Luke 12:20-21

12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life ¹  will be demanded back from ²  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ³  12:21 So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself, ⁴  but is not rich toward God.”

Luke 16:2-4

16:2 So ⁵  he called the manager ⁶  in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? ⁷  Turn in the account of your administration, ⁸  because you can no longer be my manager.’ 16:3 Then ⁹  the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position ¹⁰  away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, ¹¹  and I’m too ashamed ¹²  to beg. 16:4 I know ¹³  what to do so that when I am put out of management, people will welcome me into their homes.’ ¹⁴ 

Luke 16:19-25

The Rich Man and Lazarus

16:19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple ¹⁵  and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously ¹⁶  every day. 16:20 But at his gate lay ¹⁷  a poor man named Lazarus ¹⁸  whose body was covered with sores, ¹⁹  16:21 who longed to eat ²⁰  what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs ²¹  came and licked ²²  his sores.

16:22 “Now ²³  the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. ²⁴  The ²⁵  rich man also died and was buried. ²⁶  16:23 And in hell, ²⁷  as he was in torment, ²⁸  he looked up ²⁹  and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. ³⁰  16:24 So ³¹  he called out, ³²  ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus ³³  to dip the tip of his finger ³⁴  in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish ³⁵  in this fire.’ ³⁶  16:25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, ³⁷  remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. ³⁸ 

Matthew 7:22-23

7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do ³⁹  many powerful deeds?’ 7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’ ⁴⁰ 

Matthew 7:1

Do Not Judge

7:1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. ⁴¹ 

Colossians 1:1-3

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁴²  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁴³  brothers and sisters ⁴⁴  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁴⁵  from God our Father! ⁴⁶ 

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ⁴⁷  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

[12:20]  ¹ tn Grk “your soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[12:20]  ² tn Or “required back.” This term, ἀπαιτέω (apaitew), has an economic feel to it and is often used of a debt being called in for repayment (BDAG 96 s.v. 1).

[12:20]  ³ tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:21]  ⁴ sn It is selfishness that is rebuked here, in the accumulation of riches for himself. Recall the emphasis on the first person pronouns throughout the parable.

[16:2]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the reports the man received about his manager.

[16:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the manager) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:2]  ⁷ sn Although phrased as a question, the charges were believed by the owner, as his dismissal of the manager implies.

[16:2]  ⁸ tn Or “stewardship”; the Greek word οἰκονομία (oikonomia) is cognate with the noun for the manager (οἰκονόμος, oikonomo").

[16:3]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events in the parable.

[16:3]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the stewardship,” “the management.”

[16:3]  ¹¹ tn Here “dig” could refer (1) to excavation (“dig ditches,” L&N 19.55) or (2) to agricultural labor (“work the soil,” L&N 43.3). In either case this was labor performed by the uneducated, so it would be an insult as a job for a manager.

[16:3]  ¹² tn Grk “I do not have strength to dig; I am ashamed to beg.”

[16:4]  ¹³ tn This is a dramatic use of the aorist and the verse is left unconnected to the previous verse by asyndeton, giving the impression of a sudden realization.

[16:4]  ¹⁴ sn Thinking ahead, the manager develops a plan to make people think kindly of him (welcome me into their homes).

[16:19]  ¹⁵ sn Purple describes a fine, expensive dye used on luxurious clothing, and by metonymy, refers to clothing colored with that dye. It pictures someone of great wealth.

[16:19]  ¹⁶ tn Or “celebrated with ostentation” (L&N 88.255), that is, with showing off. Here was the original conspicuous consumer.

[16:20]  ¹⁷ tn The passive verb ἐβέβλητο (ebeblhto) does not indicate how Lazarus got there. Cf. BDAG 163 s.v. βάλλω 1.b, “he lay before the door”; Josephus, Ant. 9.10.2 (9.209).

[16:20]  ¹⁸ sn This is the one time in all the gospels that a figure in a parable is mentioned by name. It will become important later in the account.

[16:20]  ¹⁹ tn Or “was covered with ulcers.” The words “whose body” are implied in the context (L&N 23.180).

[16:21]  ²⁰ tn Grk “to eat his fill,” but this phrase has been simplified as “to eat” for stylistic reasons.

[16:21]  ²¹ tn The term κύνες (kunes) refers to “wild” dogs (either “street” dogs or watchdogs), not house pets (L&N 4.34).

[16:21]  ²² sn When the dogs came and licked his sores it meant that he was unclean. See the negative image of Rev 22:15 that draws on this picture.

[16:22]  ²³ tn Grk “Now it happened that the.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[16:22]  ²⁴ tn Grk “to Abraham’s bosom.” The phrase “carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” describes being gathered to the fathers and is a way to refer to heaven (Gen 15:15; 47:30; Deut 31:16).

[16:22]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:22]  ²⁶ sn The shorter description suggests a different fate, which is confirmed in the following verses.

[16:23]  ²⁷ sn The Greek term Hades stands for the Hebrew concept of Sheol. It is what is called hell today. This is where the dead were gathered (Ps 16:10; 86:13). In the NT Hades has an additional negative force of awaiting judgment (Rev 20:13).

[16:23]  ²⁸ sn Hades is a place of torment, especially as one knows that he is separated from God.

[16:23]  ²⁹ tn Grk “he lifted up his eyes” (an idiom).

[16:23]  ³⁰ tn Grk “in his bosom,” the same phrase used in 16:22. This idiom refers to heaven and/or participation in the eschatological banquet. An appropriate modern equivalent is “at Abraham’s side.”

[16:24]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous actions in the narrative.

[16:24]  ³² tn Grk “calling out he said”; this is redundant in contemporary English style and has been simplified to “he called out.”

[16:24]  ³³ sn The rich man had not helped Lazarus before, when he lay outside his gate (v. 2), but he knew him well enough to know his name. This is why the use of the name Lazarus in the parable is significant. (The rich man’s name, on the other hand, is not mentioned, because it is not significant for the point of the story.)

[16:24]  ³⁴ sn The dipping of the tip of his finger in water is evocative of thirst. The thirsty are in need of God’s presence (Ps 42:1-2; Isa 5:13). The imagery suggests the rich man is now separated from the presence of God.

[16:24]  ³⁵ tn Or “in terrible pain” (L&N 24.92).

[16:24]  ³⁶ sn Fire in this context is OT imagery; see Isa 66:24.

[16:25]  ³⁷ tn The Greek term here is τέκνον (teknon), which could be understood as a term of endearment.

[16:25]  ³⁸ tn Or “in terrible pain” (L&N 24.92). Here is the reversal Jesus mentioned in Luke 6:20-26.

[7:22]  ³⁹ tn Grk “and in your name do.” This phrase was not repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:23]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “workers of lawlessness.”

[7:1]  ⁴¹ sn The point of the statement do not judge so that you will not be judged is that the standards we apply to others God applies to us. The passive verbs in this verse look to God’s action.

[1:1]  ⁴² tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:2]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ 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).