Luke 12:32

12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is well pleased ¹  to give you the kingdom.

Romans 8:17

8:17 And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) ²  – if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.

Romans 8:1

The Believer’s Relationship to the Holy Spirit

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ³ 

Colossians 1:9

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ⁴  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ⁵  to fill ⁶  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Galatians 5:21

5:21 envying, ⁷  murder, ⁸  drunkenness, carousing, ⁹  and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

Ephesians 5:5

5:5 For you can be confident of this one thing: ¹⁰  that no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Ephesians 5:2

5:2 and live ¹¹  in love, just as Christ also loved us ¹²  and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering ¹³  to God.

Ephesians 2:12

2:12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, ¹⁴  alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, ¹⁵  having no hope and without God in the world.

Ephesians 4:8

4:8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured ¹⁶  captives; he gave gifts to men.” ¹⁷ 

James 2:5

2:5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! ¹⁸  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, ¹⁹  do not show prejudice ²⁰  if you possess faith ²¹  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ²² 

James 1:4-5

1:4 And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. 1:5 But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.

James 1:9

1:9 Now the believer ²³  of humble means ²⁴  should take pride ²⁵  in his high position. ²⁶ 

James 3:9

3:9 With it we bless the Lord ²⁷  and Father, and with it we curse people ²⁸  made in God’s image.

Revelation 5:10

5:10 You have appointed ²⁹  them ³⁰  as a kingdom and priests ³¹  to serve ³²  our God, and they will reign ³³  on the earth.”

Revelation 21:7

21:7 The one who conquers ³⁴  will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

[12:32]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “your Father chooses.”

[8:17]  ² 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.

[8:1]  ³ tc The earliest and best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts, as well as a few others (א* B D* F G 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), have no additional words for v. 1. Later scribes (A D¹ Ψ 81 365 629 pc vg) added the words μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν (mh kata sarka peripatousin, “who do not walk according to the flesh”), while even later ones (א² D² 33^vid Ï) added ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα (alla kata pneuma, “but [who do walk] according to the Spirit”). Both the external evidence and the internal evidence are compelling for the shortest reading. The scribes were evidently motivated to add such qualifications (interpolated from v. 4) to insulate Paul’s gospel from charges that it was characterized too much by grace. The KJV follows the longest reading found in Ï.

[1:9]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[5:21]  ⁵ tn This term is plural in Greek (as is “murder” and “carousing”), but for clarity these abstract nouns have been translated as singular.

[5:21]  ⁶ tc ‡ φόνοι (fonoi, “murders”) is absent in such important mss as Ì⁴⁶ א B 33 81 323 945 pc sa, while the majority of mss (A C D F G Ψ 0122 0278 1739 1881 Ï lat) have the word. Although the pedigree of the mss which lack the term is of the highest degree, homoioteleuton may well explain the shorter reading. The preceding word has merely one letter difference, making it quite possible to overlook this term (φθόνοι φόνοι, fqonoi fonoi).

[5:21]  ⁷ tn Or “revelings,” “orgies” (L&N 88.287).

[5:5]  ⁶ tn Grk “be knowing this.” See also 2 Pet 1:20 for a similar phrase: τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες (touto prwton ginwskonte").

[5:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “walk.” The NT writers often used the verb “walk” (περιπατέω, peripatew) to refer to ethical conduct (cf. Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16; Col 4:5).

[5:2]  ⁸ tc A number of important witnesses have ὑμᾶς (Jumas, “you”; e.g., א* A B P 0159 81 1175 al it co as well as several fathers). Other, equally important witnesses read ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א² D F G Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 al lat sy). It is possible that ἡμᾶς was accidentally introduced via homoioarcton with the previous word (ἠγάπησεν, hgaphsen). On the other hand, ὑμᾶς may have been motivated by the preceding ὑμῖν (Jumin) in 4:32 and second person verbs in 5:1, 2. Further, the flow of argument seems to require the first person pronoun. A decision is difficult to make, but the first person pronoun has a slightly greater probability of being original.

[5:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “an offering and sacrifice to God as a smell of fragrance.” The first expression, προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν (prosforan kai qusian), is probably a hendiadys and has been translated such that “sacrificial” modifies “offering.” The second expression, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας (ei" osmhn euwdia", “as a smell of fragrance”) has been translated as “a fragrant offering”; see BDAG 728-29 s.v. ὀσμή 2. Putting these two together in a clear fashion in English yields the translation: “a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”

[2:12]  ⁸ tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”

[2:12]  ⁹ tn Or “covenants of the promise.”

[4:8]  ⁹ tn Grk “he led captive captivity.”

[4:8]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation which is perhaps ultimately derived from Ps 68:18. However, the wording here differs from that of Ps 68 in both the Hebrew text and the LXX in a few places, the most significant of which is reading “gave gifts to” in place of “received gifts from” as in HT and LXX. It has sometimes been suggested that the author of Ephesians modified the text he was citing in order to better support what he wanted to say here. Such modifications are sometimes found in rabbinic exegesis from this and later periods, but it is also possible that the author was simply citing a variant of Ps 68 known to him but which has not survived outside its quotation here (W. H. Harris, The Descent of Christ [AGJU 32], 104). Another possibility is that the words here, which strongly resemble Ps 68:19 HT and LXX (68:18 ET), are actually part of an early Christian hymn quoted by the author.

[2:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ¹² tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:9]  ¹² tn Grk “brother.” Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. TEV, NLT “Christians”; CEV “God’s people”). The term broadly connotes familial relationships within the family of God (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a).

[1:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “the lowly brother,” but “lowly/humble” is clarified in context by the contrast with “wealthy” in v. 10.

[1:9]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “let him boast.”

[1:9]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “his height,” “his exaltation.”

[3:9]  ¹³ tc Most later mss (Ï), along with several versional witnesses, have θεόν (qeon, “God”) here instead of κύριον (kurion, “Lord”). Such is a predictable variant since nowhere else in the NT is God described as “Lord and Father,” but he is called “God and Father” on several occasions. Further, the reading κύριον is well supported by early and diversified witnesses (̲⁰ א A B C P Ψ 33 81 945 1241 1739), rendering it as the overwhelmingly preferred reading.

[3:9]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “men”; but here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpous) has generic force, referring to both men and women.

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

[5:10]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”

[5:10]  ¹⁷ tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”

[5:10]  ¹⁸ 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.

[21:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.”