Acts 16:25

16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying ¹  and singing hymns to God, ²  and the rest of ³  the prisoners were listening to them.

Acts 16:1

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16:1 He also came to Derbe ⁴  and to Lystra. ⁵  A disciple ⁶  named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, ⁷  but whose father was a Greek. ⁸ 

Colossians 1:26

1:26 that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints.

Colossians 3:16

3:16 Let the word of Christ ⁹  dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace ¹⁰  in your hearts to God.

James 5:13

Prayer for the Sick

5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises.

¹ tn Grk “praying, were singing.” The participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

² sn Praying and singing hymns to God. Tertullian said, “The legs feel nothing in the stocks when the heart is in heaven” (To the Martyrs 2; cf. Rom 5:3; Jas 1:2; 1 Pet 5:6). The presence of God means the potential to be free (cf. v. 26).

³ tn The words “the rest of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

⁴ sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra. It was about 90 mi (145 km) from Tarsus.

⁵ sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 25 mi (40 km) south of Iconium.

⁶ tn Grk “And behold, a disciple.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.

⁷ tn L&N 31.103 translates this phrase “the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer.”

⁸ sn His father was a Greek. Timothy was the offspring of a mixed marriage between a Jewish woman (see 2 Tim 1:5) and a Gentile man. On mixed marriages in Judaism, see Neh 13:23-27; Ezra 9:1-10:44; Mal 2:10-16; Jub. 30:7-17; m. Qiddushin 3.12; m. Yevamot 7.5.

⁹ tc Since “the word of Christ” occurs nowhere else in the NT, two predictable variants arose: “word of God” and “word of the Lord.” Even though some of the witnesses for these variants are impressive (κυρίου [kuriou, “of the Lord”] in א* I 1175 pc bo; θεοῦ [qeou, “of God”] in A C* 33 104 323 945 al), the reading Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “of Christ”) is read by an excellent cross-section of witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א² B C² D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï lat sa). On both internal and external grounds, Χριστοῦ is strongly preferred.

¹⁰ tn Grk “with grace”; “all” is supplied as it is implicitly related to all the previous instructions in the verse.