1 Thessalonians 4:12

4:12 In this way you will live ¹  a decent life before outsiders and not be in need. ² 

Exodus 23:7

23:7 Keep your distance ³  from a false charge ⁴  – do not kill the innocent and the righteous, ⁵  for I will not justify the wicked. ⁶ 

Isaiah 33:15

33:15 The one who lives ⁷  uprightly ⁸ 

and speaks honestly;

the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures

and rejects a bribe; ⁹ 

the one who does not plot violent crimes ¹⁰ 

and does not seek to harm others ¹¹  –

Matthew 17:26-27

17:26 After he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons ¹²  are free. 17:27 But so that we don’t offend them, go to the lake and throw out a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a four drachma coin. ¹³  Take that and give it to them for me and you.”

Romans 12:17

12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. ¹⁴ 

Romans 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ¹⁵  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ¹⁶  – which is your reasonable service.

Colossians 1:13

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁷ 

Colossians 1:1-3

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁸  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹⁹  brothers and sisters ²⁰  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ²¹  from God our Father! ²² 

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ²³  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

Colossians 1:20-21

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ²⁴  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ²⁵  minds ²⁶  as expressed through ²⁷  your evil deeds,

Philippians 4:8

4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, ²⁸  whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things.

Jude 1:23

1:23 save ²⁹  others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy ³⁰  on others, coupled with a fear of God, ³¹  hating even the clothes stained ³²  by the flesh. ³³ 

[4:12]  ¹ tn Grk “that you may live,” continuing the sentence of 4:10b-11.

[4:12]  ² tn Or “not be dependent on anyone”; Grk “and have need of nothing,” “of no one.”

[23:7]  ³ tn Or “stay away from,” or “have nothing to do with.”

[23:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “a false matter,” this expression in this context would have to be a case in law that was false or that could only be won by falsehood.

[23:7]  ⁵ tn The two clauses probably should be related: the getting involved in the false charge could lead to the death of an innocent person (so, e.g., Naboth in 1 Kgs 21:10-13).

[23:7]  ⁶ sn God will not declare right the one who is in the wrong. Society should also be consistent, but it cannot see the intents and motives, as God can.

[33:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).

[33:15]  ⁸ tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”

[33:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”

[33:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”

[33:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”

[17:26]  ¹² sn See the note on the phrase their sons in the previous verse.

[17:27]  ¹³ sn The four drachma coin was a stater (στατήρ, stathr), a silver coin worth four drachmas. One drachma was equivalent to one denarius, the standard pay for a day’s labor (L&N 6.80).

[12:17]  ¹⁴ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.

[12:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[12:1]  ¹⁶ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

[1:13]  ¹⁷ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).

[1:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:2]  ¹⁹ 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.

[1:2]  ²⁰ 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).

[1:2]  ²¹ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ²² 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.

[1:3]  ²³ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).

[1:20]  ²⁴ tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[1:21]  ²⁵ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ²⁶ tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

[1:21]  ²⁷ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.

[4:8]  ²⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[1:23]  ²⁹ tn Grk “and save.”

[1:23]  ³⁰ tn Grk “and have mercy.”

[1:23]  ³¹ tn Grk “with fear.” But as this contrasts with ἀφόβως (afobw") in v. 12 (without reverence), the posture of the false teachers, it most likely refers to reverence for God.

[1:23]  ³² sn The imagery here suggests that the things close to the sinners are contaminated by them, presumably during the process of sinning.

[1:23]  ³³ tn Grk “hating even the tunic spotted by the flesh.” The “flesh” in this instance could refer to the body or to the sin nature. It makes little difference in one sense: Jude is thinking primarily of sexual sins, which are borne of the sin nature and manifest themselves in inappropriate deeds done with the body. At the same time, he is not saying that the body is intrinsically bad, a view held by the opponents of Christianity. Hence, it is best to see “flesh” as referring to the sin nature here and the language as metaphorical.