Jeremiah 29:8

29:8 “For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says, ‘Do not let the prophets or those among you who claim to be able to predict the future by divination ²  deceive you. And do not pay any attention to the dreams that you are encouraging them to dream.

Matthew 24:4-5

24:4 Jesus answered them, ³  “Watch out ⁴  that no one misleads you. 24:5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ ⁵  and they will mislead many.

Luke 21:8

21:8 He ⁶  said, “Watch out ⁷  that you are not misled. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ ⁸  and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them!

Luke 21:1

The Widow’s Offering

21:1 Jesus ⁹  looked up ¹⁰  and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. ¹¹ 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹²  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Ephesians 5:6

Live in the Light

5:6 Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience. ¹³ 

Colossians 2:8

2:8 Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you ¹⁴  through an empty, deceitful philosophy ¹⁵  that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits ¹⁶  of the world, and not according to Christ.

Colossians 2:2-3

2:2 My goal is that ¹⁷  their hearts, having been knit together ¹⁸  in love, may be encouraged, and that ¹⁹  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ²⁰  2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ²¹  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ²² 

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Revelation 20:7-8

Satan’s Final Defeat

20:7 Now ²³  when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison 20:8 and will go out to deceive ²⁴  the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, ²⁵  to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. ²⁶ 

[29:8]  ¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”

[29:8]  ² sn See the study notes on 27:9 for this term.

[24:4]  ³ tn Grk “answering, Jesus said to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[24:4]  ⁴ tn Or “Be on guard.”

[24:5]  ⁵ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[21:8]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[21:8]  ⁷ tn Or “Be on guard.”

[21:8]  ⁸ tn That is, “I am the Messiah.”

[21:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “He”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[21:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “looking up, he saw.” The participle ἀναβλέψας (anableya") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:1]  ¹¹ tn On the term γαζοφυλάκιον (gazofulakion), often translated “treasury,” see BDAG 186 s.v., which states, “For Mk 12:41, 43; Lk 21:1 the mng. contribution box or receptacle is attractive. Acc. to Mishnah, Shekalim 6, 5 there were in the temple 13 such receptacles in the form of trumpets. But even in these passages the general sense of ‘treasury’ is prob., for the contributions would go [into] the treasury via the receptacles.” Based upon the extra-biblical evidence (see sn following), however, the translation opts to refer to the actual receptacles and not the treasury itself.

[1:1]  ¹² tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[5:6]  ¹³ sn The expression sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” In this context it refers to “all those who are disobedient.” Cf. Eph 2:2-3.

[2:8]  ¹⁴ tn The Greek construction here is somewhat difficult and can be literally rendered “Be careful, lest someone shall be the one who takes you captive.”

[2:8]  ¹⁵ tn The Greek reads τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης (th" filosofia" kai kenh" apath"). The two nouns φιλοσοφίας and κενῆς are joined by one article and probably form a hendiadys. Thus the second noun was taken as modifying the first, as the translation shows.

[2:8]  ¹⁶ tn The phrase κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (kata ta stoiceia tou kosmou) is difficult to translate because of problems surrounding the precise meaning of στοιχεῖα in this context. Originally it referred to the letters of the alphabet, with the idea at its root of “things in a row”; see C. Vaughn, “Colossians,” EBC 11:198. M. J. Harris (Colossians and Philemon [EGGNT], 93) outlines three probable options: (1) the material elements which comprise the physical world; (2) the elementary teachings of the world (so NEB, NASB, NIV); (3) the elemental spirits of the world (so NEB, RSV). The first option is highly unlikely because Paul is not concerned here with the physical elements, e.g., carbon or nitrogen. The last two options are both possible. Though the Gnostic-like heresy at Colossae would undoubtedly have been regarded by Paul as an “elementary teaching” at best, because the idea of “spirits” played such a role in Gnostic thought, he may very well have had in mind elemental spirits that operated in the world or controlled the world (i.e., under God’s authority and permission).

[2:2]  ¹⁷ tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.

[2:2]  ¹⁸ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.

[2:2]  ¹⁹ tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”

[2:2]  ²⁰ tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.

[2:1]  ²¹ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ²² tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[20:7]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[20:8]  ²⁴ tn Or “mislead.”

[20:8]  ²⁵ sn The battle with Gog and Magog is described in the OT in Ezek 38:1-39:20.

[20:8]  ²⁶ tn Grk “of whom the number of them [is] like the sand of the sea” (an allusion to Isa 10:22).