1 Thessalonians 3:5

3:5 So ¹  when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless.

Job 39:16

39:16 She is harsh ²  with her young,

as if they were not hers;

she is unconcerned

about the uselessness of her labor.

Psalms 73:13

73:13 I concluded, ³  “Surely in vain I have kept my motives ⁴  pure

and maintained a pure lifestyle. ⁵ 

Psalms 127:1

Psalm 127 ⁶ 

A song of ascents, ⁷  by Solomon.

127:1 If the Lord does not build a house, ⁸ 

then those who build it work in vain.

If the Lord does not guard a city, ⁹ 

then the watchman stands guard in vain.

Isaiah 49:4

49:4 But I thought, ¹⁰  “I have worked in vain;

I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.” ¹¹ 

But the Lord will vindicate me;

my God will reward me. ¹² 

Isaiah 65:23

65:23 They will not work in vain,

or give birth to children that will experience disaster. ¹³ 

For the Lord will bless their children

and their descendants. ¹⁴ 

Habakkuk 2:13

2:13 Be sure of this! The Lord who commands armies has decreed:

The nations’ efforts will go up in smoke;

their exhausting work will be for nothing. ¹⁵ 

Habakkuk 2:1

2:1 I will stand at my watch post;

I will remain stationed on the city wall. ¹⁶ 

I will keep watching, so I can see what he says to me

and can know ¹⁷  how I should answer

when he counters my argument. ¹⁸ 

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹⁹  brothers and sisters ²⁰  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ²¹  from God our Father! ²² 

Colossians 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ²³  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ²⁴  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Colossians 1:1-2

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁵  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 1:2 to the saints, the faithful ²⁶  brothers and sisters ²⁷  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ²⁸  from God our Father! ²⁹ 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

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

Galatians 2:2

2:2 I went there ³¹  because of ³²  a revelation and presented ³³  to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so ³⁴  only in a private meeting with the influential people, ³⁵  to make sure that I was not running – or had not run ³⁶  – in vain.

Galatians 4:11

4:11 I fear for you that my work for you may have been in vain.

Philippians 2:16

2:16 by holding on to ³⁷  the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.

[3:5]  ¹ tn Or “for this reason.”

[39:16]  ² sn This verb, “to deal harshly; to harden; to treat cruelly,” is used for hardening the heart elsewhere (see Isa 63:17).

[73:13]  ³ tn The words “I concluded” are supplied in the translation. It is apparent that vv. 13-14 reflect the psalmist’s thoughts at an earlier time (see vv. 2-3), prior to the spiritual awakening he describes in vv. 17-28.

[73:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “heart,” viewed here as the seat of one’s thoughts and motives.

[73:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “and washed my hands in innocence.” The psalmist uses an image from cultic ritual to picture his moral lifestyle. The reference to “hands” suggests actions.

[127:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 127. In this wisdom psalm the psalmist teaches that one does not find security by one’s own efforts, for God alone gives stability and security.

[127:1]  ⁷ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[127:1]  ⁸ sn The expression build a house may have a double meaning here. It may refer on the surface level to a literal physical structure in which a family lives, but at a deeper, metaphorical level it refers to building, perpetuating, and maintaining a family line. See Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; 1 Sam 2:35; 2 Sam 7:27; 1 Kgs 11:38; 1 Chr 17:10, 25. Having a family line provided security in ancient Israel.

[127:1]  ⁹ sn The city symbolizes community security, which is the necessary framework for family security.

[49:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “said” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “I replied.”

[49:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for nothing and emptiness.” Synonyms are combined to emphasize the common idea.

[49:4]  ¹² tn Heb “But my justice is with the Lord, and my reward [or “wage”] with my God.”

[65:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they will not give birth to horror.”

[65:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for offspring blessed by the Lord they [will be], and their descendants along with them.”

[2:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Is it not, look, from the Lord of hosts that the nations work hard for fire, and the peoples are exhausted for nothing?”

[2:1]  ¹⁶ sn Habakkuk compares himself to a watchman stationed on the city wall who keeps his eyes open for approaching messengers or danger.

[2:1]  ¹⁷ tn The word “know” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “concerning my correction [or, “reproof”].”

[1:2]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ²² 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.

[1:10]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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.”

[1:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:2]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ²⁹ 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.

[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.

[2:2]  ³¹ tn Grk “I went up”; one always spoke idiomatically of going “up” to Jerusalem.

[2:2]  ³² tn Or “in accordance with.” According to BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.5.a.δ, “Oft. the norm is at the same time the reason, so that in accordance with and because of are merged…Instead of ‘in accordance w.’ κ. can mean simply because of, as a result of, on the basis of…κ. ἀποκάλυψιν Gal 2:2.”

[2:2]  ³³ tn Or “set before them.”

[2:2]  ³⁴ tn Grk “Gentiles, but only privately…to make sure.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started with “But” and the words “I did so,” an implied repetition from the previous clause, were supplied to make a complete English sentence.

[2:2]  ³⁵ tn L&N 87.42 has “important persons, influential persons, prominent persons” for οἱ δοκοῦντες and translates this phrase in Gal 2:2 as “in a private meeting with the prominent persons.” The “prominent people” referred to here are the leaders of the Jerusalem church.

[2:2]  ³⁶ tn Here the first verb (τρέχω, trecw, “was not running”) is present subjunctive, while the second (ἔδραμον, edramon, “had not run”) is aorist indicative.

[2:16]  ³⁷ tn Or “holding out, holding forth.”