1 Corinthians 7:6

7:6 I say this as a concession, not as a command.

1 Corinthians 7:10

7:10 To the married I give this command – not I, but the Lord ¹  – a wife should not divorce a husband

1 Corinthians 7:12

7:12 To the rest I say – I, not the Lord ²  – if a brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is happy to live with him, he should not divorce her.

1 Corinthians 7:40

7:40 But in my opinion, she will be happier if she remains as she is – and I think that I too have the Spirit of God!

1 Corinthians 7:2

7:2 But because of immoralities, each man should have relations with ³  his own wife and each woman with ⁴  her own husband.

Colossians 1:8-10

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ⁵  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ⁶  to fill ⁷  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ⁸  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ⁹  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Colossians 1:17

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ¹⁰  in him.

[7:10]  ¹ sn Not I, but the Lord. Here and in v. 12 Paul distinguishes between his own apostolic instruction and Jesus’ teaching during his earthly ministry. In vv. 10-11, Paul reports the Lord’s own teaching about divorce (cf. Mark 10:5-12).

[7:12]  ² sn I, not the Lord. Here and in v. 10 Paul distinguishes between his own apostolic instruction and Jesus’ teaching during his earthly ministry. In vv. 12-16, Paul deals with a situation about which the Lord gave no instruction in his earthly ministry.

[7:2]  ³ tn Grk “each man should have his own wife.” “Have” in this context means “have marital relations with” (see the following verse). The verb ἐχέτω (ecetw, “have”) occurs twice in the Greek text, but has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons. This verb occurs 8 times in the LXX (Exod 2:1; Deut 28:30; 2 Chr 11:21; 1 Esd 9:12, 18; Tob 3:8; Isa 13:16; 54:1) with the meaning “have sexual relations with,” and 9 times elsewhere in the NT with the same meaning (Matt 20:23; 22:28; Mark 6:18; 12:33; Luke 20:28; John 4:18 [twice]; 1 Cor 5:1; 7:29).

[7:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “should have.” For explanation of the translation, see the note on “have relations with” earlier in this verse.

[1:9]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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.”

[1:17]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.