Numbers 25:6

25:6 Just then ¹  one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers ²  a Midianite woman in the plain view of Moses and of ³  the whole community of the Israelites, while they ⁴  were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Numbers 25:2

25:2 These women invited ⁵  the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ⁶ 

Numbers 22:19

22:19 Now therefore, please stay ⁷  the night here also, that I may know what more the Lord might say to me.” ⁸ 

Ezra 9:2-6

9:2 Indeed, they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race ⁹  has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all of this!”

9:3 When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and my robe and ripped out some of the hair from my head and beard. Then I sat down, quite devastated. 9:4 Everyone who held the words of the God of Israel in awe ¹⁰  gathered around me because of the unfaithful acts of the people of the exile. ¹¹  Devastated, I continued to sit there until the evening offering.

9:5 At the time of the evening offering I got up from my self-abasement, ¹²  with my tunic and robe torn, and then dropped to my knees and spread my hands to the Lord my God. 9:6 I prayed, ¹³ 

“O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God! For our iniquities have climbed higher than our heads, and our guilt extends to the heavens.

Ezra 10:1-6

The People Confess Their Sins

10:1 While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself to the ground before the temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelites – men, women, and children alike – gathered around him. The people wept loudly. ¹⁴  10:2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, from the descendants of Elam, ¹⁵  addressed Ezra:

“We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying ¹⁶  foreign women from the local peoples. ¹⁷  Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard. ¹⁸  10:3 Therefore let us enact ¹⁹  a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, ²⁰  and that of those who respect ²¹  the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law. 10:4 Get up, for this matter concerns you. We are with you, so be strong and act decisively!”

10:5 So Ezra got up and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath to carry out this plan. ²²  And they all took a solemn oath. 10:6 Then Ezra got up from in front of the temple of God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. While he stayed ²³  there, he did not eat food or drink water, for he was in mourning over the infidelity of the exiles.

Psalms 119:136

119:136 Tears stream down from my eyes, ²⁴ 

because people ²⁵  do not keep your law.

Jeremiah 13:17

13:17 But if you will not pay attention to this warning, ²⁶ 

I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.

I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears ²⁷ 

because you, the Lord’s flock, ²⁸  will be carried ²⁹  into exile.”

Ezekiel 9:4

9:4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem ³⁰  and put a mark ³¹  on the foreheads of the people who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.”

Ezekiel 9:6

9:6 Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women – wipe them out! But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary!” So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple.

Ezekiel 9:2

9:2 Next, I noticed ³²  six men ³³  coming from the direction of the upper gate ³⁴  which faces north, each with his war club in his hand. Among them was a man dressed in linen with a writing kit ³⁵  at his side. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.

Colossians 1:7

1:7 You learned the gospel ³⁶  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ³⁷  – a ³⁸  faithful minister of Christ on our ³⁹  behalf –

Colossians 1:9-11

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ⁴⁰  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ⁴¹  to fill ⁴²  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ⁴³  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ⁴⁴  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ⁴⁵  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

Colossians 1:21

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ⁴⁶  minds ⁴⁷  as expressed through ⁴⁸  your evil deeds,

[25:6]  ¹ tn The verse begins with the deictic particle וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh), pointing out the action that was taking place. It stresses the immediacy of the action to the reader.

[25:6]  ² tn Or “to his family”; or “to his clan.”

[25:6]  ³ tn Heb “before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of.”

[25:6]  ⁴ tn The vav (ו) at the beginning of the clause is a disjunctive because it is prefixed to the nonverbal form. In this context it is best interpreted as a circumstantial clause, stressing that this happened “while” people were weeping over the sin.

[25:2]  ⁵ tn The verb simply says “they called,” but it is a feminine plural. And so the women who engaged in immoral acts with Hebrew men invited them to their temple ritual.

[25:2]  ⁶ sn What Israel experienced here was some of the debased ritual practices of the Canaanite people. The act of prostrating themselves before the pagan deities was probably participation in a fertility ritual, nothing short of cultic prostitution. This was a blatant disregard of the covenant and the Law. If something were not done, the nation would have destroyed itself.

[22:19]  ⁷ tn In this case “lodge” is not used, but “remain, reside” (שְׁבוּ, shÿvu).

[22:19]  ⁸ tn This clause is also a verbal hendiadys: “what the Lord might add to speak,” meaning, “what more the Lord might say.”

[9:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “the holy seed,” referring to the Israelites as God’s holy people.

[9:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “who trembled at the words of the God of Israel.”

[9:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the exile”; the words “the people” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ¹² tn The Hebrew word used here is a hapax legomenon. It refers to the self-abasement that accompanies religious sorrow and fasting.

[9:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “I said.”

[10:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “with much weeping.”

[10:2]  ¹⁵ tc The translation reads with the Qere, many medieval Hebrew MSS, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate עֵילָם (’elam, “Elam”) rather than the reading עוֹלָם (’olam, “eternity”) found in the MT.

[10:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in that we have given a dwelling to.” So also in vv. 14, 17, 18.

[10:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

[10:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “upon this.”

[10:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “cut.”

[10:3]  ²⁰ tn The MT vocalizes this word as a plural, which could be understood as a reference to God. But the context seems to suggest that a human lord is intended. The apparatus of BHS suggests repointing the word as a singular (“my lord”), but this is unnecessary. The plural (“my lords”) can be understood in an honorific sense even when a human being is in view. Most English versions regard this as a reference to Ezra, so the present translation supplies “your” before “counsel” to make this clear.

[10:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”

[10:5]  ²² tn Heb “to do according to this plan.”

[10:6]  ²³ tc The translation reads וַיָּלֶן (vayyalen, “and he stayed”) rather than the reading וַיֵּלֶךְ (vayyelekh, “and he went”) of the MT. Cf. the LXX.

[119:136]  ²⁴ tn Heb “[with] flowing streams my eyes go down.”

[119:136]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they”; even though somewhat generic, the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:17]  ²⁶ tn Heb “If you will not listen to it.” For the use of the feminine singular pronoun to refer to the idea(s) expressed in the preceding verse(s), see GKC 440-41 §135.p.

[13:17]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Tearing [my eye] will tear and my eye will run down [= flow] with tears.”

[13:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “because the Lord’s flock will…” The pronoun “you” is supplied in the translation to avoid the shift in English from the second person address at the beginning to the third person affirmation at the end. It also helps explain the metaphor of the people of Israel as God’s flock for some readers who may be unfamiliar with that metaphor.

[13:17]  ²⁹ tn The verb is once again in the form of “as good as done” (the Hebrew prophetic perfect).

[9:4]  ³⁰ tn Heb “through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem.”

[9:4]  ³¹ tn The word translated “mark” is in Hebrew the letter ת (tav). Outside this context the only other occurrence of the word is in Job 31:35. In ancient Hebrew script this letter was written like the letter X.

[9:2]  ³² tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[9:2]  ³³ sn The six men plus the scribe would equal seven, which was believed by the Babylonians to be the number of planetary deities.

[9:2]  ³⁴ sn The upper gate was built by Jotham (2 Kgs 15:35).

[9:2]  ³⁵ tn Or “a scribe’s inkhorn.” The Hebrew term occurs in the OT only in Ezek 9 and is believed to be an Egyptian loanword.

[1:7]  ³⁶ tn Or “learned it.” The Greek text simply has “you learned” without the reference to “the gospel,” but “the gospel” is supplied to clarify the sense of the clause. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[1:7]  ³⁷ tn The Greek word translated “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος (sundoulo"); the σύν- prefix here denotes association. Though δοῦλος is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:7]  ³⁸ tn The Greek text has “who (ὅς, Jos) is a faithful minister.” The above translation conveys the antecedent of the relative pronoun quite well and avoids the redundancy with the following substantival participle of v. 8, namely, “who told” (ὁ δηλώσας, Jo dhlwsa").

[1:7]  ³⁹ tc ‡ Judging by the superior witnesses for the first person pronoun ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א* A B D* F G 326* 1505 al) vs. the second person pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “you”; found in א² C D¹ Ψ 075 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co), ἡμῶν should be regarded as original. Although it is possible that ἡμῶν was an early alteration of ὑμῶν (either unintentionally, as dittography, since it comes seventeen letters after the previous ἡμῶν; or intentionally, to conform to the surrounding first person pronouns), this supposition is difficult to maintain in light of the varied and valuable witnesses for this reading. Further, the second person is both embedded in the verb ἐμάθετε (emaqete) and is explicit in v. 8 (ὑμῶν). Hence, the motivation to change to the first person pronoun is counterbalanced by such evidence. The second person pronoun may have been introduced unintentionally via homoioarcton with the ὑπέρ (Juper) that immediately precedes it. As well, the second person reading is somewhat harder for it seems to address Epaphras’ role only in relation to Paul and his colleagues, rather than in relation to the Colossians. Nevertheless, the decision must be based ultimately on external evidence (because the internal evidence can be variously interpreted), and this strongly supports ἡμῶν.

[1:9]  ⁴⁰ 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]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ 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.”

[1:11]  ⁴⁵ 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.

[1:21]  ⁴⁶ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ⁴⁷ tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

[1:21]  ⁴⁸ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.