Romans 8:35-37

8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ¹  8:36 As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ²  8:37 No, in all these things we have complete victory ³  through him ⁴  who loved us!

Matthew 5:10-12

5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

5:11 “Blessed are you when people ⁵  insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely ⁶  on account of me. 5:12 Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.

Luke 6:22-23

6:22 “Blessed are you when people ⁷  hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject you as evil ⁸  on account of the Son of Man! 6:23 Rejoice in that day, and jump for joy, because ⁹  your reward is great in heaven. For their ancestors ¹⁰  did the same things to the prophets. ¹¹ 

Acts 5:41

5:41 So they left the council rejoicing because they had been considered worthy ¹²  to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. ¹³ 

Acts 5:2

5:2 He ¹⁴  kept back for himself part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge; he brought ¹⁵  only part of it and placed it at the apostles’ feet.

Colossians 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ¹⁶  without shifting ¹⁷  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

Colossians 1:9-10

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ¹⁸  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ¹⁹  to fill ²⁰  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ²¹  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ²²  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Ephesians 3:13

3:13 For this reason I ask you ²³  not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, ²⁴  which ²⁵  is your glory. ²⁶ 

Philippians 1:29

1:29 For it has been granted to you ²⁷  not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him,

Philippians 2:17-18

2:17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice together with all of you. 2:18 And in the same way you also should be glad and rejoice together with me.

James 1:2-3

Joy in Trials

1:2 My brothers and sisters, ²⁸  consider it nothing but joy ²⁹  when you fall into all sorts of trials, 1:3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

James 1:12

1:12 Happy is the one ³⁰  who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God ³¹  promised to those who love him.

James 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From James, ³²  a slave ³³  of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. ³⁴  Greetings!

James 3:14

3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth.

James 4:16-17

4:16 But as it is, ³⁵  you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 4:17 So whoever knows what is good to do ³⁶  and does not do it is guilty of sin. ³⁷ 

[8:35]  ¹ tn Here “sword” is a metonymy that includes both threats of violence and acts of violence, even including death (although death is not necessarily the only thing in view here).

[8:36]  ² sn A quotation from Ps 44:22.

[8:37]  ³ tn BDAG 1034 s.v. ὑπερνικάω states, “as a heightened form of νικᾶν prevail completely ὑπερνικῶμεν we are winning a most glorious victory Ro 8:37.”

[8:37]  ⁴ tn Here the referent could be either God or Christ, but in v. 39 it is God’s love that is mentioned.

[5:11]  ⁵ tn Grk “when they insult you.” The third person pronoun (here implied in the verb ὀνειδίσωσιν [ojneidiswsin]) has no specific referent, but refers to people in general.

[5:11]  ⁶ tc Although ψευδόμενοι (yeudomenoi, “bearing witness falsely”) could be a motivated reading, clarifying that the disciples are unjustly persecuted, its lack in only D it sy^s Tert does not help its case. Since the Western text is known for numerous free alterations, without corroborative evidence the shorter reading must be judged as secondary.

[6:22]  ⁷ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.

[6:22]  ⁸ tn Or “disdain you”; Grk “cast out your name as evil.” The word “name” is used here as a figure of speech to refer to the person as a whole.

[6:23]  ⁹ tn Grk “because behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this clause has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[6:23]  ¹⁰ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[6:23]  ¹¹ sn Mistreatment of the prophets is something Luke often notes (Luke 11:47-51; Acts 7:51-52).

[5:41]  ¹² sn That is, considered worthy by God. They “gloried in their shame” of honoring Jesus with their testimony (Luke 6:22-23; 2 Macc 6:30).

[5:41]  ¹³ sn The name refers to the name of Jesus (cf. 3 John 7).

[5:2]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[5:2]  ¹⁵ tn The participle ἐνέγκας (enenka") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[1:23]  ¹⁶ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

[1:23]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.

[1:9]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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.”

[3:13]  ²³ tn Grk “I ask.” No direct object is given in Greek, leaving room for the possibility that either “God” (since the verb is often associated with prayer) or “you” is in view.

[3:13]  ²⁴ tn Grk “my trials on your behalf.”

[3:13]  ²⁵ sn Which. The antecedent (i.e., the word or concept to which this clause refers back) may be either “what I am suffering for you” or the larger concept of the recipients not losing heart over Paul’s suffering for them. The relative pronoun “which” is attracted to the predicate nominative “glory” in its gender and number (feminine singular), making the antecedent ambiguous. Paul’s suffering for them could be viewed as their glory (cf. Col 1:24 for a parallel) in that his suffering has brought about their salvation, but if so his suffering must be viewed as more than his present imprisonment in Rome; it would be a general description of his ministry overall (cf. 2 Cor 11:23-27). The other option is that the author is implicitly arguing that the believers have continued to have courage in the midst of his trials (as not to lose heart suggests) and that this is their glory. Philippians 1:27-28 offers an interesting parallel: The believers’ courage in the face of adversity is a sign of their salvation.

[3:13]  ²⁶ tn Or “Or who is your glory?” The relative pronoun ἥτις (Jhti"), if divided differently, would become ἤ τίς (h ti"). Since there were no word breaks in the original mss, either word division is possible. The force of the question would be that for the readers to become discouraged over Paul’s imprisonment would mean that they were no longer trusting in God’s sovereignty.

[1:29]  ²⁷ tn Grk “For that which is on behalf of Christ has been granted to you – namely, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him.” The infinitive phrases are epexegetical to the subject, τὸ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ (to Juper Cristou), which has the force of “the on-behalf-of-Christ thing,” or “the thing on behalf of Christ.” To translate this in English requires a different idiom.

[1:2]  ²⁸ 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). Where the plural term is used in direct address, as here, “brothers and sisters” is used; where the term is singular and not direct address (as in v. 9), “believer” is preferred.

[1:2]  ²⁹ tn Grk “all joy,” “full joy,” or “greatest joy.”

[1:12]  ³⁰ tn The word for “man” or “individual” here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” However, as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, here it is “equivalent to τὶς someone, a person.”

[1:12]  ³¹ tc Most mss ([C] P 0246 Ï) read ὁ κύριος (Jo kurio", “the Lord”) here, while others have ὁ θεός (Jo qeo", “God”; 4 33^vid 323 945 1739 al). However, several important and early witnesses (̲³ א A B Ψ 81 co) have no explicit subject. In light of the scribal tendency toward clarification, and the fact that both κύριος and θεός are well represented, there can be no doubt that the original text had no explicit subject. The referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity, not because of textual basis.

[1:1]  ³² tn Grk “James.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³³ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) 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.

[1:1]  ³⁴ tn Grk “to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles.

[4:16]  ³⁵ tn Grk “but now.”

[4:17]  ³⁶ tn Or “knows how to do what is good.”

[4:17]  ³⁷ tn Grk “to him it is sin.”