Jeremiah 13:15-17

13:15 Then I said to the people of Judah, ¹ 

“Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant!

For the Lord has spoken.

13:16 Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him. ² 

Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. ³ 

Do it before you stumble ⁴  into distress

like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. ⁵ 

Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for

into the darkness and gloom of exile. ⁶ 

13:17 But if you will not pay attention to this warning, ⁷ 

I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.

I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears ⁸ 

because you, the Lord’s flock, ⁹  will be carried ¹⁰  into exile.”

Romans 1:11-12

1:11 For I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift ¹¹  to strengthen you, 1:12 that is, that we may be mutually comforted by one another’s faith, ¹²  both yours and mine.

Romans 9:1-3

Israel’s Rejection Considered

9:1 ¹³ I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures me ¹⁴  in the Holy Spirit – 9:2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ¹⁵  9:3 For I could wish ¹⁶  that I myself were accursed – cut off from Christ – for the sake of my people, ¹⁷  my fellow countrymen, ¹⁸ 

Romans 10:1

10:1 Brothers and sisters, ¹⁹  my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites ²⁰  is for their salvation.

Romans 15:29

15:29 and I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of Christ’s blessing.

Romans 15:2

15:2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²¹  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:11-13

1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ²²  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully 1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ²³  in the saints’ ²⁴  inheritance in the light. 1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ²⁵ 

Galatians 4:19

4:19 My children – I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you! ²⁶ 

Philippians 1:8

1:8 For God is my witness that I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:25-26

2:25 But for now ²⁷  I have considered it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you. For he is my brother, ²⁸  coworker and fellow soldier, and your messenger ²⁹  and minister ³⁰  to me in my need. ³¹  2:26 Indeed, he greatly missed all of you and was distressed because you heard that he had been ill.

Colossians 1:28

1:28 We proclaim him by instructing ³²  and teaching ³³  all people ³⁴  with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature ³⁵  in Christ.

Colossians 4:12

4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ³⁶  of Christ, ³⁷  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ³⁸  in all the will of God.

Hebrews 13:17

13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. ³⁹  Let them do this ⁴⁰  with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.

[13:15]  ¹ tn The words “Then I said to the people of Judah” are not in the text but are implicit from the address in v. 15 and the content of v. 17. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift from the Lord speaking to Jeremiah.

[13:16]  ² tn Heb “Give glory/respect to the Lord your God.” For this nuance of the word “glory” (כָּבוֹד, kavod), see BDB 459 s.v. כָּבוֹד 6.b and compare the usage in Mal 1:6 and Josh 7:19.

[13:16]  ³ tn The words “of disaster” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to explain the significance of the metaphor to readers who may not be acquainted with the metaphorical use of light and darkness for salvation and joy and distress and sorrow respectively.

[13:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “your feet stumble.”

[13:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “you stumble on the mountains at twilight.” The added words are again supplied in the translation to help explain the metaphor to the uninitiated reader.

[13:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “and while you hope for light he will turn it into deep darkness and make [it] into gloom.” The meaning of the metaphor is again explained through the addition of the “of” phrases for readers who are unacquainted with the metaphorical use of these terms.

[13:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “If you will not listen to it.” For the use of the feminine singular pronoun to refer to the idea(s) expressed in the preceding verse(s), see GKC 440-41 §135.p.

[13:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “Tearing [my eye] will tear and my eye will run down [= flow] with tears.”

[13:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “because the Lord’s flock will…” The pronoun “you” is supplied in the translation to avoid the shift in English from the second person address at the beginning to the third person affirmation at the end. It also helps explain the metaphor of the people of Israel as God’s flock for some readers who may be unfamiliar with that metaphor.

[13:17]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is once again in the form of “as good as done” (the Hebrew prophetic perfect).

[1:11]  ¹¹ sn Paul does not mean here that he is going to bestow upon the Roman believers what is commonly known as a “spiritual gift,” that is, a special enabling for service given to believers by the Holy Spirit. Instead, this is either a metonymy of cause for effect (Paul will use his own spiritual gifts to edify the Romans), or it simply means something akin to a blessing or benefit in the spiritual realm. It is possible that Paul uses this phrase to connote specifically the broader purpose of his letter, which is for the Romans to understand his gospel, but this seems less likely.

[1:12]  ¹² tn Grk “that is, to be comforted together with you through the faith in one another.”

[9:1]  ¹³ sn Rom 9:1–11:36. These three chapters are among the most difficult and disputed in Paul’s Letter to the Romans. One area of difficulty is the relationship between Israel and the church, especially concerning the nature and extent of Israel’s election. Many different models have been constructed to express this relationship. For a representative survey, see M. Barth, The People of God (JSNTSup), 22-27. The literary genre of these three chapters has been frequently identified as a diatribe, a philosophical discussion or conversation evolved by the Cynic and Stoic schools of philosophy as a means of popularizing their ideas (E. Käsemann, Romans, 261 and 267). But other recent scholars have challenged the idea that Rom 9–11 is characterized by diatribe. Scholars like R. Scroggs and E. E. Ellis have instead identified the material in question as midrash. For a summary and discussion of the rabbinic connections, see W. R. Stegner, “Romans 9.6-29 – A Midrash,” JSNT 22 (1984): 37-52.

[9:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “my conscience bears witness to me.”

[9:2]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart is unceasing.”

[9:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “For I would pray.” The implied condition is “if this could save my fellow Jews.”

[9:3]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See BDAG 18-19 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.b.

[9:3]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “my kinsmen according to the flesh.”

[10:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[10:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “on behalf of them”; the referent (Paul’s fellow Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:11]  ²² 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.

[1:12]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”

[1:13]  ²⁵ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).

[4:19]  ²⁶ tn Grk “My children, for whom I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you.” The relative clauses in English do not pick up the emotional force of Paul’s language here (note “tone of voice” in v. 20, indicating that he is passionately concerned for them); hence, the translation has been altered slightly to capture the connotative power of Paul’s plea.

[2:25]  ²⁷ tn Grk “But.” The temporal notion (“for now”) is implied in the epistolary aorist (“I have considered”), for Epaphroditus was dispatched with this letter to the Philippians.

[2:25]  ²⁸ tn Grk “my brother” instead of “For he is my brother.” Verse 25 constitutes one sentence in Greek, with “my brother…” functioning appositionally to “Epaphroditus.”

[2:25]  ²⁹ tn Grk “apostle.”

[2:25]  ³⁰ tn The Greek word translated “minister” here is λειτουργός (leitourgo").

[2:25]  ³¹ tn Grk “servant of my need.”

[1:28]  ³² tn Or “admonishing,” or “warning.” BDAG 679 s.v. νουθετέω states, “to counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct,, admonish, warn, instruct.” After the participle νουθετοῦντες (nouqetounte", “instructing”) the words πάντα ἄνθρωπον (panta anqrwpon, “all men”) occur in the Greek text, but since the same phrase appears again after διδάσκοντες (didaskontes) it was omitted in translation to avoid redundancy in English.

[1:28]  ³³ tn The two participles “instructing” (νουθετοῦντες, nouqetounte") and “teaching” (διδάσκοντες, didaskonte") are translated as participles of means (“by”) related to the finite verb “we proclaim” (καταγγέλλομεν, katangellomen).

[1:28]  ³⁴ tn Here ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon) is twice translated as a generic (“people” and “person”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[1:28]  ³⁵ tn Since Paul’s focus is on the present experience of the Colossians, “mature” is a better translation of τέλειον (teleion) than “perfect,” since the latter implies a future, eschatological focus.

[4:12]  ³⁶ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ tn Or “filled.”

[13:17]  ³⁹ tn Or “as ones who will give an account”; Grk “as giving an account.”

[13:17]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “that they may do this.”