John 12:40

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart, ¹ 

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart, ² 

and turn to me, ³  and I would heal them.” ⁴ 

John 12:2

12:2 So they prepared a dinner for Jesus ⁵  there. Martha ⁶  was serving, and Lazarus was among those present at the table ⁷  with him.

Colossians 3:14

3:14 And to all these ⁸  virtues ⁹  add ¹⁰  love, which is the perfect bond. ¹¹ 

Colossians 4:4

4:4 Pray that I may make it known as I should. ¹² 

Revelation 3:17

3:17 Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, ¹³  and need nothing,” but ¹⁴  do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, ¹⁵  poor, blind, and naked,

¹ tn Or “closed their mind.”

² tn Or “their mind.”

³ 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.

⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.

⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity and to conform with contemporary English style.

⁶ tn Grk “And Martha.” The connective καί (kai, “and”) has been omitted in the translation because it would produce a run-on sentence in English.

⁷ tn Grk “reclining at the table.”

⁸ tn BDAG 365 s.v. ἐπί 7 suggests “to all these” as a translation for ἐπὶ πᾶσιν δὲ τούτοις (epi pasin de toutoi").

⁹ tn The term “virtues” is not in the Greek text, but is included in the translation to specify the antecedent and to make clear the sense of the pronoun “these.”

¹⁰ tn The verb “add,” though not in the Greek text, is implied, picking up the initial imperative “clothe yourselves.”

¹¹ tn The genitive τῆς τελειότητος (th" teleiothto") has been translated as an attributive genitive, “the perfect bond.”

¹² 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.

¹³ tn Grk “and have become rich.” The semantic domains of the two terms for wealth here, πλούσιος (plousios, adjective) and πλουτέω (ploutew, verb) overlap considerably, but are given slightly different English translations for stylistic reasons.

¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

¹⁵ tn All the terms in this series are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.