Luke 17:33

17:33 Whoever tries to keep ¹  his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life ²  will preserve it.

Acts 20:23-24

20:23 except ³  that the Holy Spirit warns ⁴  me in town after town ⁵  that ⁶  imprisonment ⁷  and persecutions ⁸  are waiting for me. 20:24 But I do not consider my life ⁹  worth anything ¹⁰  to myself, so that ¹¹  I may finish my task ¹²  and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news ¹³  of God’s grace.

Hebrews 11:35

11:35 and women received back their dead raised to life. ¹⁴  But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life. ¹⁵ 

Revelation 2:10

2:10 Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. The devil is about to have some of you thrown ¹⁶  into prison so you may be tested, ¹⁷  and you will experience suffering ¹⁸  for ten days. Remain faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown that is life itself. ¹⁹ 

Revelation 12:11

12:11 But ²⁰  they overcame him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

and they did not love their lives ²¹  so much that they were afraid to die.

¹ tn Or “tries to preserve”; Grk “seeks to gain.”

² sn Whoever loses his life. Suffering and persecution caused by the world, even to death, cannot stop God from saving (Luke 12:4-6).

³ tn BDAG 826 s.v. πλήν 1.d has “πλὴν ὅτι except that…Ac 20:23.”

⁴ tn The verb διαμαρτύρομαι (diamarturomai) can mean “warn” (BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 2 has “solemnly urge, exhort, warn…w. dat. of pers. addressed”), and this meaning better fits the context here, although BDAG categorizes Acts 20:23 under the meaning “testify of, bear witness to” (s.v. 1).

⁵ tn The Greek text here reads κατὰ πόλιν (kata polin).

⁶ tn Grk “saying that,” but the participle λέγον (legon) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

⁷ tn Grk “bonds.”

⁸ tn Or “troubles,” “suffering.” See Acts 19:21; 21:4, 11.

⁹ tn Grk “soul.”

¹⁰ tn Or “I do not consider my life worth a single word.” According to BDAG 599 s.v. λόγος 1.a.α, “In the textually uncertain pass. Ac 20:24 the text as it stands in N., οὐδενὸς λόγου (v.l. λόγον) ποιοῦμαι τὴν ψυχὴν τιμίαν, may well mean: I do not consider my life worth a single word (cp. λόγου ἄξιον [ἄξιος 1a] and our ‘worth mention’).”

¹¹ tn BDAG 1106 s.v. ὡς 9 describes this use as “a final particle, expressing intention/purpose, with a view to, in order to.”

¹² tn Grk “course.” See L&N 42.26, “(a figurative extension of meaning of δρόμος ‘race’) a task or function involving continuity, serious, effort, and possibly obligation – ‘task, mission’…Ac 20:24.” On this Pauline theme see also Phil 1:19-26; Col 1:24; 2 Tim 4:6-7.

¹³ tn Or “to the gospel.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “received back their dead from resurrection.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “to obtain a better resurrection.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “is about to throw some of you,” but the force is causative in context.

¹⁷ tn Or “tempted.”

¹⁸ tn Or “experience persecution,” “will be in distress” (see L&N 22.2).

¹⁹ tn Grk “crown of life,” with the genitive “of life” (τῆς ζωῆς, th" zwh") functioning in apposition to “crown” (στέφανον, stefanon): “the crown that consists of life.”

²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.

²¹ sn They did not love their lives. See Matt 16:25; Luke 17:33; John 12:25.