Romans 1:29

1:29 They are filled ¹  with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with ²  envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips,

Romans 2:8-9

2:8 but ³  wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition ⁴  and do not obey the truth but follow ⁵  unrighteousness. 2:9 There will be ⁶  affliction and distress on everyone ⁷  who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek, ⁸ 

Deuteronomy 25:16

25:16 For anyone who acts dishonestly in these ways is abhorrent ⁹  to the Lord your God.

Isaiah 3:10-11

3:10 Tell the innocent ¹⁰  it will go well with them, ¹¹ 

for they will be rewarded for what they have done. ¹² 

3:11 Too bad for the wicked sinners!

For they will get exactly what they deserve. ¹³ 

Isaiah 55:7

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ¹⁴ 

and sinful people their plans. ¹⁵ 

They should return ¹⁶  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ¹⁷ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ¹⁸ 

Ezekiel 18:4

18:4 Indeed! All lives are mine – the life of the father as well as the life of the son is mine. The one ¹⁹  who sins will die.

Ezekiel 18:1

Individual Retribution

18:1 The word of the Lord came to me:

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, ²⁰  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ²¹  to fill ²²  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ²³  brothers and sisters ²⁴  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ²⁵  from God our Father! ²⁶ 

Colossians 2:12

2:12 Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your ²⁷  faith in the power ²⁸  of God who raised him from the dead.

Colossians 2:2

2:2 My goal is that ²⁹  their hearts, having been knit together ³⁰  in love, may be encouraged, and that ³¹  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³² 

Colossians 2:13-15

2:13 And even though you were dead in your ³³  transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless ³⁴  made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. 2:14 He has destroyed ³⁵  what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness ³⁶  expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. 2:15 Disarming ³⁷  the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross. ³⁸ 

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ³⁹  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ⁴⁰ 

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, ⁴¹  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ⁴²  to fill ⁴³  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

[1:29]  ¹ tn Grk “being filled” or “having been filled,” referring to those described in v. 28. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:29]  ² tn Grk “malice, full of,” continuing the description. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:8]  ³ tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:8]  ⁴ tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”

[2:8]  ⁵ tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”

[2:9]  ⁶ tn No verb is expressed in this verse, but the verb “to be” is implied by the Greek construction. Literally “suffering and distress on everyone…”

[2:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “every soul of man.”

[2:9]  ⁸ sn Paul uses the term Greek here and in v. 10 to refer to non-Jews, i.e., Gentiles.

[25:16]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term translated here “abhorrent” (תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah) speaks of attitudes and/or behaviors so vile as to be reprehensible to a holy God. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.

[3:10]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, TEV); NLT “those who are godly.”

[3:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “that it is good.”

[3:10]  ¹² tn Heb “for the fruit of their deeds they will eat.”

[3:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “for the work of his hands will be done to him.”

[55:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ¹⁸ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

[18:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “life.”

[1:9]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ²⁶ 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.

[2:12]  ²⁷ tn The article with the genitive modifier τῆς πίστεως (th" pistew") is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:12]  ²⁸ tn The genitive τῆς ἐνεργείας (th" energeia") has been translated as an objective genitive, “faith in the power.”

[2:2]  ²⁹ tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.

[2:2]  ³⁰ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.

[2:2]  ³¹ tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”

[2:2]  ³² tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.

[2:13]  ³³ tn The article τοῖς (tois) with παραπτώμασιν (paraptwmasin) is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:13]  ³⁴ tn The word “nevertheless,” though not in the Greek text, was supplied in the translation to bring out the force of the concessive participle ὄντας (ontas).

[2:14]  ³⁵ tn The participle ἐξαλείψας (exaleiyas) is a temporal adverbial participle of contemporaneous time related to the previous verb συνεζωοποίησεν (sunezwopoihsen), but has been translated as a finite verb because of the complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences. For the meaning “destroy” see BDAG 344-45 s.v. ἐξαλείφω 2.

[2:14]  ³⁶ tn On the translation of χειρόγραφον (ceirografon), see BDAG 1083 s.v. which refers to it as “a certificate of indebtedness.”

[2:15]  ³⁷ tn See BDAG 100 s.v. ἀπεκδύομαι 2.

[2:15]  ³⁸ tn The antecedent of the Greek pronoun αὐτῷ (autw) could either be “Christ” or the “cross.” There are several reasons for choosing “the cross” as the antecedent for αὐτῷ in verse 15: (1) The nearest antecedent is τῷ σταυρῷ (tw staurw) in v. 14; (2) the idea of ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησία (edeigmatisen en parrhsia, “made a public disgrace”) seems to be more in keeping with the idea of the cross; (3) a reference to Christ seems to miss the irony involved in the idea of triumph – the whole point is that where one would expect defeat, there came the victory; (4) if Christ is the subject of the participles in v. 15 then almost certainly the cross is the referent for αὐτῷ. Thus the best solution is to see αὐτῷ as a reference to the cross and the preposition ἐν (en) indicating “means” (i.e., by means of the cross) or possibly (though less likely) location (on the cross).

[2:1]  ³⁹ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[1:9]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ 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.