1 Kings 6:7

6:7 As the temple was being built, only stones shaped at the quarry ¹  were used; the sound of hammers, pickaxes, or any other iron tool was not heard at the temple while it was being built.

Proverbs 16:1

16:1 The intentions of the heart ²  belong to a man, ³ 

but the answer of the tongue ⁴  comes from ⁵  the Lord. ⁶ 

Romans 8:29-30

8:29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son ⁷  would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ⁸  8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

Romans 9:23

9:23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects ⁹  of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory –

Romans 9:2

9:2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ¹⁰ 

Colossians 1:5

1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ¹¹  from the hope laid up ¹²  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ¹³ 

Titus 2:14

2:14 He ¹⁴  gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, ¹⁵  who are eager to do good. ¹⁶ 

Revelation 22:14

22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access ¹⁷  to the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates.

¹ tn Heb “finished stone of the quarry,” i.e., stones chiseled and shaped at the time they were taken out of the quarry.

² tn Heb “plans of the heart” (so ASV, NASB, NIV). The phrase מַעַרְכֵי־לֵב (ma’arkhe-lev) means “the arrangements of the mind.”

³ tn Heb “[are] to a man.”

⁴ tn Here “the tongue” is a metonymy of cause in which the instrument of speech is put for what is said: the answer expressed.

⁵ sn The contrasting prepositions enhance the contrasting ideas – the ideas belong to people, but the words come from the Lord.

⁶ sn There are two ways this statement can be taken: (1) what one intends to say and what one actually says are the same, or (2) what one actually says differs from what the person intended to say. The second view fits the contrast better. The proverb then is giving a glimpse of how God even confounds the wise. When someone is trying to speak [“answer” in the book seems to refer to a verbal answer] before others, the Lord directs the words according to his sovereign will.

⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God’s Son) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

⁹ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

¹⁰ tn Grk “my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart is unceasing.”

¹¹ tn Col 1:3-8 form one long sentence in the Greek text and have been divided at the end of v. 4 and v. 6 and within v. 6 for clarity, in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English toward shorter sentences. Thus the phrase “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope” is literally “because of the hope.” The perfect tense “have arisen” was chosen in the English to reflect the fact that the recipients of the letter had acquired this hope at conversion in the past, but that it still remains and motivates them to trust in Christ and to love one another.

¹² tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

¹³ tn The term “the gospel” (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, tou euangeliou) is in apposition to “the word of truth” (τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, tw logw th" alhqeia") as indicated in the translation.

¹⁴ tn Grk “who” (as a continuation of the previous clause).

¹⁵ tn Or “a people who are his very own.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “for good works.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “so that there will be to them authority over the tree of life.”