Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ¹  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ² 

Luke 13:24

13:24 “Exert every effort ³  to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.

Romans 15:20

15:20 And in this way I desire to preach where Christ has not been named, so as not to build on another person’s foundation,

Romans 15:30

15:30 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, ⁴  through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to join fervently with me in prayer to God on my behalf.

Romans 15:1

Exhortation for the Strong to Help the Weak

15:1 But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. ⁵ 

Colossians 1:25-27

1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship ⁶  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete ⁷  the word of God, 1:26 that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. 1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ⁸  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Philippians 1:27

1:27 Only conduct yourselves ⁹  in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that – whether I come and see you or whether I remain absent – I should hear that ¹⁰  you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, by contending side by side for the faith of the gospel, ¹¹ 

Philippians 1:30

1:30 since you are encountering ¹²  the same conflict that you saw me face and now hear that I am facing. ¹³ 

Hebrews 12:4

12:4 You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed ¹⁴  in your struggle against sin.

[2:1]  ¹ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ² tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[13:24]  ³ tn Or “Make every effort” (L&N 68.74; cf. NIV); “Do your best” (TEV); “Work hard” (NLT); Grk “Struggle.” The idea is to exert one’s maximum effort (cf. BDAG 17 s.v. ἀγωνίζομαι 2.b, “strain every nerve to enter”) because of the supreme importance of attaining entry into the kingdom of God.

[15:30]  ⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[15:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “and not please ourselves.” NT Greek negatives used in contrast like this are often not absolute, but relative: “not so much one as the other.”

[1:25]  ⁶ tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

[1:25]  ⁷ tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.

[1:27]  ⁸ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”

[1:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “live as citizens.” The verb πολιτεύεσθε (politeuesqe) connotes the life of a freeman in a free Roman colony.

[1:27]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the things concerning you, [namely,] that.” The ὅτι (Joti) clause is appositional to τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν (ta peri Jumwn) and therefore “the things concerning you” was not translated.

[1:27]  ¹¹ tn The phrase “the faith of the gospel” could mean one of three things: “the faith that is the gospel” (genitive of apposition), “the faith that originates from the gospel” (genitive of source), or “faith in the gospel” (objective genitive).

[1:30]  ¹² tn Grk “having,” most likely as an instrumental participle. Thus their present struggle is evidence that they have received the gift of suffering.

[1:30]  ¹³ tn Grk “that you saw in me and now hear [to be] in me.”

[12:4]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “until blood.”