1 Chronicles 5:20

5:20 They received divine help in fighting them, and the Hagrites and all their allies were handed over to them. They cried out to God during the battle; he responded to their prayers because they trusted in him. ¹ 

1 Chronicles 5:2

5:2 Though Judah was the strongest among his brothers and a leader descended from him, ²  the right of the firstborn belonged to Joseph.)

1 Chronicles 20:1

20:1 In the spring, at the time when kings normally conduct wars, ³  Joab led the army into battle and devastated the land of the Ammonites. He went and besieged Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem. Joab defeated Rabbah and tore it down.

Psalms 22:4-5

22:4 In you our ancestors ⁴  trusted;

they trusted in you ⁵  and you rescued them.

22:5 To you they cried out, and they were saved;

in you they trusted and they were not disappointed. ⁶ 

Psalms 33:18

33:18 Look, the Lord takes notice of his loyal followers, ⁷ 

those who wait for him to demonstrate his faithfulness ⁸ 

Psalms 33:21

33:21 For our hearts rejoice in him,

for we trust in his holy name.

Psalms 34:22

34:22 The Lord rescues his servants; ⁹ 

all who take shelter in him escape punishment. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 62:8

62:8 Trust in him at all times, you people!

Pour out your hearts before him! ¹¹ 

God is our shelter! (Selah)

Psalms 84:11-12

84:11 For the Lord God is our sovereign protector. ¹² 

The Lord bestows favor ¹³  and honor;

he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity. ¹⁴ 

84:12 O Lord who rules over all, ¹⁵ 

how blessed are those who trust in you! ¹⁶ 

Psalms 146:5-6

146:5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

146:6 the one who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

who remains forever faithful, ¹⁷ 

Psalms 147:11

147:11 The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers, ¹⁸ 

and in those who wait for his loyal love.

Isaiah 26:3-4

26:3 You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith,

for they trust in you. ¹⁹ 

26:4 Trust in the Lord from this time forward, ²⁰ 

even in Yah, the Lord, an enduring protector! ²¹ 

Jeremiah 17:7-8

17:7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me,

who put their confidence in me. ²² 

17:8 They will be like a tree planted near a stream

whose roots spread out toward the water.

It has nothing to fear when the heat comes.

Its leaves are always green.

It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought.

It does not stop bearing fruit.

Jeremiah 17:2

17:2 Their children are always thinking about ²³  their ²⁴  altars

and their sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, ²⁵ 

set up beside the green trees on the high hills

Colossians 1:9-10

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ²⁶  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ²⁷  to fill ²⁸  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ²⁹  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ³⁰  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Ephesians 1:12-13

1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope ³¹  on Christ, ³²  would be to the praise of his glory. 1:13 And when ³³  you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ ³⁴  – you were marked with the seal ³⁵  of the promised Holy Spirit, ³⁶ 

Ephesians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³⁷  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints [in Ephesus], ³⁸  the faithful ³⁹  in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 1:21

1:21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

[5:20]  ¹ tn Heb “and they were helped against them and they were given over into their hand, the Hagrites and all who were with them, for to God they cried out in the battle and he was entreated [or “allowed himself to be entreated”] by them for they trusted in him.”

[5:2]  ² tn Heb “and [one] for a leader [was] from him.” This probably refers to the Davidic king.

[20:1]  ³ tn Heb “and it was at the time of the turning of the year, at the time of the going out of kings.”

[22:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “fathers.”

[22:4]  ⁵ tn The words “in you” are supplied in the translation. They are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[22:5]  ⁶ tn Or “were not ashamed.”

[33:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “look, the eye of the Lord [is] toward the ones who fear him.” The expression “the eye…[is] toward” here indicates recognition and the bestowing of favor. See Ps 34:15. The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

[33:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “for the ones who wait for his faithfulness.”

[34:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “redeems the life of his servants.” The Hebrew participial form suggests such deliverance is characteristic.

[34:22]  ¹⁰ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 31:19).

[62:8]  ¹¹ tn To “pour out one’s heart” means to offer up to God intense, emotional lamentation and petitionary prayers (see Lam 2:19).

[84:11]  ¹² tn Heb “[is] a sun and a shield.” The epithet “sun,” though rarely used of Israel’s God in the OT, was a well-attested royal title in the ancient Near East. For several examples from Ugaritic texts, the Amarna letters, and Assyrian royal inscriptions, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 131, n. 2.

[84:11]  ¹³ tn Or “grace.”

[84:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he does not withhold good to those walking in integrity.”

[84:12]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally “Lord of hosts.”

[84:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man [who] trusts in you.” Hebrew literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle stated here is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the plural “those.” The individual referred to here is representative of all followers of God, as the use of the plural form in v. 12b indicates.

[146:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the one who guards faithfulness forever.”

[147:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[26:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[one of] firm purpose you will keep [in] peace, peace, for in you he possesses trust.” The Hebrew term יֵצֶר (yetser) refers to what one devises in the mind; סָמוּךְ (samukh) probably functions here like an attributive adjective and carries the nuance “firm.” So the phrase literally means, “a firm purpose,” but as the object of the verb “keep, guard,” it must stand by metonymy for the one(s) who possess a firm purpose. In this context the “righteous nation” (v. 2) is probably in view and the “firm purpose” refers to their unwavering faith in God’s vindication (see 25:9). In this context שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”), which is repeated for emphasis, likely refers to national security, not emotional or psychological composure (see vv. 1-2). The passive participle בָּטוּחַ (batuakh) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action.

[26:4]  ²⁰ tn Or “forevermore.” For other uses of the phrase עֲדֵי־עַד (’ade-’ad) see Isa 65:18 and Pss 83:17; 92:7.

[26:4]  ²¹ tc The Hebrew text has “for in Yah, the Lord, an everlasting rock.” Some have suggested that the phrase בְּיָהּ (beyah, “in Yah”) is the result of dittography. A scribe seeing כִּי יְהוָה (ki yÿhvah) in his original text would somehow have confused the letters and accidentally inserted בְּיָהּ between the words (bet and kaf [ב and כ] can be confused in later script phases). A number of English versions retain both divine names for emphasis (ESV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, NLT). One of the Qumran texts (1QIsa^a) confirms the MT reading as well.

[17:7]  ²² tn Heb “Blessed is the person who trusts in the Lord, and whose confidence is in the Lord.” However, because this is a statement of the Lord and the translation chooses to show that the blessing comes from him, the first person is substituted for the divine name.

[17:2]  ²³ tn It is difficult to convey in good English style the connection between this verse and the preceding. The text does not have a finite verb but a temporal preposition with an infinitive: Heb “while their children remember their altars…” It is also difficult to translate the verb “literally.” (i.e., what does “remember” their altars mean?). Hence it has been rendered “always think about.” Another possibility would be “have their altars…on their minds.”

[17:2]  ²⁴ tc This reading follows many Hebrew mss and ancient versions. Many other Hebrew mss read “your” [masc. pl.].

[17:2]  ²⁵ sn Sacred poles dedicated to…Asherah. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’asherim], plural). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 7:5; 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).

[1:9]  ²⁶ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ²⁷ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ²⁸ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:10]  ²⁹ tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ³⁰ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[1:12]  ³¹ tn Or “who had already hoped.”

[1:12]  ³² tn Or “the Messiah.”

[1:13]  ³³ tn Grk “in whom you also, when…” (continuing the sentence from v. 12).

[1:13]  ³⁴ tn Grk “in whom also having believed.” The relative pronoun “whom” has been replaced in the translation with its antecedent (“Christ”) to improve the clarity.

[1:13]  ³⁵ tn Or “you were sealed.”

[1:13]  ³⁶ tn Grk “the Holy Spirit of promise.” Here ἐπαγγελίας (epangelias, “of promise”) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:1]  ³⁷ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³⁸ tc The earliest and most important mss omit “in Ephesus” (Ì⁴⁶ א* B* 6 1739 [Mcion^T,E]), yet the opening line of this epistle makes little sense without the phrase (“to the saints who are and are faithful…”? or perhaps “to the saints who are also faithful,” though with this sense the οὖσιν [ousin] is redundant and the καί [kai] is treated somewhat unnaturally). What is interesting is Marcion’s canon list which speaks of the letter to the Laodiceans among Paul’s authentic epistles. This, coupled with some internal evidence that the writer did not know his audience personally (cf. 1:15; 3:2; absence of personal names throughout), suggests that Ephesians was an encyclical letter, intended for more than one audience. Does this mean that the shorter reading is to be preferred? Yes and no. A plausible scenario is as follows, assuming Pauline authorship (though this is strongly contested today; for arguments on behalf of Pauline authorship, see M. Barth, Ephesians [AB 34], 1:36-50; P. T. O’Brien, Ephesians, 4-47; and H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 2-61): Paul sent the letter from Rome, intending it first to go to Ephesus. At the same time, Colossians was dispatched. Going counterclockwise through Asia Minor, this letter would first come to Ephesus, the port of entry, then to Laodicea, then Colossae. Tychicus’ instructions may well have been for each church to “fill in the blank” on the address line. The church at Ephesus would have certainly made the most copies, being Paul’s home base for nearly three years. Hence, most of the surviving copies have “in Ephesus” in v. 1 (so א² A B² D F G Ψ 0278 33 1881 Ï latt sy co). But one might expect a hint of evidence that Laodicea also made a few copies: Both Marcion’s list and Col 4:16 may well imply this. What is to account for the early Alexandrian evidence, then? These mss were perhaps made from a very early copy, one reflecting the blank line before each church filled it in. Although it is of course only speculation (as is necessary in a historical investigation lacking some of the pieces to the puzzle), this scenario accounts for all of the data: (1) “in Ephesus” in most mss; (2) Laodicea in Marcion’s list and Col 4:16; (3) the lack of an addressee in the earliest witnesses; (4) why the earliest witnesses’ reading must be rejected as too hard; and (5) why the author seems not to know the readership. In sum, is “in Ephesus” original? Yes and no. Some address belongs there; ἐν ᾿Εφέσῳ (en Efesw) is the predominant address, but several other churches also received this circular letter as their own. For this reason the phrase has been placed in single brackets in the translation. NA²⁷ also lists the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

[1:1]  ³⁹ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style [and even if this letter is not by Paul it follows the general style of Paul’s letters, with some modifications]) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated. See M. Barth, Ephesians (AB 34), 1:68 and ExSyn 282.