Revelation 2:9-10

2:9 ‘I know the distress you are suffering ¹  and your poverty (but you are rich). I also know ²  the slander against you ³  by those who call themselves Jews and really are not, but are a synagogue ⁴  of Satan. 2:10 Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. The devil is about to have some of you thrown ⁵  into prison so you may be tested, ⁶  and you will experience suffering ⁷  for ten days. Remain faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown that is life itself. ⁸ 

Revelation 7:14

7:14 So ⁹  I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.” ¹⁰  Then ¹¹  he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They ¹²  have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb!

John 16:33

16:33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, ¹³  but take courage ¹⁴  – I have conquered the world.” ¹⁵ 

Acts 14:22

14:22 They strengthened ¹⁶  the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue ¹⁷  in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom ¹⁸  of God through many persecutions.” ¹⁹ 

Romans 8:17

8:17 And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) ²⁰  – if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.

Romans 8:1

The Believer’s Relationship to the Holy Spirit

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ²¹ 

Colossians 4:9-13

4:9 I sent him ²²  with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. ²³  They will tell ²⁴  you about everything here.

4:10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him). 4:11 And Jesus who is called Justus also sends greetings. In terms of Jewish converts, ²⁵  these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ²⁶  of Christ, ²⁷  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ²⁸  in all the will of God. 4:13 For I can testify that he has worked hard ²⁹  for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Philippians 1:7

1:7 For ³⁰  it is right for me to think this about all of you, because I have you in my heart, ³¹  since both in my imprisonment ³²  and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel all of you became partners in God’s grace ³³  together with me.

Philippians 4:14

4:14 Nevertheless, you did well to share with me in my trouble.

Philippians 4:2

4:2 I appeal to Euodia and to Syntyche to agree in the Lord.

Philippians 1:8

1:8 For God is my witness that I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:3-12

2:3 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition ³⁴  or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. 2:4 Each of you should be concerned ³⁵  not only ³⁶  about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. ³⁷  2:5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, ³⁸ 

2:6 ³⁹ who though he existed in the form of God ⁴⁰ 

did not regard equality with God

as something to be grasped,

2:7 but emptied himself

by taking on the form of a slave, ⁴¹ 

by looking like other men, ⁴² 

and by sharing in human nature. ⁴³ 

2:8 He humbled himself,

by becoming obedient to the point of death

– even death on a cross!

2:9 As a result God exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

2:10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow

– in heaven and on earth and under the earth –

2:11 and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord

to the glory of God the Father.

Lights in the World

2:12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, ⁴⁴ 

[2:9]  ¹ tn Or “know your suffering.” This could refer to suffering or distress caused by persecution (see L&N 22.2).

[2:9]  ² tn Because of the length and complexity of this Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the phrase “I also know” to link this English sentence back to “I know” at the beginning of the verse.

[2:9]  ³ tn The words “against you” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[2:9]  ⁴ sn A synagogue was a place for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (e.g., Mt 4:23, Mk 1:21, Lk 4:15, Jn 6:59).

[2:10]  ⁵ tn Grk “is about to throw some of you,” but the force is causative in context.

[2:10]  ⁶ tn Or “tempted.”

[2:10]  ⁷ tn Or “experience persecution,” “will be in distress” (see L&N 22.2).

[2:10]  ⁸ tn Grk “crown of life,” with the genitive “of life” (τῆς ζωῆς, th" zwh") functioning in apposition to “crown” (στέφανον, stefanon): “the crown that consists of life.”

[7:14]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous question.

[7:14]  ¹⁰ tn Though the expression “the answer” is not in the Greek text, it is clearly implied. Direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context.

[7:14]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[7:14]  ¹² tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:33]  ¹³ tn The one Greek term θλῖψις (qliyis) has been translated by an English hendiadys (two terms that combine for one meaning) “trouble and suffering.” For modern English readers “tribulation” is no longer clearly understandable.

[16:33]  ¹⁴ tn Or “but be courageous.”

[16:33]  ¹⁵ tn Or “I am victorious over the world,” or “I have overcome the world.”

[14:22]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, episthrizonte") and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalounte") have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”

[14:22]  ¹⁷ sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”

[14:22]  ¹⁸ sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.

[14:22]  ¹⁹ tn Or “sufferings.”

[8:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “on the one hand, heirs of God; on the other hand, fellow heirs with Christ.” Some prefer to render v. 17 as follows: “And if children, then heirs – that is, heirs of God. Also fellow heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.” Such a translation suggests two distinct inheritances, one coming to all of God’s children, the other coming only to those who suffer with Christ. The difficulty of this view, however, is that it ignores the correlative conjunctions μέν…δέ (men…de, “on the one hand…on the other hand”): The construction strongly suggests that the inheritances cannot be separated since both explain “then heirs.” For this reason, the preferred translation puts this explanation in parentheses.

[8:1]  ²¹ tc The earliest and best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts, as well as a few others (א* B D* F G 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), have no additional words for v. 1. Later scribes (A D¹ Ψ 81 365 629 pc vg) added the words μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν (mh kata sarka peripatousin, “who do not walk according to the flesh”), while even later ones (א² D² 33^vid Ï) added ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα (alla kata pneuma, “but [who do walk] according to the Spirit”). Both the external evidence and the internal evidence are compelling for the shortest reading. The scribes were evidently motivated to add such qualifications (interpolated from v. 4) to insulate Paul’s gospel from charges that it was characterized too much by grace. The KJV follows the longest reading found in Ï.

[4:9]  ²² tn The Greek sentence continues v. 9 with the phrase “with Onesimus,” but this is awkward in English, so the verb “I sent” was inserted and a new sentence started at the beginning of v. 9 in the translation.

[4:9]  ²³ tn Grk “is of you.”

[4:9]  ²⁴ tn Grk “will make known to you.” This has been simplified in the translation to “will tell.”

[4:11]  ²⁵ tn Grk “those of the circumcision.” The verse as a whole is difficult to translate because it is unclear whether Paul is saying (1) that the only people working with him are Jewish converts at the time the letter is being written or previously, or (2) that Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus Justus were the only Jewish Christians who ever worked with him. Verses 12-14 appear to indicate that Luke and Demas, who were Gentiles, were also working currently with Paul. This is the view adopted in the translation. See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 207-8.

[4:12]  ²⁶ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ²⁷ tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì⁴⁶ D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA²⁷ has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[4:12]  ²⁸ tn Or “filled.”

[4:13]  ²⁹ tn Grk “pain.” This word appears only three times in the NT outside of this verse (Rev 16:10, 11; 21:4) where the translation “pain” makes sense. For the present verse it has been translated “worked hard.” See BDAG 852 s.v. πόνος 1.

[1:7]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Just as.” The sense here is probably, “So I give thanks (v. 3) just as it is right for me…”

[1:7]  ³¹ tn Or possibly “because you have me in your heart.”

[1:7]  ³² tn Grk “in my bonds.” The meaning “imprisonment” derives from a figurative extension of the literal meaning (“bonds,” “fetters,” “chains”), L&N 37.115.

[1:7]  ³³ tn The word “God’s” is supplied from the context (v. 2) to clarify the meaning.

[2:3]  ³⁴ tn Grk “not according to selfish ambition.” There is no main verb in this verse; the subjunctive φρονῆτε (fronhte, “be of the same mind”) is implied here as well. Thus, although most translations supply the verb “do” at the beginning of v. 3 (e.g., “do nothing from selfish ambition”), the idea is even stronger than that: “Don’t even think any thoughts motivated by selfish ambition.”

[2:4]  ³⁵ tn On the meaning “be concerned about” for σκοπέω (skopew), see L&N 27.36.

[2:4]  ³⁶ tn The word “only” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the ἀλλὰ καί (alla kai) in the second clause (“but…as well”). The bulk of the Western text dropped the καί, motivated most likely by ascetic concerns.

[2:4]  ³⁷ tc The bulk of the Western text (D*^,c F G K it) dropped καί (kai) here, most likely due to ascetic concerns. Strong external attestation for its inclusion from excellent witnesses as well as the majority (Ì⁴⁶ א A B C D² 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï) also marks it as original.

[2:5]  ³⁸ tn Grk “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which also [was] in Christ Jesus,” or “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which [you] also [have] in Christ Jesus.”

[2:6]  ³⁹ sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[2:6]  ⁴⁰ sn The Greek term translated form indicates a correspondence with reality. Thus the meaning of this phrase is that Christ was truly God.

[2:7]  ⁴¹ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 1:1.

[2:7]  ⁴² tn Grk “by coming in the likeness of people.”

[2:7]  ⁴³ tn Grk “and by being found in form as a man.” The versification of vv. 7 and 8 (so also NRSV) is according to the versification in the NA²⁷ and UBS⁴ editions of the Greek text. Some translations, however, break the verses in front of this phrase (NKJV, NASB, NIV, NLT). The same material has been translated in each case; the only difference is the versification of that material.

[2:12]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “with fear and trembling.” The Greek words φόβος and τρόμος both imply fear in a negative sense (L&N 25.251 and 16.6 respectively) while the former can also refer to respect and awe for deity (L&N 53.59). Paul’s use of the terms in other contexts refers to “awe and reverence in the presence of God” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 284; see discussion on 282-84). The translation “awe and reverence” was chosen to portray the attitude the believer should have toward God as they consider their behavior in light of God working through Jesus Christ (2:6-11) and in the believer’s life (2:13) to accomplish their salvation.