Colossians 4:12

4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ¹  of Christ, ²  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ³  in all the will of God.

Psalms 143:10

143:10 Teach me to do what pleases you, ⁴ 

for you are my God.

May your kind presence ⁵ 

lead me ⁶  into a level land. ⁷ 

John 7:17

7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will, ⁸  he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority. ⁹ 

Romans 12:2

12:2 Do not be conformed ¹⁰  to this present world, ¹¹  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve ¹²  what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Ephesians 5:10

5:10 trying to learn ¹³  what is pleasing to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:17

5:17 For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise ¹⁴  by understanding ¹⁵  what the Lord’s will is.

Ephesians 6:6

6:6 not like those who do their work only when someone is watching ¹⁶  – as people-pleasers – but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. ¹⁷ 

Hebrews 10:36

10:36 For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. ¹⁸ 

Hebrews 13:21

13:21 equip you with every good thing to do his will, working in us ¹⁹  what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. ²⁰  Amen.

Hebrews 13:1

Final Exhortations

13:1 Brotherly love must continue.

Hebrews 2:15

2:15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.

Hebrews 4:2

4:2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in ²¹  with those who heard it in faith. ²² 

Hebrews 4:1

God’s Promised Rest

4:1 Therefore we must be wary ²³  that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.

Hebrews 2:17

2:17 Therefore he had ²⁴  to be made like his brothers and sisters ²⁵  in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement ²⁶  for the sins of the people.

¹ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

² tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì⁴⁶ D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA²⁷ has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

³ tn Or “filled.”

⁴ tn Or “your will.” See Ps 40:8.

⁵ tn Heb “your good spirit.” God’s “spirit” may refer here to his presence (see the note on the word “presence” in Ps 139:7) or to his personal Spirit (see Ps 51:10).

⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive. Taking the statement as a prayer fits well with the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.

⁷ sn A level land (where one can walk free of obstacles) here symbolizes divine blessing and protection. See Pss 26:12 and 27:11 for similar imagery.

⁷ tn Grk “his will.”

⁸ tn Grk “or whether I speak from myself.”

¹⁰ tn Although συσχηματίζεσθε (suschmatizesqe) could be either a passive or middle, the passive is more likely since it would otherwise have to be a direct middle (“conform yourselves”) and, as such, would be quite rare for NT Greek. It is very telling that being “conformed” to the present world is viewed as a passive notion, for it may suggest that it happens, in part, subconsciously. At the same time, the passive could well be a “permissive passive,” suggesting that there may be some consciousness of the conformity taking place. Most likely, it is a combination of both.

¹¹ tn Grk “to this age.”

¹² sn The verb translated test and approve (δοκιμάζω, dokimazw) carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.”

¹³ tn BDAG 255 s.v. δοκιμάζω 1 translates δοκιμάζοντες (dokimazonte") in Eph 5:10 as “try to learn.”

¹⁶ tn “become wise by understanding”; Grk “understanding.” The imperative “be wise” is apparently implied by the construction of vv. 15-21. See the following text-critical note for discussion.

¹⁷ tc ‡ The best witnesses read the imperative here (so Ì⁴⁶ א A B P 0278 33 81 1739 pc). The participle is found primarily in the Western and Byzantine texttypes (D² Ψ 1881 Ï latt [D* F G are slightly different, but support the participial reading]). But the participle is superior on internal grounds: The structure of v. 17 almost requires an imperative after ἀλλά (alla), for this gives balance to the clause: “Do not become foolish, but understand…” If the participle is original, it may be imperatival (and thus should be translated just like an imperative), but such is quite rare in the NT. More likely, there is an implied imperative as follows: “Do not become foolish, but become wise, understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Either way, the participle is the harder reading and ought therefore to be considered original. It is significant that seeing an implied imperative in this verse affords a certain symmetry to the author’s thought in vv. 15-21: There are three main sections (vv. 15-16, v. 17, vv. 18-21), each of which provides a negative injunction, followed by a positive injunction, followed by a present adverbial participle. If συνίετε (suniete) is original, this symmetry is lost. Thus, even though the external evidence for συνιέντες (sunientes) is not nearly as weighty as for the imperative, both the transcriptional and intrinsic evidence support it.

¹⁹ tn Grk “not according to eye-service.”

²⁰ tn Grk “from the soul.”

²² tn Grk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.

²⁵ tc Some mss (C P Ψ 6 629* 630 1505 pm latt sy^h) read ὑμῖν (Jumin, “in you”) here, but ἡμῖν (Jhmin) has stronger external support (Ì⁴⁶ א A D^vid K 0243 0285 33 81 104 326 365 629^c 1175 1739 1881 pm sy^p co). It is also more likely that ἡμῖν would have been changed to ὑμῖν in light of the “you” which occurs at the beginning of the verse than vice versa.

²⁶ tc ‡ Most mss (א A [C*] 0243 0285 33 1739 1881 Ï latt) include the words “and ever” here, but the shorter reading (supported by Ì⁴⁶ C³ D Ψ 6 104 365 1505 al) is preferred on internal grounds. It seemed more likely that scribes would assimilate the wording to the common NT doxological expression “for ever and ever,” found especially in the Apocalypse (cf., e.g., 1 Tim 1:17; 2 Tim 4:18; Rev 4:9; 22:5) than to the “forever” of Heb 13:8. Nevertheless, a decision is difficult here. NA²⁷ places the phrase in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

²⁸ tn Or “they were not united.”

²⁹ tc A few mss (א and a few versional witnesses) have the nominative singular participle συγκεκερασμένος (sunkekerasmeno", “since it [the message] was not combined with faith by those who heard it”), a reading that refers back to the ὁ λόγος (Jo logo", “the message”). There are a few other variants here (e.g., συγκεκεραμμένοι [sunkekerammenoi] in 104, συγκεκεραμένους [sunkekeramenou"] in 1881 Ï), but the accusative plural participle συγκεκερασμένους (sunkekerasmenou"), found in Ì^13vid,46 A B C D* Ψ 0243 0278 33 81 1739 2464 pc, has by far the best external credentials. This participle agrees with the previous ἐκείνους (ekeinou", “those”), a more difficult construction grammatically than the nominative singular. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, συγκεκερασμένους is preferred.

³¹ tn Grk “let us fear.”

³⁴ tn Or “he was obligated.”

³⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

³⁶ tn Or “propitiation.”