn Or “attracts him,” or “pulls him.” The word is used of pulling or dragging, often by force. It is even used once of magnetic attraction (A. Oepke, TDNT 2:503).

[6:45]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 54:13.

[6:45]  ⁶ tn Or “listens to the Father and learns.”

[6:65]  ⁷ tn Grk “And he said”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:65]  ⁸ tn Grk “unless it has been permitted to him by the Father.”

[8:47]  ⁹ tn Grk “who is of.”

[8:47]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “to God hears” (in the sense of listening to something and responding to it).

[8:47]  ¹¹ tn Grk “you do not hear” (in the sense of listening to something and responding to it).

[8:47]  ¹² tn Grk “you are not of God.”

[12:37]  ¹³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:37]  ¹⁴ tn Or “done.”

[12:38]  ¹⁵ tn Or “message.”

[12:38]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “who said.”

[12:38]  ¹⁷ tn “The arm of the Lord” is an idiom for “God’s great power” (as exemplified through Jesus’ miraculous signs). This response of unbelief is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of the prophetic words of Isaiah (Isa 53:1). The phrase ὁ βραχίων κυρίου (Jo braciwn kuriou) is a figurative reference to God’s activity and power which has been revealed in the sign-miracles which Jesus has performed (compare the previous verse).

[12:38]  ¹⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.

[12:39]  ¹⁹ sn The author explicitly states here that Jesus’ Jewish opponents could not believe, and quotes Isa 6:10 to show that God had in fact blinded their eyes and hardened their heart. This OT passage was used elsewhere in the NT to explain Jewish unbelief: Paul’s final words in Acts (28:26-27) are a quotation of this same passage, which he uses to explain why the Jewish people have not accepted the gospel he has preached. A similar passage (Isa 29:10) is quoted in a similar context in Rom 11:8.

[12:40]  ²⁰ tn Or “closed their mind.”

[12:40]  ²¹ tn Or “their mind.”

[12:40]  ²² tn One could also translate στραφῶσιν (strafwsin) as “repent” or “change their ways,” but both of these terms would be subject to misinterpretation by the modern English reader. The idea is one of turning back to God, however. The words “to me” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:40]  ²³ sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.

[11:7]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  ²⁵ sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.

[4:3]  ²⁶ tn Though προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi) is an adverbial participle related to the previous imperative, προσκαρτερεῖτε (proskartereite), it is here translated as an independent clause due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[4:3]  ²⁷ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been rendered as substantival here, indicating the content of the prayer rather than the purpose for it. These two ideas are very similar and difficult to differentiate in this passage, but the conjunction ἵνα following a verb of praying is generally regarded as giving the content of the prayer.

[4:3]  ²⁸ tn Grk “that God may open for us a door of the word to speak the mystery of Christ.” The construction in Greek is somewhat awkward in this clause. The translation attempts to simplify this structure somewhat and yet communicate exactly what Paul is asking for.

[4:3]  ²⁹ tn Or “so that we may speak.”

[4:3]  ³⁰ tn Or “in prison.”

[4:4]  ³¹ tn The phrase begins with the ἵνα (Jina) clause and is subordinate to the imperative προσκαρτερεῖτε (proskartereite) in v. 2. The reference to the idea that Paul must make it known indicates that this clause is probably best viewed as purpose and not content, like the ἵνα of v. 3. It is the second purpose stated in the context; the first is expressed through the infinitive λαλῆσαι (lalhsai) in v. 3. The term “pray” at the beginning of the sentence is intended to pick up the imperative of v. 3.