2 Tawarikh 31:20-21

31:20 This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what the Lord his God considered good and right and faithful. 31:21 He wholeheartedly and successfully reinstituted service in God’s temple and obedience to the law, in order to follow his God. ¹ 

Amsal 3:13-18

Blessings of Obtaining Wisdom

3:13 Blessed ²  is the one ³  who finds ⁴  wisdom,

and the one who obtains ⁵  understanding.

3:14 For her ⁶  benefit ⁷  is more profitable ⁸  than silver,

and her ⁹  gain ¹⁰  is better ¹¹  than gold.

3:15 She is more precious than rubies,

and none of the things ¹²  you desire ¹³  can compare ¹⁴  with her. ¹⁵ 

3:16 Long life ¹⁶  is in her right hand;

in her left hand are riches and honor.

3:17 Her ways are very pleasant, ¹⁷ 

and all her paths are peaceful.

3:18 She is like ¹⁸  a tree of life ¹⁹  to those who obtain her, ²⁰ 

and everyone who grasps hold of her will be blessed. ²¹ 

Yesaya 3:10-11

3:10 Tell the innocent ²²  it will go well with them, ²³ 

for they will be rewarded for what they have done. ²⁴ 

3:11 Too bad for the wicked sinners!

For they will get exactly what they deserve. ²⁵ 

Yohanes 16:24

16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive it, ²⁶  so that your joy may be complete.

Roma 14:17-18

14:17 For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 14:18 For the one who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by people. ²⁷ 

Roma 14:1

Exhortation to Mutual Forbearance

14:1 Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions. ²⁸ 

Kolose 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁹  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Kolose 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³⁰  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Galatia 5:22-23

5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit ³¹  is love, ³²  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ³³  5:23 gentleness, and ³⁴  self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Kolose 1:9-12

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ³⁵  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ³⁶  to fill ³⁷  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ³⁸  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ³⁹  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ⁴⁰  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully 1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ⁴¹  in the saints’ ⁴²  inheritance in the light.

Kolose 3:16-17

3:16 Let the word of Christ ⁴³  dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace ⁴⁴  in your hearts to God. 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Yakobus 3:17

3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, ⁴⁵  full of mercy and good fruit, ⁴⁶  impartial, and not hypocritical. ⁴⁷ 

[31:21]  ¹ tn Heb “and in all the work which he began with regard to the service of the house of God and with respect to the law and with respect to the commandment, to seek his God; with all his heart he acted and he succeeded.”

[3:13]  ² tn Although the word אַשְׁרֵי (’ashre, “blessed”) is frequently translated “happy” here (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT), such a translation can be somewhat misleading because the word means more than that – “happiness” depends on one’s circumstances. This word reflects that inner joy and heavenly bliss which comes to the person who is pleasing to God, whose way is right before God.

[3:13]  ³ tn Heb “the man” (also again in the following line).

[3:13]  ⁴ tn The perfect tense verb may be classified as a characteristic or gnomic perfect, as the parallel imperfect tense verb suggests (see note on v. 13b).

[3:13]  ⁵ tn The imperfect tense verb may be classified as a progressive or habitual imperfect.

[3:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “her profit.” The 3rd person feminine singular suffix on the noun is probably a genitive of source: “from her.”

[3:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “profit.” The noun סַחַר (sakhar, “trading profit”) often refers to the financial profit of traveling merchants (Isa 23:3, 18; 45:14; HALOT 750 s.v.). The related participle describes a traveling “trader, dealer, wholesaler, merchant” (e.g., Gen 37:28; Prov 31:14; Isa 23:2; Ezek 27:36; HALOT 750 s.v. סחר qal.2). Here the noun is used figuratively to describe the moral benefit of wisdom.

[3:14]  ⁸ tn The noun סַחַר (“profit”) is repeated in this line for emphasis. The two usages draw upon slightly different nuances, creating a polysemantic wordplay. The moral “benefit” of wisdom is more “profitable” than silver.

[3:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “her yield.” The 3rd person feminine singular suffix on the noun is probably a genitive of source: “from her.”

[3:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “yield.” The noun תְּבוּאָה (tÿvu’ah, “product; yield”) is normally used of crops and harvests (BDB 100 s.v. 1). Here it is figurative for the moral benefit of wisdom (BDB 100 s.v. 2.b).

[3:14]  ¹¹ tn The phrase “is better” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[3:15]  ¹² tn Heb “all of your desires cannot compare with her.”

[3:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “your desires.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix on the noun probably functions as subjective genitive.

[3:15]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect tense verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish be like; to resemble”) has a potential nuance here: “can be compared with.”

[3:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “All of your desires do not compare with her.”

[3:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “length of days” (so KJV, ASV).

[3:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “her ways are ways of pleasantness” (so KJV, NRSV). The present translation contracts this expression for the sake of smoothness. The plural of דֶרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) is repeated for emphasis. The noun נֹעַם (no’am, “pleasantness”) functions as an attributive genitive: “pleasant ways.”

[3:18]  ¹⁸ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[3:18]  ¹⁹ sn The metaphor compares wisdom to the symbol of vitality and fullness of life. This might be an allusion to Gen 3:22, suggesting that what was lost as a result of the Fall may be recovered through wisdom: long and beneficial life (R. Marcus, “The Tree of Life in Proverbs,” JBL 62 [1943]: 117-20).

[3:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “lay hold of her.”

[3:18]  ²¹ tn The singular participle מְאֻשָּׁר (mÿ’ushar, literally, “he will be blessed”) functions as a distributive singular for a plural subject (GKC 464 §145.l): “each and everyone will be blessed.” Not recognizing this point of syntax, the BHS editors unnecessarily suggest emending this singular form to the plural.

[3:10]  ²² tn Or “the righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, TEV); NLT “those who are godly.”

[3:10]  ²³ tn Heb “that it is good.”

[3:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “for the fruit of their deeds they will eat.”

[3:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “for the work of his hands will be done to him.”

[16:24]  ²⁶ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[14:18]  ²⁷ tn Grk “by men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is generic here (“people”) since the contrast in context is between God and humanity.

[14:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “over opinions.” The qualifier “differing” has been supplied to clarify the meaning.

[1:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[5:22]  ³¹ tn That is, the fruit the Spirit produces.

[5:22]  ³² sn Another way to punctuate this is “love” followed by a colon (love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). It is thus possible to read the eight characteristics following “love” as defining love.

[5:22]  ³³ tn Or “reliability”; see BDAG 818 s.v. πίστις 1.a.

[5:23]  ³⁴ tn “And” is supplied here as a matter of English style, which normally inserts “and” between the last two elements of a list or series.

[1:9]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ 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.”

[1:11]  ⁴⁰ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.

[1:12]  ⁴¹ tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.

[1:12]  ⁴² tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”

[3:16]  ⁴³ tc Since “the word of Christ” occurs nowhere else in the NT, two predictable variants arose: “word of God” and “word of the Lord.” Even though some of the witnesses for these variants are impressive (κυρίου [kuriou, “of the Lord”] in א* I 1175 pc bo; θεοῦ [qeou, “of God”] in A C* 33 104 323 945 al), the reading Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “of Christ”) is read by an excellent cross-section of witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א² B C² D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï lat sa). On both internal and external grounds, Χριστοῦ is strongly preferred.

[3:16]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “with grace”; “all” is supplied as it is implicitly related to all the previous instructions in the verse.

[3:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “willing to yield,” “open to persuasion.”

[3:17]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit.”

[3:17]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “sincere.”