James 2:5

2:5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! ¹  Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?

James 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ²  do not show prejudice ³  if you possess faith ⁴  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵ 

James 2:8

2:8 But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, ⁶  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” ⁷  you are doing well.

Psalms 113:7-8

113:7 He raises the poor from the dirt,

and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile, ⁸ 

113:8 that he might seat him with princes,

with the princes of his people.

Luke 9:48

9:48 and said to them, “Whoever welcomes ⁹  this child ¹⁰  in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me, for the one who is least among you all is the one who is great.” ¹¹ 

Luke 10:20

10:20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice that ¹²  the spirits submit to you, but rejoice ¹³  that your names stand written ¹⁴  in heaven.”

Romans 8:17

8:17 And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) ¹⁵  – if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.

Romans 8:2

8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit ¹⁶  in Christ Jesus has set you ¹⁷  free from the law of sin and death.

Colossians 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ¹⁸  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ¹⁹  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Philippians 3:14

3:14 with this goal in mind, ²⁰  I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God ²¹  in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:1

True and False Righteousness

3:1 Finally, my brothers and sisters, ²²  rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

Philippians 2:9

2:9 As a result God exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

Philippians 2:1

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, ²³  any affection or mercy, ²⁴ 

Philippians 3:1-3

True and False Righteousness

3:1 Finally, my brothers and sisters, ²⁵  rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

3:2 Beware of the dogs, ²⁶  beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! ²⁷  3:3 For we are the circumcision, ²⁸  the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, ²⁹  exult in Christ Jesus, and do not rely on human credentials ³⁰ 

Revelation 2:9

2:9 ‘I know the distress you are suffering ³¹  and your poverty (but you are rich). I also know ³²  the slander against you ³³  by those who call themselves Jews and really are not, but are a synagogue ³⁴  of Satan.

Revelation 5:9-10

5:9 They were singing a new song: ³⁵ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ³⁶ 

and at the cost of your own blood ³⁷  you have purchased ³⁸  for God

persons ³⁹  from every tribe, language, ⁴⁰  people, and nation.

5:10 You have appointed ⁴¹  them ⁴²  as a kingdom and priests ⁴³  to serve ⁴⁴  our God, and they will reign ⁴⁵  on the earth.”

Revelation 7:9-10

7:9 After these things I looked, and here was ⁴⁶  an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, ⁴⁷  people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 7:10 They were shouting out in a loud voice,

“Salvation belongs to our God, ⁴⁸ 

to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

[2:5]  ¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ³ tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[2:8]  ⁶ tn Grk “according to the scripture.”

[2:8]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18 (also quoted in Matt 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14).

[113:7]  ⁸ sn The language of v. 7 is almost identical to that of 1 Sam 2:8.

[9:48]  ⁹ tn This verb, δέχομαι (decomai), is a term of hospitality (L&N 34.53).

[9:48]  ¹⁰ sn Children were very insignificant in ancient culture, so this child would be the perfect object lesson to counter the disciples’ selfish ambitions.

[9:48]  ¹¹ tn Grk “among you all, this one is great.” The absence of a comparative term here makes the point that comparison should not be done.

[10:20]  ¹² tn Grk “do not rejoice in this, that.” This is awkward in contemporary English and has been simplified to “do not rejoice that.”

[10:20]  ¹³ tn The verb here is a present imperative, so the call is to an attitude of rejoicing.

[10:20]  ¹⁴ tn The verb here, a perfect tense, stresses a present reality of that which was a completed action, that is, their names were etched in the heavenly stone, as it were.

[8:17]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “on the one hand, heirs of God; on the other hand, fellow heirs with Christ.” Some prefer to render v. 17 as follows: “And if children, then heirs – that is, heirs of God. Also fellow heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.” Such a translation suggests two distinct inheritances, one coming to all of God’s children, the other coming only to those who suffer with Christ. The difficulty of this view, however, is that it ignores the correlative conjunctions μέν…δέ (men…de, “on the one hand…on the other hand”): The construction strongly suggests that the inheritances cannot be separated since both explain “then heirs.” For this reason, the preferred translation puts this explanation in parentheses.

[8:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

[8:2]  ¹⁷ tc Most mss read the first person singular pronoun με (me) here (A D 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa). The second person singular pronoun σε (se) is superior because of external support (א B {F which reads σαι} G 1506* 1739*) and internal support (it is the harder reading since ch. 7 was narrated in the first person). At the same time, it could have arisen via dittography from the final syllable of the verb preceding it (ἠλευθέρωσεν, hleuqerwsen; “has set free”). But for this to happen in such early and diverse witnesses is unlikely, especially as it depends on various scribes repeatedly overlooking either the nu or the nu-bar at the end of the verb.

[1:10]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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.”

[3:14]  ²⁰ tn Grk “according to the goal.”

[3:14]  ²¹ tn Grk “prize, namely, the heavenly calling of God.”

[3:1]  ²² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[2:1]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and any affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.

[3:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[3:2]  ²⁶ sn Dogs is a figurative reference to false teachers whom Paul regards as just as filthy as dogs.

[3:2]  ²⁷ tn Grk “beware of the mutilation.”

[3:3]  ²⁸ tn There is a significant wordplay here in the Greek text. In v. 2 a rare, strong word is used to describe those who were pro-circumcision (κατατομή, katatomh, “mutilation”; see BDAG 528 s.v.), while in v. 3 the normal word for circumcision is used (περιτομή, peritomh; see BDAG 807 s.v.). Both have τομή (the feminine form of the adjective τομός [tomo"], meaning “cutting, sharp”) as their root; the direction of the action of the former is down or off (from κατά, kata), hence the implication of mutilation or emasculation, while the direction of the action of the latter is around (from περί, peri). The similarity in sound yet wide divergence of meaning between the two words highlights in no uncertain terms the differences between Paul and his opponents.

[3:3]  ²⁹ tc The verb λατρεύω (latreuw; here the participial form, λατρεύοντες [latreuonte"]) either takes a dative direct object or no object at all, bearing virtually a technical nuance of “worshiping God” (see BDAG 587 s.v.). In this text, πνεύματι (pneumati) takes an instrumental force (“by the Spirit”) rather than functioning as object of λατρεύοντες. However, the word after πνεύματι is in question, no doubt because of the collocation with λατρεύοντες. Most witnesses, including some of the earliest and best representatives of the Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine texts (א* A B C D² F G 0278^vid 33 1739 1881 Ï co Ambr), read θεοῦ (qeou; thus, “worship by the Spirit of God”). But several other important witnesses (א² D* P Ψ 075 365 1175 lat sy Chr) have the dative θεῷ (qew) here (“worship God by the Spirit”). Ì⁴⁶ is virtually alone in its omission of the divine name, probably due to an unintentional oversight. The dative θεῷ was most likely a scribal emendation intended to give the participle its proper object, and thus avoid confusion about the force of πνεύματι. Although the Church came to embrace the full deity of the Spirit, the NT does not seem to speak of worshiping the Spirit explicitly. The reading θεῷ thus appears to be a clarifying reading. On external and internal grounds, then, θεοῦ is the preferred reading.

[3:3]  ³⁰ tn Grk “have no confidence in the flesh.”

[2:9]  ³¹ tn Or “know your suffering.” This could refer to suffering or distress caused by persecution (see L&N 22.2).

[2:9]  ³² tn Because of the length and complexity of this Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the phrase “I also know” to link this English sentence back to “I know” at the beginning of the verse.

[2:9]  ³³ tn The words “against you” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[2:9]  ³⁴ sn A synagogue was a place for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (e.g., Mt 4:23, Mk 1:21, Lk 4:15, Jn 6:59).

[5:9]  ³⁵ tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

[5:9]  ³⁶ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:9]  ³⁷ tn The preposition ἐν (en) is taken to indicate price here, like the Hebrew preposition ב (bet) does at times. BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 5.b states, “The ἐν which takes the place of the gen. of price is also instrumental ἠγόρασας ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου Rv 5:9 (cp. 1 Ch 21:24 ἀγοράζω ἐν ἀργυρίῳ).”

[5:9]  ³⁸ tc The Greek text as it stands above (i.e., the reading τῷ θεῷ [tw qew] alone) is found in codex A. א 2050 2344 Ï sy add the term “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas), either before or after τῷ θεῷ, as an attempt to clarify the object of “purchased” (ἠγόρασας, hgorasa"). A few mss (1 vg^ms) delete the reference to God altogether and simply replace it with “us” (ἡμᾶς). This too is an attempt to remove ambiguity in the phrase and provide an object for “purchased.” The shorter reading, supported by the best witness for Revelation, best accounts for the other readings.

[5:9]  ³⁹ tn The word “persons” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “and language,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[5:10]  ⁴¹ tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoihsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.

[5:10]  ⁴² tc The vast majority of witnesses have αὐτούς (autous, “them”) here, while the Textus Receptus reads ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”) with insignificant support (pc gig vg^cl sa Prim Bea). There is no question that the original text read αὐτούς here.

[5:10]  ⁴³ tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”

[5:10]  ⁴⁴ tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”

[5:10]  ⁴⁵ tc The textual problem here between the present tense βασιλεύουσιν (basileuousin, “they are reigning”; so A 1006 1611 Ï^K pc) and the future βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, “they will reign”; so א 1854 2053 Ï^A pc lat co) is a difficult one. Both readings have excellent support. On the one hand, the present tense seems to be the harder reading in this context. On the other hand, codex A elsewhere mistakes the future for the present (20:6). Further, the lunar sigma in uncial script could have been overlooked by some scribes, resulting in the present tense. All things considered, there is a slight preference for the future.

[7:9]  ⁴⁶ tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[7:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[7:10]  ⁴⁸ tn The dative here has been translated as a dative of possession.