2 Corinthians 3:6

3:6 who made us adequate ¹  to be servants of a new covenant ²  not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

2 Corinthians 11:23

11:23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking like I am out of my mind!) I am even more so: with much greater labors, with far more imprisonments, with more severe beatings, facing death many times.

Isaiah 61:6

61:6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,

servants of our God.’ ³ 

You will enjoy ⁴  the wealth of nations

and boast about ⁵  the riches you receive from them. ⁶ 

Joel 1:9

1:9 No one brings grain offerings or drink offerings

to the temple ⁷  of the Lord anymore. ⁸ 

So the priests, those who serve the Lord, are in mourning.

Joel 2:17

2:17 Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep

from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. ⁹ 

Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord, on your people;

please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked,

to become a proverb ¹⁰  among the nations.

Why should it be said ¹¹  among the peoples,

“Where is their God?”

Joel 2:1

The Locusts’ Devastation

2:1 Blow the trumpet ¹²  in Zion;

sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear,

for the day of the Lord is about to come.

Indeed, ¹³  it is near! ¹⁴ 

Colossians 3:5

3:5 So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: ¹⁵  sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, ¹⁶  evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Colossians 3:2

3:2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth,

Colossians 3:1

Exhortations to Seek the Things Above

3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 4:6

4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone.

[3:6]  ¹ tn Or “competent.”

[3:6]  ² sn This new covenant is promised in Jer 31:31-34; 32:40.

[61:6]  ³ tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”

[61:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”

[61:6]  ⁵ tc The form in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yit’ammÿru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (’amar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).

[61:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).

[1:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.” So also in vv. 13, 14, 16.

[1:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “grain offering and drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord,”

[2:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “between the vestibule and the altar.” The vestibule was located at the entrance of the temple and the altar was located at the other end of the building. So “between the vestibule and the altar” is a merism referring to the entire structure. The priestly lament permeates the entire house of worship.

[2:17]  ¹⁰ tn For the MT reading לִמְשָׁל (limshol, an infinitive, “to rule”), one should instead read לְמָשָׁל (lÿmashal, a noun, “to a byword”). While the consonantal Hebrew text permits either, the context suggests that the concern here is more one of not wanting to appear abandoned by God to ongoing economic depression rather than one of concern over potential political subjection of Israel (cf. v. 19). The possibility that the form in the MT is an infinitive construct of the denominative verb II מָשַׁל (mashal, “to utter a proverb”) does not seem likely because of the following preposition (Hebrew בְּ [bÿ], rather than עַל [’al]).

[2:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Why will they say?”

[2:1]  ¹² tn The word translated “trumpet” here (so most English versions) is the Hebrew שׁוֹפָר (shofar). The shophar was a wind instrument made from a cow or ram’s horn and used as a military instrument for calling people to attention in the face of danger or as a religious instrument for calling people to occasions of communal celebration.

[2:1]  ¹³ tn Or “for.”

[2:1]  ¹⁴ sn The interpretation of 2:1-11 is very difficult. Four views may be mentioned here. (1) Some commentators understand this section to be describing a human invasion of Judah on the part of an ancient army. The exact identity of this army (e.g., Assyrian or Babylonian) varies among interpreters depending upon issues of dating for the book of Joel. (2) Some commentators take the section to describe an eschatological scene in which the army according to some is human, or according to others is nonhuman (i.e., angelic). (3) Some interpreters argue for taking the section to refer to the potential advent in the fall season of a severe east wind (i.e., Sirocco) that would further exacerbate the conditions of the land described in chapter one. (4) Finally, some interpreters understand the section to continue the discussion of locust invasion and drought described in chapter one, partly on the basis that there is no clear exegetical evidence in 2:1-11 to suggest a shift of referent from that of chapter one.

[3:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the members which are on the earth.” See BDAG 628 s.v. μέλος 1, “put to death whatever in you is worldly.”

[3:5]  ¹⁶ tn Or “lust.”