Psalms 37:24

37:24 Even if ¹  he trips, he will not fall headlong, ² 

for the Lord holds ³  his hand.

Micah 7:8-9

Jerusalem Will Be Vindicated

7:8 My enemies, ⁴  do not gloat ⁵  over me!

Though I have fallen, I will get up.

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ⁶ 

7:9 I must endure ⁷  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ⁸  he will defend my cause, ⁹ 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ¹⁰  his deliverance. ¹¹ 

Micah 7:1

Micah Laments Judah’s Sin

7:1 I am depressed! ¹² 

Indeed, ¹³  it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered,

and the grapes have been harvested. ¹⁴ 

There is no grape cluster to eat,

no fresh figs that I crave so much. ¹⁵ 

Colossians 1:13

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁶ 

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹⁷  brothers and sisters ¹⁸  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹⁹  from God our Father! ²⁰ 

Colossians 4:8-9

4:8 I sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are doing ²¹  and that he may encourage your hearts. 4:9 I sent him ²²  with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. ²³  They will tell ²⁴  you about everything here.

¹ tn Other translation options for כִּי in this context are “when” (so NASB) or “though” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).

² tn Heb “be hurled down.”

³ tn The active participle indicates this is characteristically true. See v. 17.

⁴ tn The singular form is understood as collective.

⁵ tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”

⁶ sn Darkness represents judgment; light (also in v. 9) symbolizes deliverance. The Lord is the source of the latter.

⁷ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

⁸ tn Heb “until.”

⁹ tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “see.”

¹¹ tn Or “justice, vindication.”

¹² tn Heb “woe to me!” In light of the image that follows, perhaps one could translate, “I am disappointed.”

¹³ tn Or “for.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “I am like the gathering of the summer fruit, like the gleanings of the harvest.” Micah is not comparing himself to the harvested fruit. There is an ellipsis here, as the second half of the verse makes clear. The idea is, “I am like [one at the time] the summer fruit is gathered and the grapes are harvested.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “my appetite craves.”

¹⁶ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).

¹⁷ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

¹⁸ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

¹⁹ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

²⁰ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

²¹ tn Grk “the things concerning us.”

²² tn The Greek sentence continues v. 9 with the phrase “with Onesimus,” but this is awkward in English, so the verb “I sent” was inserted and a new sentence started at the beginning of v. 9 in the translation.

²³ tn Grk “is of you.”

²⁴ tn Grk “will make known to you.” This has been simplified in the translation to “will tell.”