Joshua 1:6-7

1:6 Be strong and brave! You must lead these people in the conquest of this land that I solemnly promised their ancestors I would hand over to them. ¹  1:7 Make sure you are ²  very strong and brave! Carefully obey ³  all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! ⁴  Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful ⁵  in all you do. ⁶ 

Joshua 1:9

1:9 I repeat, ⁷  be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, ⁸  for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.” ⁹ 

Joshua 1:18

1:18 Any man who rebels against what you say and does not obey all your commands will be executed. ¹⁰  But ¹¹  be strong and brave!”

Joshua 1:1

The Lord Commissions Joshua

1:1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant:

Joshua 2:2

2:2 The king of Jericho received this report: “Note well! ¹²  Israelite men have come here tonight ¹³  to spy on the land.”

Joshua 2:1

Joshua Sends Spies into the Land

2:1 Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: ¹⁴  “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.” ¹⁵  They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there. ¹⁶ 

Joshua 1:10

Joshua Prepares for the Invasion

1:10 Joshua instructed ¹⁷  the leaders of the people:

Psalms 27:14

27:14 Rely ¹⁸  on the Lord!

Be strong and confident! ¹⁹ 

Rely on the Lord!

Isaiah 35:4

35:4 Tell those who panic, ²⁰ 

“Be strong! Do not fear!

Look, your God comes to avenge!

With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” ²¹ 

Daniel 10:19

10:19 He said to me, “Don’t be afraid, you who are valued. ²²  Peace be to you! Be strong! Be really strong!” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened. I said, “Sir, you may speak now, ²³  for you have given me strength.”

Daniel 11:32

11:32 Then with smooth words he will defile ²⁴  those who have rejected ²⁵  the covenant. But the people who are loyal to ²⁶  their God will act valiantly. ²⁷ 

Haggai 2:4

2:4 Even so, take heart, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord. ‘Take heart, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and ²⁸  all you citizens of the land,’ ²⁹  says the Lord, ‘and begin to work. For I am with you,’ says the Lord who rules over all.

Zechariah 8:9

8:9 “The Lord who rules over all also says, ‘Gather strength, you who are listening to these words today from the mouths of the prophets who were there at the founding of the house of the Lord who rules over all, ³⁰  so that the temple might be built.

Zechariah 8:13

8:13 And it will come about that just as you (both Judah and Israel) were a curse to the nations, so I will save you and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid! Instead, be strong!’

Zechariah 8:2

8:2 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘I am very much concerned for Zion; indeed, I am so concerned for her that my rage will fall on those who hurt her.’

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, ³¹  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ³²  to fill ³³  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ³⁴  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ³⁵  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Ephesians 6:10

Exhortations for Spiritual Warfare

6:10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power.

Philippians 4:13

4:13 I am able to do all things ³⁶  through the one ³⁷  who strengthens me.

Colossians 1:11-12

1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ³⁸  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully 1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ³⁹  in the saints’ ⁴⁰  inheritance in the light.

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁴¹  brothers and sisters ⁴²  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁴³  from God our Father! ⁴⁴ 

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ⁴⁵  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ⁴⁶ 

[1:6]  ¹ tn Heb “For you will cause these people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them.” The pronoun “them” at the end of the verse refers to either the people or to the fathers.

[1:7]  ² tn Or “Only be.”

[1:7]  ³ tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”

[1:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “commanded you.”

[1:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

[1:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “in all which you go.”

[1:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “Have I not commanded you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes the importance of the following command by reminding the listener that it is being repeated.

[1:9]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps, “don’t get discouraged!”

[1:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “in all which you go.”

[1:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “any man who rebels against your mouth and does not listen to your words, to all which you command us, will be put to death.”

[1:18]  ¹¹ tn Or “Only.” Here and in v. 17 this word qualifies what precedes (see also v. 7).

[2:2]  ¹² tn Or “look.”

[2:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “men have come here tonight from the sons of Israel.”

[2:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Joshua, son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly, saying.”

[2:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”

[2:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they slept there.”

[1:10]  ¹⁷ tn Or “commanded.”

[27:14]  ¹⁸ tn Or “wait.”

[27:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “be strong and let your heart be confident.”

[35:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.

[35:4]  ²¹ tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.

[10:19]  ²² tn Heb “treasured man.”

[10:19]  ²³ tn Heb “my lord may speak.”

[11:32]  ²⁴ tn Or “corrupt.”

[11:32]  ²⁵ tn Heb “acted wickedly toward.”

[11:32]  ²⁶ tn Heb “know.” The term “know” sometimes means “to recognize.” In relational contexts it can have the connotation “recognize the authority of, be loyal to,” as it does here.

[11:32]  ²⁷ sn This is an allusion to the Maccabean revolt, which struggled to bring about Jewish independence in the second century B.C.

[2:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and take heart.” Although emphatic, the repetition of the verb is redundant in contemporary English style and has been left untranslated.

[2:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the people of the land” (עַם הָאָרֶץ, ’am ha’arets); this is a technical term referring to free citizens as opposed to slaves.

[8:9]  ³⁰ sn These prophets who were there at the founding of the house of the Lord who rules over all included at least Haggai and Zechariah, and perhaps others. The founding referred to here is not the initial laying of the temple’s foundations in 536 b.c. (Ezra 3:8) but the resumption of work two years before the time of the present narrative (i.e., in 520 b.c.), as vv. 10-12 make clear.

[1:9]  ³¹ 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]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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.”

[4:13]  ³⁶ tn The Greek word translated “all things” is in emphatic position at the beginning of the Greek sentence.

[4:13]  ³⁷ tc Although some excellent witnesses lack explicit reference to the one strengthening Paul (so א* A B D* I 33 1739 lat co Cl), the majority of witnesses (א² D² [F G] Ψ 075 1881 Ï sy) add Χριστῷ (Cristw) here (thus, “through Christ who strengthens me”). But this kind of reading is patently secondary, and is a predictable variant. Further, the shorter reading is much harder, for it leaves the agent unspecified.

[1:11]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”

[1:2]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ⁴⁴ 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.

[2:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”