Matthew 21:21

21:21 Jesus ¹  answered them, “I tell you the truth, ²  if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

Mark 11:23

11:23 I tell you the truth, ³  if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

Luke 17:6

17:6 So ⁴  the Lord replied, ⁵  “If ⁶  you had faith the size of ⁷  a mustard seed, you could say to this black mulberry ⁸  tree, ‘Be pulled out by the roots and planted in the sea,’ ⁹  and it would obey ¹⁰  you.

Luke 17:1

Sin, Forgiveness, Faith, and Service

17:1 Jesus ¹¹  said to his disciples, “Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe ¹²  to the one through whom they come!

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, ¹³  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ¹⁴  to fill ¹⁵  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹⁶  brothers and sisters ¹⁷  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹⁸  from God our Father! ¹⁹ 

[21:21]  ¹ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[21:21]  ² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[11:23]  ³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[17:6]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[17:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “said.”

[17:6]  ⁶ tn This is a mixed condition, with ἄν (an) in the apodosis.

[17:6]  ⁷ tn Grk “faith as,” “faith like.”

[17:6]  ⁸ sn A black mulberry tree is a deciduous fruit tree that grows about 20 ft (6 m) tall and has black juicy berries. This tree has an extensive root system, so to pull it up would be a major operation.

[17:6]  ⁹ tn The passives here (ἐκριζώθητι and φυτεύθητι, ekrizwqhti and futeuqhti) are probably a circumlocution for God performing the action (the so-called divine passive, see ExSyn 437-38). The issue is not the amount of faith (which in the example is only very tiny), but its presence, which can accomplish impossible things. To cause a tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea is impossible. The expression is a rhetorical idiom. It is like saying a camel can go through the eye of a needle (Luke 18:25).

[17:6]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is aorist, though it looks at a future event, another rhetorical touch to communicate certainty of the effect of faith.

[17:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[17:1]  ¹² sn See Luke 6:24-26.

[1:9]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.

[1:2]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ¹⁹ 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.