Luke 1:75

1:75 in holiness and righteousness ¹  before him for as long as we live. ² 

Luke 18:7

18:7 Won’t ³  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ⁴  to him day and night? ⁵  Will he delay ⁶  long to help them?

Ephesians 6:18

6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray ⁷  at all times in the Spirit, and to this end ⁸  be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

¹ sn The phrases that we…might serve him…in holiness and righteousness from Luke 1:74-75 well summarize a basic goal for a believer in the eyes of Luke. Salvation frees us up to serve God without fear through a life full of ethical integrity.

² tn Grk “all our days.”

³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁴ sn The prayers have to do with the righteous who cry out to him to receive justice. The context assumes the righteous are persecuted.

⁵ tn The emphatic particles in this sentence indicate that God will indeed give justice to the righteous.

⁶ sn The issue of delay has produced a whole host of views for this verse. (1) Does this assume provision to endure in the meantime? Or (2) does it mean God restricts the level of persecution until he comes? Either view is possible.

⁷ tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.

⁸ tn Grk “and toward it.”