Ephesians 5:17

5:17 For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise ¹  by understanding ²  what the Lord’s will is.

Matthew 7:21

Judgment of Pretenders

7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ ³  will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Matthew 12:50

12:50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is ⁴  my brother and sister and mother.”

Colossians 1:9

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,

Colossians 4:12

4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ⁸  of Christ, ⁹  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ¹⁰  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 4:3

4:3 At the same time pray ¹¹  for us too, that ¹²  God may open a door for the message ¹³  so that we may proclaim ¹⁴  the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ¹⁵ 

Hebrews 10:36

10:36 For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. ¹⁶ 

Hebrews 13:21

13:21 equip you with every good thing to do his will, working in us ¹⁷  what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. ¹⁸  Amen.

Hebrews 13:1

Final Exhortations

13:1 Brotherly love must continue.

Hebrews 2:15

2:15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.

Hebrews 4:2

4:2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in ¹⁹  with those who heard it in faith. ²⁰ 

Hebrews 4:1

God’s Promised Rest

4:1 Therefore we must be wary ²¹  that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.

Hebrews 2:17

2:17 Therefore he had ²²  to be made like his brothers and sisters ²³  in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement ²⁴  for the sins of the people.

[5:17]  ¹ tn “become wise by understanding”; Grk “understanding.” The imperative “be wise” is apparently implied by the construction of vv. 15-21. See the following text-critical note for discussion.

[5:17]  ² tc ‡ The best witnesses read the imperative here (so Ì⁴⁶ א A B P 0278 33 81 1739 pc). The participle is found primarily in the Western and Byzantine texttypes (D² Ψ 1881 Ï latt [D* F G are slightly different, but support the participial reading]). But the participle is superior on internal grounds: The structure of v. 17 almost requires an imperative after ἀλλά (alla), for this gives balance to the clause: “Do not become foolish, but understand…” If the participle is original, it may be imperatival (and thus should be translated just like an imperative), but such is quite rare in the NT. More likely, there is an implied imperative as follows: “Do not become foolish, but become wise, understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Either way, the participle is the harder reading and ought therefore to be considered original. It is significant that seeing an implied imperative in this verse affords a certain symmetry to the author’s thought in vv. 15-21: There are three main sections (vv. 15-16, v. 17, vv. 18-21), each of which provides a negative injunction, followed by a positive injunction, followed by a present adverbial participle. If συνίετε (suniete) is original, this symmetry is lost. Thus, even though the external evidence for συνιέντες (sunientes) is not nearly as weighty as for the imperative, both the transcriptional and intrinsic evidence support it.

[7:21]  ³ sn The double use of the vocative is normally used in situations of high emotion or emphasis. Even an emphatic confession without action means little.

[12:50]  ⁴ tn The pleonastic pronoun αὐτός (autos, “he”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.

[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.

[4:12]  ⁸ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Or “filled.”

[4:3]  ¹¹ tn Though προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi) is an adverbial participle related to the previous imperative, προσκαρτερεῖτε (proskartereite), it is here translated as an independent clause due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[4:3]  ¹² tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been rendered as substantival here, indicating the content of the prayer rather than the purpose for it. These two ideas are very similar and difficult to differentiate in this passage, but the conjunction ἵνα following a verb of praying is generally regarded as giving the content of the prayer.

[4:3]  ¹³ tn Grk “that God may open for us a door of the word to speak the mystery of Christ.” The construction in Greek is somewhat awkward in this clause. The translation attempts to simplify this structure somewhat and yet communicate exactly what Paul is asking for.

[4:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “so that we may speak.”

[4:3]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in prison.”

[10:36]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.

[13:21]  ¹⁷ tc Some mss (C P Ψ 6 629* 630 1505 pm latt sy^h) read ὑμῖν (Jumin, “in you”) here, but ἡμῖν (Jhmin) has stronger external support (Ì⁴⁶ א A D^vid K 0243 0285 33 81 104 326 365 629^c 1175 1739 1881 pm sy^p co). It is also more likely that ἡμῖν would have been changed to ὑμῖν in light of the “you” which occurs at the beginning of the verse than vice versa.

[13:21]  ¹⁸ tc ‡ Most mss (א A [C*] 0243 0285 33 1739 1881 Ï latt) include the words “and ever” here, but the shorter reading (supported by Ì⁴⁶ C³ D Ψ 6 104 365 1505 al) is preferred on internal grounds. It seemed more likely that scribes would assimilate the wording to the common NT doxological expression “for ever and ever,” found especially in the Apocalypse (cf., e.g., 1 Tim 1:17; 2 Tim 4:18; Rev 4:9; 22:5) than to the “forever” of Heb 13:8. Nevertheless, a decision is difficult here. NA²⁷ places the phrase in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[4:2]  ¹⁹ tn Or “they were not united.”

[4:2]  ²⁰ tc A few mss (א and a few versional witnesses) have the nominative singular participle συγκεκερασμένος (sunkekerasmeno", “since it [the message] was not combined with faith by those who heard it”), a reading that refers back to the ὁ λόγος (Jo logo", “the message”). There are a few other variants here (e.g., συγκεκεραμμένοι [sunkekerammenoi] in 104, συγκεκεραμένους [sunkekeramenou"] in 1881 Ï), but the accusative plural participle συγκεκερασμένους (sunkekerasmenou"), found in Ì^13vid,46 A B C D* Ψ 0243 0278 33 81 1739 2464 pc, has by far the best external credentials. This participle agrees with the previous ἐκείνους (ekeinou", “those”), a more difficult construction grammatically than the nominative singular. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, συγκεκερασμένους is preferred.

[4:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “let us fear.”

[2:17]  ²² tn Or “he was obligated.”

[2:17]  ²³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[2:17]  ²⁴ tn Or “propitiation.”