Hebrews 2:1-2

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2:2 For if the message spoken through angels ¹  proved to be so firm that every violation ²  or disobedience received its just penalty,

Hebrews 3:12

3:12 See to it, ³  brothers and sisters, ⁴  that none of you has ⁵  an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes ⁶  the living God. ⁷ 

Hebrews 4:1

God’s Promised Rest

4:1 Therefore we must be wary ⁸  that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.

Hebrews 4:11

4:11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.

Hebrews 6:11

6:11 But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end,

Hebrews 10:23-35

10:23 And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 10:24 And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, ⁹  10:25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day ¹⁰  drawing near. ¹¹ 

10:26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, ¹²  10:27 but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury ¹³  of fire that will consume God’s enemies. ¹⁴  10:28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death ¹⁵  without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ¹⁶  10:29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for ¹⁷  the Son of God, and profanes ¹⁸  the blood of the covenant that made him holy, ¹⁹  and insults the Spirit of grace? 10:30 For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” ²⁰  and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ²¹  10:31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

10:32 But remember the former days when you endured a harsh conflict of suffering after you were enlightened. 10:33 At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and afflictions, and at other times you came to share with others who were treated in that way. 10:34 For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison, ²²  and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly ²³  had a better and lasting possession. 10:35 So do not throw away your confidence, because it ²⁴  has great reward.

Deuteronomy 4:9

Reminder of the Horeb Covenant

4:9 Again, however, pay very careful attention, ²⁵  lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren.

Proverbs 4:23

4:23 Guard your heart with all vigilance, ²⁶ 

for from it are the sources ²⁷  of life.

Proverbs 4:1

Admonition to Follow Righteousness and Avoid Wickedness ²⁸ 

4:1 Listen, children, ²⁹  to a father’s instruction, ³⁰ 

and pay attention so that ³¹  you may gain ³²  discernment.

Colossians 1:24-27

1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. 1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship ³³  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete ³⁴  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 ³⁵  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³⁶  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:12

1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ³⁷  in the saints’ ³⁸  inheritance in the light.

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ³⁹  brothers and sisters ⁴⁰  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁴¹  from God our Father! ⁴² 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁴³  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:5

1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ⁴⁴  from the hope laid up ⁴⁵  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ⁴⁶ 

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁴⁷  brothers and sisters ⁴⁸  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁴⁹  from God our Father! ⁵⁰ 

Colossians 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ⁵¹  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ⁵²  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Colossians 3:11

3:11 Here there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave ⁵³  or free, but Christ is all and in all.

Colossians 3:14

3:14 And to all these ⁵⁴  virtues ⁵⁵  add ⁵⁶  love, which is the perfect bond. ⁵⁷ 

Colossians 3:2

3:2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth,

Colossians 1:8

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Jude 1:20-21

1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ⁵⁸  1:21 maintain ⁵⁹  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ⁶⁰  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ⁶¹ 

[2:2]  ¹ sn The message spoken through angels refers to the OT law, which according to Jewish tradition was mediated to Moses through angels (cf. Deut 33:2; Ps 68:17-18; Acts 7:38, 53; Gal 3:19; and Jub. 1:27, 29; Josephus, Ant. 15.5.3 [15.136]).

[2:2]  ² tn Grk “through angels became valid and every violation.”

[3:12]  ³ tn Or “take care.”

[3:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “that there not be in any of you.”

[3:12]  ⁶ tn Or “deserts,” “rebels against.”

[3:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “in forsaking the living God.”

[4:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “let us fear.”

[10:24]  ⁹ tn Grk “let us consider one another for provoking of love and good deeds.”

[10:25]  ¹⁰ sn The day refers to that well-known time of Christ’s coming and judgment in the future; see a similar use of “day” in 1 Cor 3:13.

[10:25]  ¹¹ tn This paragraph (vv. 19-25) is actually a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek, but it must be broken into shorter segments for English idiom. It begins with several subordinate phrases (since we have confidence and a great priest), has three parallel exhortations as its main verbs (let us draw near, hold, and take thought), and concludes with several subordinate phrases related to the final exhortation (not abandoning but encouraging).

[10:26]  ¹² tn Grk “is left,” with “for us” implied by the first half of the verse.

[10:27]  ¹³ tn Grk “zeal,” recalling God’s jealous protection of his holiness and honor (cf. Exod 20:5).

[10:27]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the enemies.”

[10:28]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “dies.”

[10:28]  ¹⁶ sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.

[10:29]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “tramples under foot.”

[10:29]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “regarded as common.”

[10:29]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “by which he was made holy.”

[10:30]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Deut 32:35.

[10:30]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Deut 32:36.

[10:34]  ²² tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א D² 1881 Ï), read δεσμοῖς μου (desmoi" mou, “my imprisonment”) here, a reading that is probably due to the widespread belief in the early Christian centuries that Paul was the author of Hebrews (cf. Phil 1:7; Col 4:18). It may have been generated by the reading δεσμοῖς without the μου (so Ì⁴⁶ Ψ 104 pc), the force of which is so ambiguous (lit., “you shared the sufferings with the bonds”) as to be virtually nonsensical. Most likely, δεσμοῖς resulted when a scribe made an error in copying δεσμίοις (desmioi"), a reading which makes excellent sense (“[of] those in prison”) and is strongly supported by early and significant witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texttypes (A D* H 6 33 81 1739 lat sy co). Thus, δεσμίοις best explains the rise of the other readings on both internal and external grounds and is strongly preferred.

[10:34]  ²³ tn Grk “you yourselves.”

[10:35]  ²⁴ tn Grk “which,” but showing the reason.

[4:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “watch yourself and watch your soul carefully.”

[4:23]  ²⁶ tn Heb “more than all guarding.” This idiom means “with all vigilance.” The construction uses the preposition מִן (min) to express “above; beyond,” the word “all” and the noun “prison; guard; act of guarding.” The latter is the use here (BDB 1038 s.v. מִשְׁמָר).

[4:23]  ²⁷ sn The word תּוֹצְאוֹת (tots’ot, from יָצָא, yatsa’) means “outgoings; extremities; sources.” It is used here for starting points, like a fountainhead, and so the translation “sources” works well.

[4:1]  ²⁸ sn The chapter includes an exhortation to acquire wisdom (1-4a), a list of the benefits of wisdom (4b-9), a call to pursue a righteous lifestyle (10-13), a warning against a wicked lifestyle (14-19), and an exhortation to righteousness (20-27).

[4:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “sons.”

[4:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “discipline.”

[4:1]  ³¹ tn The Qal infinitive construct with preposition ל (lamed) indicates the purpose/result of the preceding imperative.

[4:1]  ³² tn Heb “know” (so KJV, ASV).

[1:25]  ³³ tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

[1:25]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”

[1:1]  ³⁶ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:12]  ³⁷ tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.

[1:12]  ³⁸ tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”

[1:2]  ³⁹ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ⁴¹ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ⁴² tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[1:1]  ⁴³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Col 1:3-8 form one long sentence in the Greek text and have been divided at the end of v. 4 and v. 6 and within v. 6 for clarity, in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English toward shorter sentences. Thus the phrase “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope” is literally “because of the hope.” The perfect tense “have arisen” was chosen in the English to reflect the fact that the recipients of the letter had acquired this hope at conversion in the past, but that it still remains and motivates them to trust in Christ and to love one another.

[1:5]  ⁴⁵ tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

[1:5]  ⁴⁶ tn The term “the gospel” (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, tou euangeliou) is in apposition to “the word of truth” (τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, tw logw th" alhqeia") as indicated in the translation.

[1:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ⁵⁰ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[1:10]  ⁵¹ 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]  ⁵² 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.”

[3:11]  ⁵³ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[3:14]  ⁵⁴ tn BDAG 365 s.v. ἐπί 7 suggests “to all these” as a translation for ἐπὶ πᾶσιν δὲ τούτοις (epi pasin de toutoi").

[3:14]  ⁵⁵ tn The term “virtues” is not in the Greek text, but is included in the translation to specify the antecedent and to make clear the sense of the pronoun “these.”

[3:14]  ⁵⁶ tn The verb “add,” though not in the Greek text, is implied, picking up the initial imperative “clothe yourselves.”

[3:14]  ⁵⁷ tn The genitive τῆς τελειότητος (th" teleiothto") has been translated as an attributive genitive, “the perfect bond.”

[1:20]  ⁵⁸ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[1:21]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”