Ezekiel 36:26-27

36:26 I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone ¹  from your body and give you a heart of flesh. ²  36:27 I will put my Spirit within you; ³  I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes ⁴  and carefully observe my regulations. ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 30:6

30:6 The Lord your God will also cleanse ⁶  your heart and the hearts of your descendants ⁷  so that you may love him ⁸  with all your mind and being and so that you may live.

Deuteronomy 30:2

30:2 Then if you and your descendants ⁹  turn to the Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being ¹⁰  just as ¹¹  I am commanding you today,

Deuteronomy 30:12

30:12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, “Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”

Jeremiah 24:7

24:7 I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I ¹²  am the Lord. I will be their God and they will be my people. For they will wholeheartedly ¹³  return to me.’

Jeremiah 32:39-40

32:39 I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for ¹⁴  their own good and the good of the children who descend from them. 32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ¹⁵  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ¹⁶  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ¹⁷  they will never again turn ¹⁸  away from me.

Zephaniah 3:9

3:9 Know for sure that I will then enable

the nations to give me acceptable praise. ¹⁹ 

All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray, ²⁰ 

and will worship him in unison. ²¹ 

John 17:21-23

17:21 that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray ²²  that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. 17:22 The glory ²³  you gave to me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one – 17:23 I in them and you in me – that they may be completely one, ²⁴  so that the world will know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me.

Acts 4:32

Conditions Among the Early Believers

4:32 The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, ²⁵  and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common. ²⁶ 

Acts 4:1

The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John

4:1 While Peter and John ²⁷  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ²⁸  of the temple guard ²⁹  and the Sadducees ³⁰  came up ³¹  to them,

Colossians 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ³²  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ³³  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Ephesians 4:3-6

4:3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling, 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Philippians 2:1-5

Christian Unity and Christ’s Humility

2:1 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, ³⁴  any affection or mercy, ³⁵  2:2 complete my joy and be of the same mind, ³⁶  by having the same love, being united in spirit, ³⁷  and having one purpose. 2:3 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition ³⁸  or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. 2:4 Each of you should be concerned ³⁹  not only ⁴⁰  about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. ⁴¹  2:5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, ⁴² 

[36:26]  ¹ sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is stubborn and unresponsive (see 1 Sam 25:37). In Rabbinic literature a “stone” was associated with an evil inclination (b. Sukkah 52a).

[36:26]  ² sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is responsive and obedient to God.

[36:27]  ³ tn Or “in the midst of you.” The word “you” is plural.

[36:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I will do that which in my statutes you will walk.” The awkward syntax (verb “to do, act” + accusative sign + relative clause + prepositional phrase + second person verb) is unique, though Eccl 3:14 contains a similar construction. In the last line of that verse we read that “God acts so that (relative pronoun) they fear before him.” However, unlike Ezek 36:27, the statement has no accusative sign before the relative pronoun.

[36:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “and my laws you will guard and you will do them.” Jer 31:31-34 is parallel to this passage.

[30:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “circumcise” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “will give you and your descendents obedient hearts.” See note on the word “cleanse” in Deut 10:16.

[30:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).

[30:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on the second occurrence of the word “he” in v. 3.

[30:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “children.”

[30:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “heart and soul” (also in vv. 6, 10).

[30:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “according to all.”

[24:7]  ¹² tn Heb “I will give them a heart to know me that I am the Lord.” For the use of “heart” here referring to “inclinations, resolutions, and determinations of the will” see BDB 525 s.v. לֵב 4 and compare the usage in 2 Chr 12:14. For the use of “know” to mean “acknowledge” see BDB 384 s.v. יָדַע Qal.1.f and compare the usage in Jer 39:4. For the construction “know ‘someone’ that he…” = “know that ‘someone’…” see GKC 365 §117.h and compare the usage in 2 Sam 3:25.

[24:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “with all their heart.”

[32:39]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will give to them one heart and one way to [= in order that they may] fear me all the days for good to them.” The phrase “one heart” refers both to unanimity of will and accord (cf. 1 Chr 12:38 [12:39 HT]; 2 Chr 30:12) and to singleness of purpose or intent (cf. Ezek 11:19 and see BDB 525 s.v. ֵלב 4 where reference is made to “inclinations, resolutions, and determinations of the will”). The phrase “one way” refers to one way of life or conduct (cf. BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a where reference is made to moral action and character), a way of life that is further qualified by the goal of showing “fear, reverence, respect” for the Lord. The Hebrew sentence has been broken up to avoid a long complex sentence in English which is contrary to contemporary English style. However, an attempt has been made to preserve all the connections of the original.

[32:40]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.

[32:40]  ¹⁶ tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”

[32:40]  ¹⁷ tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.

[32:40]  ¹⁸ tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.

[3:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Certainly [or perhaps, “For”] then I will restore to the nations a pure lip.”

[3:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “so that all of them will call on the name of the Lord.”

[3:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “so that [they] will serve him [with] one shoulder.”

[17:21]  ²² tn The words “I pray” are repeated from the first part of v. 20 for clarity.

[17:22]  ²³ tn Grk And the glory.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:23]  ²⁴ tn Or “completely unified.”

[4:32]  ²⁵ tn Grk “soul.”

[4:32]  ²⁶ tn Grk “but all things were to them in common.”

[4:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “captain.”

[4:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.

[4:1]  ³⁰ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 3:7; 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[4:1]  ³¹ tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).

[1:10]  ³² tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ³³ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[2:1]  ³⁴ tn Or “spiritual fellowship” if πνεύματος (pneumato") is an attributive genitive; or “fellowship brought about by the Spirit” if πνεύματος is a genitive of source or production.

[2:1]  ³⁵ tn Grk “and any affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.

[2:2]  ³⁶ tn Or “and feel the same way,” “and think the same thoughts.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated “and be of the same mind” to reflect its epexegetical force to the imperative “complete my joy.”

[2:2]  ³⁷ tn The Greek word here is σύμψυχοι (sumyucoi, literally “fellow souled”).

[2:3]  ³⁸ tn Grk “not according to selfish ambition.” There is no main verb in this verse; the subjunctive φρονῆτε (fronhte, “be of the same mind”) is implied here as well. Thus, although most translations supply the verb “do” at the beginning of v. 3 (e.g., “do nothing from selfish ambition”), the idea is even stronger than that: “Don’t even think any thoughts motivated by selfish ambition.”

[2:4]  ³⁹ tn On the meaning “be concerned about” for σκοπέω (skopew), see L&N 27.36.

[2:4]  ⁴⁰ tn The word “only” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the ἀλλὰ καί (alla kai) in the second clause (“but…as well”). The bulk of the Western text dropped the καί, motivated most likely by ascetic concerns.

[2:4]  ⁴¹ tc The bulk of the Western text (D*^,c F G K it) dropped καί (kai) here, most likely due to ascetic concerns. Strong external attestation for its inclusion from excellent witnesses as well as the majority (Ì⁴⁶ א A B C D² 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï) also marks it as original.

[2:5]  ⁴² tn Grk “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which also [was] in Christ Jesus,” or “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which [you] also [have] in Christ Jesus.”