92:13 Planted in the Lord’s house,
they grow in the courts of our God.
92:14 They bear fruit even when they are old;
they are filled with vitality and have many leaves. 1
125:5 As for those who are bent on traveling a sinful path, 2
may the Lord remove them, 3 along with those who behave wickedly! 4
May Israel experience peace! 5
6:3 So let us acknowledge him! 7
Let us seek 8 to acknowledge 9 the Lord!
He will come to our rescue as certainly as the appearance of the dawn,
as certainly as the winter rain comes,
as certainly as the spring rain that waters the land.”
6:4 What am I going to do with you, O Ephraim?
What am I going to do with you, O Judah?
For 10 your faithfulness is as fleeting as the morning mist; 11
it disappears as quickly as dawn’s dew! 12
1:6 and those who turn their backs on 13 the Lord
and do not want the Lord’s help or guidance.” 14
8:31 Then Jesus said to those Judeans 36 who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, 37 you are really 38 my disciples 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 39
15:9 “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain 40 in my love. 15:10 If you obey 41 my commandments, you will remain 42 in my love, just as I have obeyed 43 my Father’s commandments and remain 44 in his love.
5:7 You were running well; who prevented you from obeying 52 the truth?
6:1 Brothers and sisters, 55 if a person 56 is discovered in some sin, 57 you who are spiritual 58 restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. 59 Pay close attention 60 to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.
4:14 Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.
10:1 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. 72
1:5 For to which of the angels did God 73 ever say, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you”? 74 And in another place 75 he says, 76 “I will be his father and he will be my son.” 77
2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
1 tn Heb “they are juicy and fresh.”
2 tn Heb “and the ones making their paths twisted.” A sinful lifestyle is compared to a twisting, winding road.
3 tn Heb “lead them away.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer here (note the prayers directly before and after this). Another option is to translate, “the
4 tn Heb “the workers of wickedness.”
5 tn Heb “peace [be] upon Israel.” The statement is understood as a prayer (see Ps 122:8 for a similar prayer for peace).
6 tn Heb “for them” or “because of them.”
7 tn The object (“him”) is omitted in the Hebrew text, but supplied in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “let us pursue in order to know.” The Hebrew term רָדַף (radaf, “to pursue”) is used figuratively: “to aim to secure” (BDB 923 s.v. רָדַף 2). It describes the pursuit of a moral goal: “Do not pervert justice…nor accept a bribe…pursue [רָדַף] justice” (Deut 16:20); “those who pursue [רָדַף] righteousness and who seek [בָּקַשׁ, baqash] the
9 tn The Hebrew infinitive construct with לְ (lamed) denotes purpose: “to know” (לָדַעַת, lada’at).
10 tn The vav prefixed to וְחַסְדְּכֶם (vÿkhasdÿkhem, “your faithfulness”) functions in an explanatory sense (“For”).
11 tn Heb “your faithfulness [so NCV; NASB “your loyalty”; NIV, NRSV, NLT “your love”] is like a morning cloud” (וְחַסְדְּכֶם כַּעֲנַן־בֹּקֶר, vÿkhasdÿkhem ka’anan-boqer).
12 tn Heb “the dew departing early” (BDB 1014 s.v. שָׁכַם); cf. NRSV “the dew that goes away early.” The Hiphil participle מַשְׁכִּים (mashkim) means “to depart early” (Gen 19:27; Josh 8:14; Judg 19:9). The idiom means “early morning” (1 Sam 17:16).
13 tn Heb “turn back from [following] after.”
14 tn Heb “who do not seek the
15 sn But the person who endures to the end will be saved. Jesus was not claiming here that salvation is by works. He was simply arguing that genuine faith evidences itself in persistence through even the worst of trials.
16 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
17 sn This time of temporary faith represented by the description believe for a while is presented rather tragically in the passage. The seed does not get a chance to do all it can.
18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
19 tn Traditionally, “temptation.” Such a translation puts the emphasis on temptation to sin rather than testing of faith, which is what the context seems to indicate.
20 sn Fall away. On the idea of falling away and the warnings against it, see 2 Tim 3:1; Heb 3:12; Jer 3:14; Dan 9:9.
21 tn Grk “What”; the referent (the seed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
23 sn That is, their concern for spiritual things is crowded out by material things.
24 sn On warnings about the dangers of excessive material attachments, described here as the worries and riches and pleasures of life, see Luke 12:12-21; 16:19-31.
25 tn The verb τελεσφορέω (telesforew) means “to produce mature or ripe fruit” (L&N 23.203). Once again the seed does not reach its goal.
26 tn The aorist participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally, reflecting action antecedent (prior to) that of the main verb.
27 sn There is a tenacity that is a part of spiritual fruitfulness.
28 sn In an ancient context, the qualifier good described the ethical person who possessed integrity. Here it is integrity concerning God’s revelation through Jesus.
29 sn Given the pressures noted in the previous soils, bearing fruit takes time (steadfast endurance), just as it does for the farmer. See Jas 1:2-4.
30 sn Here and in the remainder of the verse the second person pronouns are singular, so only Peter is in view. The name “Simon” has been supplied as a form of direct address to make this clear in English.
31 sn That your faith may not fail. Note that Peter’s denials are pictured here as lapses, not as a total absence of faith.
32 tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
33 tn Or “turned around.”
34 sn Strengthen your brothers refers to Peter helping to strengthen their faith. Jesus quite graciously restores Peter “in advance,” even with the knowledge of his approaching denials.
35 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity and smoothness in the translation.
36 tn Grk “to the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory (i.e., “Judeans”), the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9; also BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple and had believed his claim to be the Messiah, hence, “those Judeans who had believed him.” The term “Judeans” is preferred here to the more general “people” because the debate concerns descent from Abraham (v. 33).
37 tn Grk “If you continue in my word.”
38 tn Or “truly.”
39 tn Or “the truth will release you.” The translation “set you free” or “release you” (unlike the more traditional “make you free”) conveys more the idea that the hearers were currently in a state of slavery from which they needed to be freed. The following context supports precisely this idea.
40 tn Or “reside.”
41 tn Or “keep.”
42 tn Or “reside.”
43 tn Or “kept.”
44 tn Or “reside.”
45 tn Grk “Antioch, who when.” The relative pronoun was omitted and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.
46 tn BDAG 883 s.v. προσμένω 1.a.β has “remain true to the Lord” for προσμένειν (prosmenein) in this verse.
47 tn Grk “with purpose of heart”; BDAG 869 s.v. πρόθεσις 2.a translates this phrase “purpose of heart, i.e. devotion” here.
48 tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, episthrizonte") and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalounte") have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”
49 sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”
50 sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.
51 tn Or “sufferings.”
52 tn Or “following.” BDAG 792 s.v. πείθω 3.b states, “obey, follow w. dat. of the pers. or thing…Gal 3:1 v.l.; 5:7.”
53 tn Or “not become discouraged,” “not lose heart” (L&N 25.288).
54 tn Or “if we do not become extremely weary,” “if we do not give out,” “if we do not faint from exhaustion” (L&N 23.79).
55 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
56 tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.
57 tn Or “some transgression” (L&N 88.297).
58 sn Who are spiritual refers to people who are controlled and directed by God’s Spirit.
59 tn Or “with a gentle spirit” or “gently.”
60 tn Grk “taking careful notice.”
61 tn Or “provide.”
62 tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law” (the same phrase as in v. 2).
63 tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith” (the same phrase as in v. 2).
64 sn The Greek makes the contrast between v. 5 and v. 6a more emphatic and explicit than is easily done in English.
65 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
66 tn Grk “whose house we are,” continuing the previous sentence.
67 tc The reading adopted by the translation is found in Ì13,46 B sa, while the vast majority of
68 tn Grk “the pride of our hope.”
69 tn Grk “the beginning of the confidence.”
70 tn Grk “my soul.”
71 sn A quotation from Hab 2:4.
72 tn Grk “those who approach.”
73 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
74 tn Grk “I have begotten you.”
75 tn Grk “And again,” quoting another OT passage.
76 tn The words “he says” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to make a complete English sentence. In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but English does not normally employ such long and complex sentences.
77 tn Grk “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me.”
78 tn The Greek puts an emphasis on the quality of God’s final revelation. As such, it is more than an indefinite notion (“a son”) though less than a definite one (“the son”), for this final revelation is not just through any son of God, nor is the emphasis specifically on the person himself. Rather, the focus here is on the nature of the vehicle of God’s revelation: He is no mere spokesman (or prophet) for God, nor is he merely a heavenly messenger (or angel); instead, this final revelation comes through one who is intimately acquainted with the heavenly Father in a way that only a family member could be. There is, however, no exact equivalent in English (“in son” is hardly good English style).
79 tn Grk “the ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 11:3 for the same usage.
80 tn Grk “is about to throw some of you,” but the force is causative in context.
81 tn Or “tempted.”
82 tn Or “experience persecution,” “will be in distress” (see L&N 22.2).
83 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.”