Matthew 7:21

Judgment of Pretenders

7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ ¹  will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Matthew 12:50

12:50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is ²  my brother and sister and mother.”

Matthew 26:42

26:42 He went away a second time and prayed, ³  “My Father, if this cup ⁴  cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will must be done.”

Psalms 40:8

40:8 I want to do what pleases you, ⁵  my God.

Your law dominates my thoughts.” ⁶ 

Mark 3:35

3:35 For whoever does the will of God is ⁷  my brother and sister and mother.”

John 4:34

4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me ⁸  and to complete ⁹  his work. ¹⁰ 

John 6:40

6:40 For this is the will of my Father – for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up ¹¹  at the last day.” ¹² 

John 7:17

7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will, ¹³  he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority. ¹⁴ 

Acts 13:22

13:22 After removing him, God ¹⁵  raised up ¹⁶  David their king. He testified about him: ¹⁷  ‘I have found David ¹⁸  the son of Jesse to be a man after my heart, ¹⁹  who will accomplish everything I want him to do.’ ²⁰ 

Acts 21:14

21:14 Because he could not be persuaded, ²¹  we said no more except, ²²  “The Lord’s will be done.” ²³ 

Acts 22:14

22:14 Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors ²⁴  has already chosen ²⁵  you to know his will, to see ²⁶  the Righteous One, ²⁷  and to hear a command ²⁸  from his mouth,

Romans 12:2

12:2 Do not be conformed ²⁹  to this present world, ³⁰  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve ³¹  what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Ephesians 6:6

6:6 not like those who do their work only when someone is watching ³²  – as people-pleasers – but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. ³³ 

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, ³⁴  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ³⁵  to fill ³⁶  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³⁷  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 4:3

4:3 At the same time pray ³⁸  for us too, that ³⁹  God may open a door for the message ⁴⁰  so that we may proclaim ⁴¹  the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴² 

Colossians 1:18

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ⁴³  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ⁴⁴ 

Hebrews 10:7

10:7 “Then I said, ‘Here I am: ⁴⁵  I have come – it is written of me in the scroll of the book – to do your will, O God.’” ⁴⁶ 

Hebrews 10:36

10:36 For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. ⁴⁷ 

Hebrews 13:21

13:21 equip you with every good thing to do his will, working in us ⁴⁸  what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. ⁴⁹  Amen.

Hebrews 13:1

Final Exhortations

13:1 Brotherly love must continue.

Hebrews 2:15

2:15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.

Hebrews 4:2

4:2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in ⁵⁰  with those who heard it in faith. ⁵¹ 

[7:21]  ¹ sn The double use of the vocative is normally used in situations of high emotion or emphasis. Even an emphatic confession without action means little.

[12:50]  ² tn The pleonastic pronoun αὐτός (autos, “he”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.

[26:42]  ³ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[26:42]  ⁴ tn Grk “this”; the referent (the cup) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[40:8]  ⁵ tn Or “your will.”

[40:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “your law [is] in the midst of my inner parts.” The “inner parts” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s thought life and moral decision making.

[3:35]  ⁷ tn The pleonastic pronoun οὗτος (Jouto", “this one”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.

[4:34]  ⁸ sn The one who sent me refers to the Father.

[4:34]  ⁹ tn Or “to accomplish.”

[4:34]  ¹⁰ tn The substantival ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as an English infinitive clause.

[6:40]  ¹¹ tn Or “resurrect him,” or “make him live again.”

[6:40]  ¹² sn Notice that here the result (having eternal life and being raised up at the last day) is produced by looking on the Son and believing in him. Compare John 6:54 where the same result is produced by eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood. This suggests that the phrase in 6:54 (eats my flesh and drinks my blood) is to be understood in terms of the phrase here (looks on the Son and believes in him).

[7:17]  ¹³ tn Grk “his will.”

[7:17]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “or whether I speak from myself.”

[13:22]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:22]  ¹⁶ sn The expression raised up refers here to making someone king. There is a wordplay here: “raising up” refers to bringing someone onto the scene of history, but it echoes with the parallel to Jesus’ resurrection.

[13:22]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “about whom.” The relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the pronoun “him” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek. The verb εἶπεν (eipen) has not been translated (literally “he said testifying”) because it is redundant when combined with the participle μαρτυρήσας (marturhsa", “testifying”). Instead the construction of verb plus participle has been translated as a single English verb (“testified”).

[13:22]  ¹⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 89:20.

[13:22]  ¹⁹ sn A quotation from 1 Sam 13:14.

[13:22]  ²⁰ tn Or “who will perform all my will,” “who will carry out all my wishes.”

[21:14]  ²¹ tn The participle πειθομένου (peiqomenou) in this genitive absolute construction has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[21:14]  ²² tn Grk “we became silent, saying.”

[21:14]  ²³ sn “The Lord’s will be done.” Since no one knew exactly what would happen, the matter was left in the Lord’s hands.

[22:14]  ²⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[22:14]  ²⁵ tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance’…‘the God of our ancestors has already chosen you to know his will’ Ac 22:14.”

[22:14]  ²⁶ tn Grk “and to see.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[22:14]  ²⁷ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ (Acts 3:14).

[22:14]  ²⁸ tn Or “a solemn declaration”; Grk “a voice.” BDAG 1071-72 s.v. φωνή 2.c states, “that which the voice gives expression to: call, cry, outcry, loud or solemn declaration (… = order, command)…Cp. 22:14; 24:21.”

[12:2]  ²⁹ tn Although συσχηματίζεσθε (suschmatizesqe) could be either a passive or middle, the passive is more likely since it would otherwise have to be a direct middle (“conform yourselves”) and, as such, would be quite rare for NT Greek. It is very telling that being “conformed” to the present world is viewed as a passive notion, for it may suggest that it happens, in part, subconsciously. At the same time, the passive could well be a “permissive passive,” suggesting that there may be some consciousness of the conformity taking place. Most likely, it is a combination of both.

[12:2]  ³⁰ tn Grk “to this age.”

[12:2]  ³¹ sn The verb translated test and approve (δοκιμάζω, dokimazw) carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.”

[6:6]  ³² tn Grk “not according to eye-service.”

[6:6]  ³³ tn Grk “from the soul.”

[1:9]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ 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.

[1:1]  ³⁷ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[4:3]  ³⁸ tn Though προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi) is an adverbial participle related to the previous imperative, προσκαρτερεῖτε (proskartereite), it is here translated as an independent clause due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[4:3]  ³⁹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been rendered as substantival here, indicating the content of the prayer rather than the purpose for it. These two ideas are very similar and difficult to differentiate in this passage, but the conjunction ἵνα following a verb of praying is generally regarded as giving the content of the prayer.

[4:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “that God may open for us a door of the word to speak the mystery of Christ.” The construction in Greek is somewhat awkward in this clause. The translation attempts to simplify this structure somewhat and yet communicate exactly what Paul is asking for.

[4:3]  ⁴¹ tn Or “so that we may speak.”

[4:3]  ⁴² tn Or “in prison.”

[1:18]  ⁴³ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[10:7]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “behold,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 2).

[10:7]  ⁴⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 40:6-8 (LXX). The phrase a body you prepared for me (in v. 5) is apparently an interpretive expansion of the HT reading “ears you have dug out for me.”

[10:36]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.

[13:21]  ⁴⁸ tc Some mss (C P Ψ 6 629* 630 1505 pm latt sy^h) read ὑμῖν (Jumin, “in you”) here, but ἡμῖν (Jhmin) has stronger external support (Ì⁴⁶ א A D^vid K 0243 0285 33 81 104 326 365 629^c 1175 1739 1881 pm sy^p co). It is also more likely that ἡμῖν would have been changed to ὑμῖν in light of the “you” which occurs at the beginning of the verse than vice versa.

[13:21]  ⁴⁹ tc ‡ Most mss (א A [C*] 0243 0285 33 1739 1881 Ï latt) include the words “and ever” here, but the shorter reading (supported by Ì⁴⁶ C³ D Ψ 6 104 365 1505 al) is preferred on internal grounds. It seemed more likely that scribes would assimilate the wording to the common NT doxological expression “for ever and ever,” found especially in the Apocalypse (cf., e.g., 1 Tim 1:17; 2 Tim 4:18; Rev 4:9; 22:5) than to the “forever” of Heb 13:8. Nevertheless, a decision is difficult here. NA²⁷ places the phrase in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[4:2]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “they were not united.”

[4:2]  ⁵¹ tc A few mss (א and a few versional witnesses) have the nominative singular participle συγκεκερασμένος (sunkekerasmeno", “since it [the message] was not combined with faith by those who heard it”), a reading that refers back to the ὁ λόγος (Jo logo", “the message”). There are a few other variants here (e.g., συγκεκεραμμένοι [sunkekerammenoi] in 104, συγκεκεραμένους [sunkekeramenou"] in 1881 Ï), but the accusative plural participle συγκεκερασμένους (sunkekerasmenou"), found in Ì^13vid,46 A B C D* Ψ 0243 0278 33 81 1739 2464 pc, has by far the best external credentials. This participle agrees with the previous ἐκείνους (ekeinou", “those”), a more difficult construction grammatically than the nominative singular. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, συγκεκερασμένους is preferred.