1 Samuel 23:16

23:16 Then Jonathan son of Saul left and went to David at Horesh. He encouraged him ¹  through God.

Ezra 6:22

6:22 They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion ²  of the king of Assyria ³  toward them, so that he assisted ⁴  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

Nehemia 6:9

6:9 All of them were wanting ⁵  to scare us, supposing, “Their hands will grow slack from the work, and it won’t get done.”

So now, strengthen my hands! ⁶ 

Yesaya 35:3-4

35:3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,

steady the knees that shake! ⁷ 

35:4 Tell those who panic, ⁸ 

“Be strong! Do not fear!

Look, your God comes to avenge!

With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” ⁹ 

Yesaya 35:2

35:2 Let it richly bloom; ¹⁰ 

let it rejoice and shout with delight! ¹¹ 

It is given the grandeur ¹²  of Lebanon,

the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.

They will see the grandeur of the Lord,

the splendor of our God.

Kolose 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, ¹³  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ¹⁴  to fill ¹⁵  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ¹⁶  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ¹⁷  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Efesus 3:16

3:16 I pray that ¹⁸  according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person,

Efesus 6:10

Exhortations for Spiritual Warfare

6:10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power.

Filipi 4:13

4:13 I am able to do all things ¹⁹  through the one ²⁰  who strengthens me.

[23:16]  ¹ tn Heb “strengthened his hand.”

[6:22]  ² tn Heb “heart.”

[6:22]  ³ sn The expression “king of Assyria” is anachronistic, since Assyria fell in 612 b.c., long before the events of this chapter. Perhaps the expression is intended subtly to contrast earlier kings of Assyria who were hostile toward Israel with this Persian king who showed them favor.

[6:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”

[6:9]  ⁵ tn The participle has a desiderative nuance here, describing the desire of the subject and not necessarily the actual outcome. See also v. 14.

[6:9]  ⁶ tn The statement “So now, strengthen my hands” is frequently understood as an implied prayer, but is taken differently by NAB (“But instead, I now redoubled my efforts”).

[35:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “staggering knees”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “feeble knees”; NIV “knees that give way.”

[35:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.

[35:4]  ⁹ tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.

[35:2]  ¹⁰ tn The ambiguous verb form תִּפְרַח (tifrakh) is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel).

[35:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and let it rejoice, yes [with] rejoicing and shouting.” גִּילַת (gilat) may be an archaic feminine nominal form (see GKC 421 §130.b).

[35:2]  ¹² tn Or “glory” (KJV, NIV, NRSV); also a second time later in this verse.

[1:9]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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.”

[3:16]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “that.” In Greek v. 16 is a subordinate clause to vv. 14-15.

[4:13]  ¹⁹ tn The Greek word translated “all things” is in emphatic position at the beginning of the Greek sentence.

[4:13]  ²⁰ tc Although some excellent witnesses lack explicit reference to the one strengthening Paul (so א* A B D* I 33 1739 lat co Cl), the majority of witnesses (א² D² [F G] Ψ 075 1881 Ï sy) add Χριστῷ (Cristw) here (thus, “through Christ who strengthens me”). But this kind of reading is patently secondary, and is a predictable variant. Further, the shorter reading is much harder, for it leaves the agent unspecified.