Jeremiah 32:38-39

32:38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. ¹  32:39 I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for ²  their own good and the good of the children who descend from them.

Hosea 10:2

10:2 Their heart is slipping;

soon they will be punished for their guilt.

The Lord ³  will break their altars;

he will completely destroy their fertility pillars.

Hosea 14:8

14:8 O Ephraim, I do not want to have anything to do ⁴  with idols anymore!

I will answer him and care for him.

I am like ⁵  a luxuriant cypress tree; ⁶ 

your fruitfulness comes from me! ⁷ 

Zephaniah 1:5

1:5 I will remove ⁸  those who worship the stars in the sky from their rooftops, ⁹ 

those who swear allegiance to the Lord ¹⁰  while taking oaths in the name of ¹¹  their ‘king,’ ¹² 

Matthew 6:22-24

6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, ¹³  your whole body will be full of light. 6:23 But if your eye is diseased, ¹⁴  your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate ¹⁵  the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise ¹⁶  the other. You cannot serve God and money. ¹⁷ 

John 17:20-21

Jesus Prays for Believers Everywhere

17:20 “I am not praying ¹⁸  only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe ¹⁹  in me through their testimony, ²⁰  17:21 that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray ²¹  that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.

Acts 2:46

2:46 Every day ²²  they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, ²³  breaking bread from ²⁴  house to house, sharing their food with glad ²⁵  and humble hearts, ²⁶ 

Acts 2:1

The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost

2:1 Now ²⁷  when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Colossians 1:17

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ²⁸  in him.

Colossians 1:21

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ²⁹  minds ³⁰  as expressed through ³¹  your evil deeds,

Colossians 1:2-3

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ³²  brothers and sisters ³³  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ³⁴  from God our Father! ³⁵ 

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ³⁶  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

Colossians 3:17

3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:22-23

3:22 Slaves, ³⁷  obey your earthly ³⁸  masters in every respect, not only when they are watching – like those who are strictly people-pleasers – but with a sincere heart, fearing the Lord. 3:23 Whatever you are doing, ³⁹  work at it with enthusiasm, ⁴⁰  as to the Lord and not for people, ⁴¹ 

[32:38]  ¹ sn The covenant formula setting forth the basic relationship is reinstituted along with a new covenant (v. 40). See also 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and the study note on 30:22.

[32:39]  ² tn Heb “I will give to them one heart and one way to [= in order that they may] fear me all the days for good to them.” The phrase “one heart” refers both to unanimity of will and accord (cf. 1 Chr 12:38 [12:39 HT]; 2 Chr 30:12) and to singleness of purpose or intent (cf. Ezek 11:19 and see BDB 525 s.v. ֵלב 4 where reference is made to “inclinations, resolutions, and determinations of the will”). The phrase “one way” refers to one way of life or conduct (cf. BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a where reference is made to moral action and character), a way of life that is further qualified by the goal of showing “fear, reverence, respect” for the Lord. The Hebrew sentence has been broken up to avoid a long complex sentence in English which is contrary to contemporary English style. However, an attempt has been made to preserve all the connections of the original.

[10:2]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:8]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew expression מַה־לִּי עוֹד (mah-li ’od) is a formula of repudiation/emphatic denial that God has anything in common with idols: “I want to have nothing to do with […] any more!” Cf., e.g., Judg 11:12; 2 Sam 16:10; 19:23; 1 Kgs 17:18; 2 Kgs 3:13; 2 Chr 35:21; Jer 2:18; Ps 50:16; BDB 553 s.v. מָה 1.d.(c).

[14:8]  ⁵ tn The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity, as in the majority of English versions (including KJV).

[14:8]  ⁶ tn Cf. KJV “a green fir tree”; NIV, NCV “a green pine tree”; NRSV “an evergreen cypress.”

[14:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “your fruit is found in me”; NRSV “your faithfulness comes from me.”

[1:5]  ⁸ tn The words “I will remove” are repeated from v. 4b for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 4b-6 contain a long list of objects for the verb “I will remove” in v. 4b. In the present translation a new sentence was begun at the beginning of v. 5 in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences.

[1:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “those who worship on their roofs the host of heaven.” The “host of heaven” included the sun, moon, planets, and stars, all of which were deified in the ancient Near East.

[1:5]  ¹⁰ tc The MT reads, “those who worship, those who swear allegiance to the Lord.” The original form of the LXX omits the phrase “those who worship”; it may have been accidentally repeated from the preceding line. J. J. M. Roberts prefers to delete as secondary the phrase “those who swear allegiance” (J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah [OTL], 168).

[1:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “those who swear by.”

[1:5]  ¹² tn The referent of “their king” is unclear. It may refer sarcastically to a pagan god (perhaps Baal) worshiped by the people. Some English versions (cf. NEB, NASB, NRSV) prefer to emend the text to “Milcom,” the name of an Ammonite god (following some LXX mss, Syriac, and Vulgate) or “Molech,” a god to whom the Israelites offered their children (cf. NIV, NLT). For a discussion of the options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 75-77.

[6:22]  ¹³ tn Or “sound” (so L&N 23.132 and most scholars). A few scholars take this word to mean something like “generous” here (L&N 57.107). partly due to the immediate context concerning money, in which case the “eye” is a metonymy for the entire person (“if you are generous”).

[6:23]  ¹⁴ tn Or “if your eye is sick” (L&N 23.149).

[6:24]  ¹⁵ sn The contrast between hate and love here is rhetorical. The point is that one will choose the favorite if a choice has to be made.

[6:24]  ¹⁶ tn Or “and treat [the other] with contempt.”

[6:24]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “God and mammon.”

[17:20]  ¹⁸ tn Or “I do not pray.”

[17:20]  ¹⁹ tn Although πιστευόντων (pisteuontwn) is a present participle, it must in context carry futuristic force. The disciples whom Jesus is leaving behind will carry on his ministry and in doing so will see others come to trust in him. This will include not only Jewish Christians, but other Gentile Christians who are “not of this fold” (10:16), and thus Jesus’ prayer for unity is especially appropriate in light of the probability that most of the readers of the Gospel are Gentiles (much as Paul stresses unity between Jewish and Gentile Christians in Eph 2:10-22).

[17:20]  ²⁰ tn Grk “their word.”

[17:21]  ²¹ tn The words “I pray” are repeated from the first part of v. 20 for clarity.

[2:46]  ²² tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.

[2:46]  ²³ tn Grk “in the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[2:46]  ²⁴ tn Here κατά (kata) is used as a distributive (BDAG 512 s.v. B.1.d).

[2:46]  ²⁵ sn The term glad (Grk “gladness”) often refers to joy brought about by God’s saving acts (Luke 1:14, 44; also the related verb in 1:47; 10:21).

[2:46]  ²⁶ tn Grk “with gladness and humbleness of hearts.” It is best to understand καρδίας (kardias) as an attributed genitive, with the two nouns it modifies actually listing attributes of the genitive noun which is related to them.

[2:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.

[1:17]  ²⁸ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.

[1:21]  ²⁹ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ³⁰ tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

[1:21]  ³¹ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.

[1:2]  ³² tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ³³ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ³⁴ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ³⁵ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[1:3]  ³⁶ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).

[3:22]  ³⁷ tn On this word here and in 4:1, see the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[3:22]  ³⁸ tn The prepositional phrase κατὰ σάρκα (kata sarka) does not necessarily qualify the masters as earthly or human (as opposed to the Master in heaven, the Lord), but could also refer to the sphere in which “the service-relation holds true.” See BDAG 577 s.v. κύριος 1.b.

[3:23]  ³⁹ tn The present progressive “are doing” was used in the translation of ποιῆτε (poihte) to bring out the idea that Paul is probably referring to what they already do for work.

[3:23]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “from the soul.”

[3:23]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “men”; here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is used in a generic sense and refers to people in general.