Yesaya 1:15

1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way; ¹ 

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen,

because your hands are covered with blood. ² 

Yesaya 58:2

58:2 They seek me day after day;

they want to know my requirements, ³ 

like a nation that does what is right

and does not reject the law of their God.

They ask me for just decrees;

they want to be near God.

Yeremia 2:28

2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them save you when you are in trouble.

The sad fact is that ⁴  you have as many gods

as you have towns, Judah.

Yeremia 2:35

2:35 you say, ‘I have not done anything wrong,

so the Lord cannot really be angry with me any more.’

But, watch out! ⁵  I will bring down judgment on you

because you say, ‘I have not committed any sin.’

Yehezkiel 33:31

33:31 They come to you in crowds, ⁶  and they sit in front of you as ⁷  my people. They hear your words, but do not obey ⁸  them. For they talk lustfully, ⁹  and their heart is set on ¹⁰  their own advantage. ¹¹ 

Mikha 3:11

3:11 Her ¹²  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ¹³ 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ¹⁴  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ¹⁵ 

Disaster will not overtake ¹⁶  us!”

Mikha 3:1

God Will Judge Judah’s Sinful Leaders

3:1 I said,

“Listen, you leaders ¹⁷  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ¹⁸  of Israel!

You ought to know what is just, ¹⁹ 

Kolose 4:7-8

Personal Greetings and Instructions

4:7 Tychicus, a dear brother, faithful minister, and fellow slave ²⁰  in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. ²¹  4:8 I sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are doing ²²  and that he may encourage your hearts.

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, ²³  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ²⁴  to fill ²⁵  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ²⁶  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ²⁷  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Kolose 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁸  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Titus 1:12-16

1:12 A certain one of them, in fact, one of their own prophets, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ²⁹  1:13 Such testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply that they may be healthy in the faith 1:14 and not pay attention to Jewish myths ³⁰  and commands of people who reject the truth. 1:15 All is pure to those who are pure. But to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 1:16 They profess to know God but with their deeds they deny him, since they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

Wahyu 3:17

3:17 Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, ³¹  and need nothing,” but ³²  do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, ³³  poor, blind, and naked,

[1:15]  ¹ tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

[1:15]  ² sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.

[58:2]  ³ tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”

[2:28]  ⁴ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki, “for, indeed”) contextually.

[2:35]  ⁵ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle often translated “behold” (הִנֵּה, hinneh) in a meaningful way in this context. See further the translator’s note on the word “really” in 1:6.

[33:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “as people come.” Apparently this is an idiom indicating that they come in crowds. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:264.

[33:31]  ⁷ tn The word “as” is supplied in the translation.

[33:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “do.”

[33:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “They do lust with their mouths.”

[33:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “goes after.”

[33:31]  ¹¹ tn The present translation understands the term often used for “unjust gain” in a wider sense, following M. Greenberg, who also notes that the LXX uses a term which can describe either sexual or ritual pollution. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:687.

[3:11]  ¹² sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

[3:11]  ¹⁶ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

[3:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “heads.”

[3:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “house.”

[3:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”

[4:7]  ²⁰ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:7]  ²¹ tn Grk “all things according to me.”

[4:8]  ²² tn Grk “the things concerning us.”

[1:9]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:12]  ²⁹ sn A saying attributed to the poet Epimenides of Crete (6th century b.c.).

[1:14]  ³⁰ sn Jewish myths were legendary tales characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus and Crete. See parallels in 1 Tim 1:4; 4:7; and 2 Tim 4:4.

[3:17]  ³¹ tn Grk “and have become rich.” The semantic domains of the two terms for wealth here, πλούσιος (plousios, adjective) and πλουτέω (ploutew, verb) overlap considerably, but are given slightly different English translations for stylistic reasons.

[3:17]  ³² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[3:17]  ³³ tn All the terms in this series are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.