Acts 6:3

6:3 But carefully select from among you, brothers, ¹  seven ²  men who are well-attested, ³  full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge ⁴  of this necessary task. ⁵ 

Romans 12:17

12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. ⁶ 

Romans 13:13

13:13 Let us live decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy.

Romans 13:2

13:2 So the person who resists such authority ⁷  resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment

Colossians 1:21

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ⁸  minds ⁹  as expressed through ¹⁰  your evil deeds,

Colossians 1:7

1:7 You learned the gospel ¹¹  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ¹²  – a ¹³  faithful minister of Christ on our ¹⁴  behalf –

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁵  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 4:12

4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ¹⁶  of Christ, ¹⁷  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ¹⁸  in all the will of God.

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 2:2

2:2 My goal is that ¹⁹  their hearts, having been knit together ²⁰  in love, may be encouraged, and that ²¹  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ²² 

Colossians 3:4

3:4 When Christ (who is your ²³  life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him.

Colossians 3:8

3:8 But now, put off all such things ²⁴  as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth.

Colossians 3:11

3:11 Here there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave ²⁵  or free, but Christ is all and in all.

Titus 2:2

2:2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, ²⁶  sound in faith, in love, and in endurance. ²⁷ 

Titus 2:7

2:7 showing yourself to be an example of good works in every way. In your teaching show integrity, dignity,

Titus 3:14

3:14 Here is another way that our people ²⁸  can learn ²⁹  to engage in good works to meet pressing needs and so not be unfruitful.

Hebrews 13:18

13:18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to conduct ourselves rightly in every respect.

Hebrews 13:1

Final Exhortations

13:1 Brotherly love must continue.

Hebrews 2:12

2:12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers; ³⁰  in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.” ³¹ 

[6:3]  ¹ tn It is not clear from a historical standpoint (but it is unlikely) that women would have been involved in the selection process too. For this reason the translation “brothers” has been retained, rather than “brothers and sisters” (used in contexts where both male and female believers are clearly addressed).

[6:3]  ² sn Seven. Jewish town councils often had seven members (Josephus, Ant. 4.18.14 [4.214]).

[6:3]  ³ tn Or “are of good reputation” (BDAG 618 s.v. μαρτυρέω 2.b).

[6:3]  ⁴ tn The translation “put in charge” is given by BDAG 492 s.v. καθίστημι 2.

[6:3]  ⁵ tn Grk “of this need”; translated “necessary work” or “needed task” by L&N 42.22.

[12:17]  ⁶ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.

[13:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “the authority,” referring to the authority just described.

[1:21]  ⁸ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.

[1:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “learned it.” The Greek text simply has “you learned” without the reference to “the gospel,” but “the gospel” is supplied to clarify the sense of the clause. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[1:7]  ¹² tn The Greek word translated “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος (sundoulo"); the σύν- prefix here denotes association. Though δοῦλος is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:7]  ¹³ tn The Greek text has “who (ὅς, Jos) is a faithful minister.” The above translation conveys the antecedent of the relative pronoun quite well and avoids the redundancy with the following substantival participle of v. 8, namely, “who told” (ὁ δηλώσας, Jo dhlwsa").

[1:7]  ¹⁴ tc ‡ Judging by the superior witnesses for the first person pronoun ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א* A B D* F G 326* 1505 al) vs. the second person pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “you”; found in א² C D¹ Ψ 075 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co), ἡμῶν should be regarded as original. Although it is possible that ἡμῶν was an early alteration of ὑμῶν (either unintentionally, as dittography, since it comes seventeen letters after the previous ἡμῶν; or intentionally, to conform to the surrounding first person pronouns), this supposition is difficult to maintain in light of the varied and valuable witnesses for this reading. Further, the second person is both embedded in the verb ἐμάθετε (emaqete) and is explicit in v. 8 (ὑμῶν). Hence, the motivation to change to the first person pronoun is counterbalanced by such evidence. The second person pronoun may have been introduced unintentionally via homoioarcton with the ὑπέρ (Juper) that immediately precedes it. As well, the second person reading is somewhat harder for it seems to address Epaphras’ role only in relation to Paul and his colleagues, rather than in relation to the Colossians. Nevertheless, the decision must be based ultimately on external evidence (because the internal evidence can be variously interpreted), and this strongly supports ἡμῶν.

[1:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[4:12]  ¹⁶ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ¹⁷ tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì⁴⁶ D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA²⁷ has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[4:12]  ¹⁸ tn Or “filled.”

[2:2]  ¹⁹ tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.

[2:2]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.

[2:2]  ²¹ tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”

[2:2]  ²² tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.

[3:4]  ²³ tc Certain mss (B^[*^] D¹ H 0278 1739 Ï sy sa) read ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “our”), while others (Ì⁴⁶ א C D* F G P Ψ 075 33 81 1881 al latt bo) read ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”). Internally, it is possible that the second person pronoun arose through scribal conformity to the second person pronoun used previously in v. 3 (i.e., ὑμῶν) and following in v. 4 (ὑμεῖς, Jumeis). But in terms of external criteria, the second person pronoun has superior ms support (though there is an Alexandrian split) and ἡμῶν may have arisen through accident (error of sight) or scribal attempt to universalize the statement since all Christians have Jesus as their life. See TCGNT 557.

[3:8]  ²⁴ tn The Greek article with τὰ πάντα (ta panta) is anaphoric, referring to the previous list of vices, and has been translated here as “all such things.”

[3:11]  ²⁵ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[2:2]  ²⁶ tn Or “sensible.”

[2:2]  ²⁷ sn Temperate…in endurance. See the same cluster of virtues in 1 Thess 1:3 and 1 Cor 13:13.

[3:14]  ²⁸ tn Grk “that those who are ours” (referring to the Christians).

[3:14]  ²⁹ tn Grk “and also let our people learn.”

[2:12]  ³⁰ tn Here, because of its occurrence in an OT quotation, τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς (tois adelfois) has been translated simply as “brothers” rather than “brothers and sisters” (see the note on the latter phrase in the previous verse).

[2:12]  ³¹ sn A quotation from Ps 22:22.