Isaiah 57:17

57:17 I was angry because of their sinful greed;

I attacked them and angrily rejected them, ¹ 

yet they remained disobedient and stubborn. ² 

Jeremiah 22:17

22:17 But you are always thinking and looking

for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.

Your eyes and your heart are set

on killing some innocent person

and committing fraud and oppression. ³ 

Micah 6:10-12

6:10 “I will not overlook, ⁴  O sinful house, the dishonest gain you have hoarded away, ⁵ 

or the smaller-than-standard measure I hate so much. ⁶ 

6:11 I do not condone the use of rigged scales,

or a bag of deceptive weights. ⁷ 

6:12 The city’s rich men think nothing of resorting to violence; ⁸ 

her inhabitants lie, ⁹ 

their tongues speak deceptive words. ¹⁰ 

Habakkuk 2:9

2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. ¹¹ 

He does this so he can build his nest way up high

and escape the clutches of disaster. ¹² 

Matthew 26:15-16

26:15 and said, “What will you give me to betray him into your hands?” ¹³  So they set out thirty silver coins for him. 26:16 From that time ¹⁴  on, Judas ¹⁵  began looking for an opportunity to betray him.

Luke 12:15

12:15 Then ¹⁶  he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from ¹⁷  all types of greed, ¹⁸  because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Luke 16:14-15

More Warnings about the Pharisees

16:14 The Pharisees ¹⁹  (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed ²⁰  him. 16:15 But ²¹  Jesus ²²  said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, ²³  but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized ²⁴  among men is utterly detestable ²⁵  in God’s sight.

Luke 16:1

The Parable of the Clever Steward

16:1 Jesus ²⁶  also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations ²⁷  that his manager ²⁸  was wasting ²⁹  his assets.

Colossians 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ³⁰  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ³¹  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Ephesians 5:5

5:5 For you can be confident of this one thing: ³²  that no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Colossians 3:5

3:5 So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: ³³  sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, ³⁴  evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.

Colossians 3:1

Exhortations to Seek the Things Above

3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 1:9-10

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ³⁵  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ³⁶  to fill ³⁷  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ³⁸  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ³⁹  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

[57:17]  ¹ tn Heb “and I struck him, hiding, and I was angry.” פָּנַיִם (panayim, “face”) is the implied object of “hiding.”

[57:17]  ² tn Heb “and he walked [as an] apostate in the way of his heart.”

[22:17]  ³ tn Heb “Your eyes and your heart do not exist except for dishonest gain and for innocent blood to shed [it] and for fraud and for oppression to do [them].” The sentence has been broken up to conform more to English style and the significance of “eyes” and “heart” explained before they are introduced into the translation.

[6:10]  ⁴ tn The meaning of the first Hebrew word in the line is unclear. Possibly it is a combination of the interrogative particle and אִשׁ (’ish), an alternate form of יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is/are”). One could then translate literally, “Are there treasures of sin [in] the house of the sinful?” The translation assumes an emendation to הַאֶשֶּׁה (ha’esheh, from נָשָׁא, nasha’, “to forget”), “Will I forget?” The rhetorical question expects an answer, “No, I will not forget.”

[6:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “the treasures of sin”; NASB “treasures of wickedness”; NIV “ill-gotten treasures.”

[6:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “the accursed scant measure.”

[6:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “Do I acquit sinful scales, and a bag of deceptive weights?” The rhetorical question expects an answer, “No, I do not,” and has been translated as a declarative statement for clarity and emphasis.

[6:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “because her rich are full of violence.”

[6:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “speak lies.”

[6:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and their tongue is deceptive in their mouth.”

[2:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.

[2:9]  ¹² tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”

[26:15]  ¹³ tn Grk “What will you give to me, and I will betray him to you?”

[26:16]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:16]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:15]  ¹⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:15]  ¹⁷ tn See L&N 13.154 for this use of the middle voice of φυλάσσω (fulassw) in this verse.

[12:15]  ¹⁸ tn Or “avarice,” “covetousness.” Note the warning covers more than money and gets at the root attitude – the strong desire to acquire more and more possessions and experiences.

[16:14]  ¹⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[16:14]  ²⁰ tn A figurative extension of the literal meaning “to turn one’s nose up at someone”; here “ridicule, sneer at, show contempt for” (L&N 33.409).

[16:15]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[16:15]  ²² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:15]  ²³ tn Grk “before men.” The contrast is between outward appearance (“in people’s eyes”) and inward reality (“God knows your hearts”). Here the Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used twice in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, but “men” has been retained in the text to provide a strong verbal contrast with “God” in the second half of the verse.

[16:15]  ²⁴ tn Or “exalted.” This refers to the pride that often comes with money and position.

[16:15]  ²⁵ tn Or “is an abomination,” “is abhorrent” (L&N 25.187).

[16:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:1]  ²⁷ tn These are not formal legal charges, but reports from friends, acquaintances, etc.; Grk “A certain man was rich who had a manager, and this one was reported to him as wasting his property.”

[16:1]  ²⁸ sn His manager was the steward in charge of managing the house. He could have been a slave trained for the role.

[16:1]  ²⁹ tn Or “squandering.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

[1:10]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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.”

[5:5]  ³² tn Grk “be knowing this.” See also 2 Pet 1:20 for a similar phrase: τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες (touto prwton ginwskonte").

[3:5]  ³³ tn Grk “the members which are on the earth.” See BDAG 628 s.v. μέλος 1, “put to death whatever in you is worldly.”

[3:5]  ³⁴ tn Or “lust.”

[1:9]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ 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.”