Ayub 5:19

5:19 He will deliver you ¹  from six calamities;

yes, in seven ²  no evil will touch you.

Mazmur 34:19

34:19 The godly ³  face many dangers, ⁴ 

but the Lord saves ⁵  them ⁶  from each one of them.

Mazmur 37:24

37:24 Even if ⁷  he trips, he will not fall headlong, ⁸ 

for the Lord holds ⁹  his hand.

Mikha 7:8-10

Jerusalem Will Be Vindicated

7:8 My enemies, ¹⁰  do not gloat ¹¹  over me!

Though I have fallen, I will get up.

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ¹² 

7:9 I must endure ¹³  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ¹⁴  he will defend my cause, ¹⁵ 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ¹⁶  his deliverance. ¹⁷ 

7:10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame.

They say ¹⁸  to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”

I will gloat over them. ¹⁹ 

Then they will be trampled down ²⁰ 

like mud in the streets.

Mikha 7:2

7:2 Faithful men have disappeared ²¹  from the land;

there are no godly men left. ²² 

They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; ²³ 

they hunt their own brother with a net. ²⁴ 

Kolose 1:8-10

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ²⁵  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ²⁶  to fill ²⁷  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ²⁸  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ²⁹  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Kolose 4:8-12

4:8 I sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are doing ³⁰  and that he may encourage your hearts. 4:9 I sent him ³¹  with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. ³²  They will tell ³³  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, ³⁴  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 ³⁵  of Christ, ³⁶  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ³⁷  in all the will of God.

Kolose 1:23-27

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ³⁸  without shifting ³⁹  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.

1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. 1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship ⁴⁰  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete ⁴¹  the word of God, 1:26 that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. 1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ⁴²  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

[5:19]  ¹ tn The verb is the Hiphil imperfect of נָצַל (natsal, “deliver”). These verbs might have been treated as habitual imperfects if it were not for the use of the numerical images – “six calamities…in seven.” So the nuance is specific future instead.

[5:19]  ² tn The use of a numerical ladder as we have here – “six // seven” is frequent in wisdom literature to show completeness. See Prov 6:16; Amos 1:3, Mic 5:5. A number that seems to be sufficient for the point is increased by one, as if to say there is always one more. By using this Eliphaz simply means “in all troubles” (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 56).

[34:19]  ³ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular form; the representative or typical godly person is envisioned.

[34:19]  ⁴ tn Or “trials.”

[34:19]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the godly.

[34:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “him,” agreeing with the singular form in the preceding line.

[37:24]  ⁷ tn Other translation options for כִּי in this context are “when” (so NASB) or “though” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[37:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “be hurled down.”

[37:24]  ⁹ tn The active participle indicates this is characteristically true. See v. 17.

[7:8]  ¹⁰ tn The singular form is understood as collective.

[7:8]  ¹¹ tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”

[7:8]  ¹² sn Darkness represents judgment; light (also in v. 9) symbolizes deliverance. The Lord is the source of the latter.

[7:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

[7:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “until.”

[7:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

[7:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “see.”

[7:9]  ¹⁷ tn Or “justice, vindication.”

[7:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “who say.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “My eyes will look on them.”

[7:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a trampled-down place.”

[7:2]  ²¹ tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”

[7:2]  ²² tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”

[7:2]  ²³ tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”

[7:2]  ²⁴ sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.

[1:9]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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.”

[4:8]  ³⁰ tn Grk “the things concerning us.”

[4:9]  ³¹ 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]  ³² tn Grk “is of you.”

[4:9]  ³³ tn Grk “will make known to you.” This has been simplified in the translation to “will tell.”

[4:11]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ tn Or “filled.”

[1:23]  ³⁸ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

[1:23]  ³⁹ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.

[1:25]  ⁴⁰ tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

[1:25]  ⁴¹ tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.

[1:27]  ⁴² tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”