6:8a

because you know that the Lord will reward each one: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because you know is literally “knowing.” Some English translations translate this “remember” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004), New Century Version). But it does not mean that Paul’s readers had forgotten. Paul was telling them to “keep this in mind, always remember and think about this.”

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Be aware of the fact that the Lord will reward each one
-or-
You can be sure that the Lord will reward each one

reward: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as reward means “cause to experience in return,” “cause to experience in proportion to an action,” or “be repaid for an action.” So in this verse the Lord is giving back a good reward.

Here is another way to translate this word:

the Lord will give good back in return

6:8b

for whatever good he does: The phrase whatever good refers to good works or good things or good actions/behaviors he does.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

good work (Good News Translation)
-or-
good things (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
good behavior

whether he is slave or free: The words slave and free are opposites. Paul means here that it doesn’t matter if a person is a slave or if a person is not a slave (free). Make sure your terms for slave and free have these opposite meanings.

Other languages may not have a precise word for the opposite of slave. If this is the case in your language, you can translate the phrase whether he is slave or free like this:

whether he is a slave or not ⌊a slave⌋
-or-
Whether he has an owner/master or not

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