Numbers 5:19

5:19 Then the priest will put the woman under oath and say to the her, “If no other ¹  man has had sexual relations with you, and if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be free from this bitter water that brings a curse. ² 

Micah 7:7-10

7:7 But I will keep watching for the Lord;

I will wait for the God who delivers me.

My God will hear my lament. ³ 

Jerusalem Will Be Vindicated

7:8 My enemies, ⁴  do not gloat ⁵  over me!

Though I have fallen, I will get up.

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ⁶ 

7:9 I must endure ⁷  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ⁸  he will defend my cause, ⁹ 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ¹⁰  his deliverance. ¹¹ 

7:10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame.

They say ¹²  to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”

I will gloat over them. ¹³ 

Then they will be trampled down ¹⁴ 

like mud in the streets.

Micah 7:2

7:2 Faithful men have disappeared ¹⁵  from the land;

there are no godly men left. ¹⁶ 

They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; ¹⁷ 

they hunt their own brother with a net. ¹⁸ 

Colossians 4:17

4:17 And tell Archippus, “See to it that you complete the ministry you received in the Lord.”

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Colossians 1:7

1:7 You learned the gospel ¹⁹  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ²⁰  – a ²¹  faithful minister of Christ on our ²²  behalf –

[5:19]  ¹ tn The word “other” is implied, since the woman would not be guilty of having sexual relations with her own husband.

[5:19]  ² sn Although there would be stress involved, a woman who was innocent would have nothing to hide, and would be confident. The wording of the priest’s oath is actually designed to enable the potion to keep her from harm and not produce the physical effects it was designed to do.

[7:7]  ³ tn Heb “me.” In the interest of clarity the nature of the prophet’s cry has been specified as “my lament” in the translation.

[7:8]  ⁵ tn The singular form is understood as collective.

[7:8]  ⁶ tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”

[7:8]  ⁷ sn Darkness represents judgment; light (also in v. 9) symbolizes deliverance. The Lord is the source of the latter.

[7:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

[7:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “until.”

[7:9]  ⁹ tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

[7:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “see.”

[7:9]  ¹¹ tn Or “justice, vindication.”

[7:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “who say.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “My eyes will look on them.”

[7:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a trampled-down place.”

[7:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”

[7:2]  ¹² tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”

[7:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”

[7:2]  ¹⁴ sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.

[1:7]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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.