Acts 14:23

14:23 When they had appointed elders ¹  for them in the various churches, ²  with prayer and fasting ³  they entrusted them to the protection ⁴  of the Lord in whom they had believed.

Acts 14:27

14:27 When they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported ⁵  all the things God ⁶  had done with them, and that he had opened a door ⁷  of faith for the Gentiles.

Acts 14:1

Paul and Barnabas at Iconium

14:1 The same thing happened in Iconium ⁸  when Paul and Barnabas ⁹  went into the Jewish synagogue ¹⁰  and spoke in such a way that a large group ¹¹  of both Jews and Greeks believed.

Colossians 4:17

4:17 And tell Archippus, “See to it that you complete the ministry you received in the Lord.”

Colossians 1:18

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ¹²  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ¹³ 

Colossians 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ¹⁴  without shifting ¹⁵  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

¹ sn Appointed elders. See Acts 20:17.

² tn The preposition κατά (kata) is used here in a distributive sense; see BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d.

³ tn Literally with a finite verb (προσευξάμενοι, proseuxamenoi) rather than a noun, “praying with fasting,” but the combination “prayer and fasting” is so familiar in English that it is preferable to use it here.

⁴ tn BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 3.b has “entrust someone to the care or protection of someone” for this phrase. The reference to persecution or suffering in the context (v. 22) suggests “protection” is a better translation here. This looks at God’s ultimate care for the church.

⁵ tn Or “announced.”

⁶ sn Note that God is the subject of the activity. The outcome of this mission is seen as a confirmation of the mission to the Gentiles.

⁷ sn On the image of opening, or of the door, see 1 Cor 16:9; 2 Cor 2:12; Col 4:3.

⁸ sn Iconium. See the note in 13:51.

⁹ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Paul and Barnabas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

¹¹ tn Or “that a large crowd.”

¹² tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

¹³ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

¹⁴ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

¹⁵ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.