Hebrews 13:21

13:21 equip you with every good thing to do his will, working in us ¹  what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. ²  Amen.

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.”

Matthew 21:31

21:31 Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.” ⁵  Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, ⁶  tax collectors ⁷  and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God!

John 7:17

7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will, ⁸  he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority. ⁹ 

Acts 13:22

13:22 After removing him, God ¹⁰  raised up ¹¹  David their king. He testified about him: ¹²  ‘I have found David ¹³  the son of Jesse to be a man after my heart, ¹⁴  who will accomplish everything I want him to do.’ ¹⁵ 

Acts 13:36

13:36 For David, after he had served ¹⁶  God’s purpose in his own generation, died, ¹⁷  was buried with his ancestors, ¹⁸  and experienced ¹⁹  decay,

Romans 12:2

12:2 Do not be conformed ²⁰  to this present world, ²¹  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve ²²  what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Ephesians 6:6

6:6 not like those who do their work only when someone is watching ²³  – as people-pleasers – but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. ²⁴ 

Colossians 4:12

4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ²⁵  of Christ, ²⁶  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ²⁷  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 2:17

2:17 these are only ²⁸  the shadow of the things to come, but the reality ²⁹  is Christ! ³⁰ 

[13:21]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[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.

[21:31]  ⁵ tc Verses 29-31 involve a rather complex and difficult textual problem. The variants cluster into three different groups: (1) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. The second son is called the one who does his father’s will. This reading is found in the Western mss (D it). But the reading is so hard as to be nearly impossible. One can only suspect some tampering with the text, extreme carelessness on the part of the scribe, or possibly a recognition of the importance of not shaming one’s parent in public. (Any of these reasons is not improbable with this texttype, and with codex D in particular.) The other two major variants are more difficult to assess. Essentially, the responses make sense (the son who does his father’s will is the one who changes his mind after saying “no”): (2) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. But here, the first son is called the one who does his father’s will (unlike the Western reading). This is the reading found in (א) C L W (Z) 0102 0281 ˹ 33 Ï and several versional witnesses. (3) The first son says “yes” but does not go, and the second son says “no” but later has a change of heart. This is the reading found in B Θ Ë¹³ 700 and several versional witnesses. Both of these latter two readings make good sense and have significantly better textual support than the first reading. The real question, then, is this: Is the first son or the second the obedient one? If one were to argue simply from the parabolic logic, the second son would be seen as the obedient one (hence, the third reading). The first son would represent the Pharisees (or Jews) who claim to obey God, but do not (cf. Matt 23:3). This accords well with the parable of the prodigal son (in which the oldest son represents the unbelieving Jews). Further, the chronological sequence of the second son being obedient fits well with the real scene: Gentiles and tax collectors and prostitutes were not, collectively, God’s chosen people, but they did repent and come to God, while the Jewish leaders claimed to be obedient to God but did nothing. At the same time, the external evidence is weaker for this reading (though stronger than the first reading), not as widespread, and certainly suspect because of how neatly it fits. One suspects scribal manipulation at this point. Thus the second reading looks to be superior to the other two on both external and transcriptional grounds. But what about intrinsic evidence? One can surmise that Jesus didn’t always give predictable responses. In this instance, he may well have painted a picture in which the Pharisees saw themselves as the first son, only to stun them with his application (v. 32).

[21:31]  ⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[21:31]  ⁷ sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.

[7:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “his will.”

[7:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “or whether I speak from myself.”

[13:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:22]  ¹¹ sn The expression raised up refers here to making someone king. There is a wordplay here: “raising up” refers to bringing someone onto the scene of history, but it echoes with the parallel to Jesus’ resurrection.

[13:22]  ¹² tn Grk “about whom.” The relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the pronoun “him” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek. The verb εἶπεν (eipen) has not been translated (literally “he said testifying”) because it is redundant when combined with the participle μαρτυρήσας (marturhsa", “testifying”). Instead the construction of verb plus participle has been translated as a single English verb (“testified”).

[13:22]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Ps 89:20.

[13:22]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from 1 Sam 13:14.

[13:22]  ¹⁵ tn Or “who will perform all my will,” “who will carry out all my wishes.”

[13:36]  ¹⁶ tn The participle ὑπηρετήσας (Juphrethsa") is taken temporally.

[13:36]  ¹⁷ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

[13:36]  ¹⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “was gathered to his fathers” (a Semitic idiom).

[13:36]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “saw,” but the literal translation of the phrase “saw decay” could be misunderstood to mean simply “looked at decay,” while here “saw decay” is really figurative for “experienced decay.” This remark explains why David cannot fulfill the promise.

[12:2]  ²⁰ tn Although συσχηματίζεσθε (suschmatizesqe) could be either a passive or middle, the passive is more likely since it would otherwise have to be a direct middle (“conform yourselves”) and, as such, would be quite rare for NT Greek. It is very telling that being “conformed” to the present world is viewed as a passive notion, for it may suggest that it happens, in part, subconsciously. At the same time, the passive could well be a “permissive passive,” suggesting that there may be some consciousness of the conformity taking place. Most likely, it is a combination of both.

[12:2]  ²¹ tn Grk “to this age.”

[12:2]  ²² sn The verb translated test and approve (δοκιμάζω, dokimazw) carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.”

[6:6]  ²³ tn Grk “not according to eye-service.”

[6:6]  ²⁴ tn Grk “from the soul.”

[4:12]  ²⁵ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Or “filled.”

[2:17]  ²⁸ tn The word “only,” though not in the Greek text, is supplied in the English translation to bring out the force of the Greek phrase.

[2:17]  ²⁹ tn Grk “but the body of Christ.” The term body here, when used in contrast to shadow (σκιά, skia) indicates the opposite meaning, i.e., the reality or substance itself.

[2:17]  ³⁰ tn The genitive τοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou Cristou) is appositional and translated as such: “the reality is Christ.”