Isaiah 11:6-9

11:6 A wolf will reside ¹  with a lamb,

and a leopard will lie down with a young goat;

an ox and a young lion will graze together, ² 

as a small child leads them along.

11:7 A cow and a bear will graze together,

their young will lie down together. ³ 

A lion, like an ox, will eat straw.

11:8 A baby ⁴  will play

over the hole of a snake; ⁵ 

over the nest ⁶  of a serpent

an infant ⁷  will put his hand. ⁸ 

11:9 They will no longer injure or destroy

on my entire royal mountain. ⁹ 

For there will be universal submission to the Lord’s sovereignty,

just as the waters completely cover the sea. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 35:9

35:9 No lions will be there,

no ferocious wild animals will be on it ¹¹  –

they will not be found there.

Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,

Acts 9:1

The Conversion of Saul

9:1 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing out threats ¹²  to murder ¹³  the Lord’s disciples, went to the high priest

Acts 9:19-21

9:19 and after taking some food, his strength returned.

For several days ¹⁴  he was with the disciples in Damascus, 9:20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, ¹⁵  saying, “This man is the Son of God.” ¹⁶  9:21 All ¹⁷  who heard him were amazed and were saying, “Is this not ¹⁸  the man who in Jerusalem was ravaging ¹⁹  those who call on this name, and who had come here to bring them as prisoners ²⁰  to the chief priests?”

Acts 9:1

The Conversion of Saul

9:1 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing out threats ²¹  to murder ²²  the Lord’s disciples, went to the high priest

Colossians 1:9-11

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ²³  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ²⁴  to fill ²⁵  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ²⁶  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ²⁷  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ²⁸  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

Titus 3:3-7

3:3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another. 3:4 ²⁹  But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 3:6 whom he poured out on us in full measure ³⁰  through Jesus Christ our Savior. 3:7 And so, ³¹  since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.” ³² 

[11:6]  ¹ tn The verb גּוּר (gur) normally refers to living as a dependent, resident alien in another society.

[11:6]  ² tc The Hebrew text reads, “and an ox, and a young lion, and a fatling together.” Since the preceding lines refer to two animals and include a verb, many emend וּמְרִיא (umÿri’, “and the fatling”) to an otherwise unattested verb יִמְרְאוּ (yimrÿ’u, “they will graze”); cf. NAB, TEV, CEV. One of the Qumran copies of Isaiah confirms this suggestion (1QIsa^a). The present translation assumes this change.

[11:7]  ³ tn Heb “and a cow and a bear will graze – together – they will lie down, their young.” This is a case of pivot pattern; יַחְדָּו (yakhddav, “together”) goes with both the preceding and following statements.

[11:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “one sucking,” i.e., still being nursed by his mother.

[11:8]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps, “cobra” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV); KJV, ASV, NRSV “asp.”

[11:8]  ⁶ tc The Hebrew text has the otherwise unattested מְאוּרַת (mÿ’urat, “place of light”), i.e., opening of a hole. Some prefer to emend to מְעָרַת (mÿ’arat, “cave, den”).

[11:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “one who is weaned” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[11:8]  ⁸ sn The transformation of the animal kingdom depicted here typifies what will occur in human society under the just rule of the ideal king (see vv. 3-5). The categories “predator-prey” (i.e., oppressor-oppressed) will no longer exist.

[11:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “in all my holy mountain.” In the most basic sense the Lord’s “holy mountain” is the mountain from which he rules over his kingdom (see Ezek 28:14, 16). More specifically it probably refers to Mount Zion/Jerusalem or to the entire land of Israel (see Pss 2:6; 15:1; 43:3; Isa 56:7; 57:13; Ezek 20:40; Ob 16; Zeph 3:11). If the Lord’s universal kingdom is in view in this context (see the note on “earth” at v. 4), then the phrase would probably be metonymic here, standing for God’s worldwide dominion (see the next line).

[11:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for the earth will be full of knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” The translation assumes that a universal kingdom is depicted here, but אֶרֶץ (’erets) could be translated “land” (see the note at v. 4). “Knowledge of the Lord” refers here to a recognition of the Lord’s sovereignty which results in a willingness to submit to his authority. See the note at v. 2.

[35:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will go up on it”; TEV “will pass that way.”

[9:1]  ¹² tn Or “Saul, making dire threats.”

[9:1]  ¹³ tn The expression “breathing out threats and murder” is an idiomatic expression for “making threats to murder” (see L&N 33.293). Although the two terms “threats” and “murder” are syntactically coordinate, the second is semantically subordinate to the first. In other words, the content of the threats is to murder the disciples.

[9:19]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “It happened that for several days.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[9:20]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[9:20]  ¹⁶ tn The ὅτι (Joti) is understood to introduce direct (“This man is the Son of God”) rather than indirect discourse (“that this man is the Son of God”) because the pronoun οὗτος (Jouto") combined with the present tense verb ἐστιν (estin) suggests the contents of what was proclaimed are a direct (albeit summarized) quotation.

[9:21]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And all.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[9:21]  ¹⁸ tn The Greek interrogative particle used in this verse (οὐχ, ouc) expects a positive reply. They all knew about Saul’s persecutions.

[9:21]  ¹⁹ tn Normally, “destroying,” but compare 4 Macc 4:23; 11:4 and MM 529 s.v. πορθέω for examples from Koine papyri. See also BDAG 853 s.v. πορθέω.

[9:21]  ²⁰ tn Grk “bring them bound”; the translation “bring someone as prisoner” for δεδεμένον ἄγειν τινά (dedemenon agein tina) is given by BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b.

[9:1]  ²¹ tn Or “Saul, making dire threats.”

[9:1]  ²² tn The expression “breathing out threats and murder” is an idiomatic expression for “making threats to murder” (see L&N 33.293). Although the two terms “threats” and “murder” are syntactically coordinate, the second is semantically subordinate to the first. In other words, the content of the threats is to murder the disciples.

[1:9]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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.

[1:10]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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.”

[1:11]  ²⁸ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.

[3:4]  ²⁹ tn Verses 4-7 are set as poetry in NA²⁶/NA²⁷. These verses probably constitute the referent of the expression “this saying” in v. 8.

[3:6]  ³⁰ tn Or “on us richly.”

[3:7]  ³¹ tn This is the conclusion of a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek encompassing Titus 3:4-7. Showing the goal of God’s merciful salvation, v. 7 begins literally, “in order that, being justified…we might become heirs…”

[3:7]  ³² tn Grk “heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”