Zechariah 4:2

4:2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, ¹  “I see a menorah of pure gold with a receptacle at the top and seven lamps, with fourteen pipes going to the lamps.

Matthew 5:15-16

5:15 People ²  do not light a lamp and put it under a basket ³  but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.

Philippians 2:15-16

2:15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world ⁴  2:16 by holding on to ⁵  the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.

Philippians 2:1

Christian Unity and Christ’s Humility

2:1 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, ⁶  any affection or mercy, ⁷ 

Philippians 3:14-16

3:14 with this goal in mind, ⁸  I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God ⁹  in Christ Jesus. 3:15 Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view. ¹⁰  If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways. ¹¹  3:16 Nevertheless, let us live up to the standard ¹²  that we have already attained. ¹³ 

¹ tc The present translation (along with most other English versions) follows the reading of the Qere and many ancient versions, “I said,” as opposed to the MT Kethib “he said.”

² tn Grk “Nor do they light.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.

³ tn Or “a bowl”; this refers to any container for dry material of about eight liters (two gallons) capacity. It could be translated “basket, box, bowl” (L&N 6.151).

⁴ tn Or “as stars in the universe.”

⁵ tn Or “holding out, holding forth.”

⁶ tn Or “spiritual fellowship” if πνεύματος (pneumato") is an attributive genitive; or “fellowship brought about by the Spirit” if πνεύματος is a genitive of source or production.

⁷ tn Grk “and any affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.

⁸ tn Grk “according to the goal.”

⁹ tn Grk “prize, namely, the heavenly calling of God.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “those of us who are ‘perfect’ should think this,” or possibly “those of us who are mature should think this.”

¹¹ tn Grk “reveal this to you.” The referent of the pronoun “this” is the fact that the person is thinking differently than Paul does. This has been specified in the translation with the phrase “the error of your ways”; Paul is stating that God will make it known to these believers when they are not in agreement with Paul.

¹² tc Although κανόνι (kanoni, “standard, rule”) is found in most witnesses, though in various locations in this verse (א² D² Ψ 075 Ï), it is almost surely a motivated reading, for it clarifies the cryptic τῷ αὐτῷ (tw autw, “the same”). Both the fact that the word floats, and that there are other variants which accomplish greater clarity by other means, strongly suggests the secondary nature of any of the longer readings here. Further, the shortest text has excellent and early support in Ì^16,46 א* A B I^vid 6 33 1739 co, rendering it decidedly the preferred reading. The translation adds “standard” because of English requirements, not because of textual basis.

¹³ tn Grk “Nevertheless, to what we have attained, to the same hold fast.”