Deuteronomy 4:26

4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you ¹  today that you will surely and swiftly be removed ²  from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be ³  annihilated.

Deuteronomy 31:16-17

31:16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, ⁴  and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they ⁵  are going. They ⁶  will reject ⁷  me and break my covenant that I have made with them. ⁸  31:17 At that time ⁹  my anger will erupt against them ¹⁰  and I will abandon them and hide my face from them until they are devoured. Many disasters and distresses will overcome ¹¹  them ¹²  so that they ¹³  will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters ¹⁴  overcome us ¹⁵  because our ¹⁶  God is not among us ¹⁷ ?’

Deuteronomy 32:24-25

32:24 They will be starved by famine,

eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; ¹⁸ 

I will send the teeth of wild animals against them,

along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust.

32:25 The sword will make people childless outside,

and terror will do so inside;

they will destroy ¹⁹  both the young man and the virgin,

the infant and the gray-haired man.

Joshua 23:15-16

23:15 But in the same way every faithful promise the Lord your God made to you has been realized, ²⁰  it is just as certain, if you disobey, that the Lord will bring on you every judgment ²¹  until he destroys you from this good land which the Lord your God gave you. 23:16 If you violate the covenantal laws of the Lord your God which he commanded you to keep, ²²  and follow, worship, and bow down to other gods, ²³  the Lord will be very angry with you and you will disappear ²⁴  quickly from the good land which he gave to you.”

Zechariah 1:6

1:6 But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? ²⁵  Then they paid attention ²⁶  and confessed, ‘The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.’”

Matthew 24:35

24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ²⁷ 

¹ sn I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you. This stock formula introduces what is known form-critically as a רִיב (riv) or controversy pattern. It is commonly used in the ancient Near Eastern world in legal contexts and in the OT as a forensic or judicial device to draw attention to Israel’s violation of the Lord’s covenant with them (see Deut 30:19; Isa 1:2; 3:13; Jer 2:9). Since court proceedings required the testimony of witnesses, the Lord here summons heaven and earth (that is, all creation) to testify to his faithfulness, Israel’s disobedience, and the threat of judgment.

² tn Or “be destroyed”; KJV “utterly perish”; NLT “will quickly disappear”; CEV “you won’t have long to live.”

³ tn Or “be completely” (so NCV, TEV). It is not certain here if the infinitive absolute indicates the certainty of the following action (cf. NIV) or its degree.

⁴ tn Heb “lie down with your fathers” (so NASB); NRSV “ancestors.”

⁵ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style. The third person singular also occurs in the Hebrew text twice more in this verse, three times in v. 17, once in v. 18, five times in v. 20, and four times in v. 21. Each time it is translated as third person plural for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

⁷ tn Or “abandon” (TEV, NLT).

⁸ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

⁷ tn Heb “on that day.” This same expression also appears later in the verse and in v. 18.

⁸ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

⁹ tn Heb “find,” “encounter.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

¹¹ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

¹² tn Heb “evils.”

¹³ tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.

¹⁴ tn Heb “my.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term קֶטֶב (qetev) is probably metaphorical here for the sting of a disease (HALOT 1091-92 s.v.).

¹³ tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.

¹⁶ tn Heb “and it will be as every good word which the Lord your God spoke to you has come to pass.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “so the Lord will bring every injurious [or “evil”] word [or “thing”] upon you.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “when you violate the covenant of the Lord your God which he commanded you.”

²⁰ tn Heb “and you walk and serve other gods and bow down to them.”

²¹ tn Or “perish.”

²² tc BHS suggests אֶתְכֶם (’etkhem, “you”) for the MT אֲבֹתֵיכֶם (’avotekhem, “your fathers”) to harmonize with v. 4. In v. 4 the ancestors would not turn but in v. 6 they appear to have done so. The subject in v. 6, however, is to be construed as Zechariah’s own listeners.

²³ tn Heb “they turned” (so ASV). Many English versions have “they repented” here; cf. CEV “they turned back to me.”

²⁵ sn The words that Jesus predicts here will never pass away. They are more stable and lasting than creation itself. For this kind of image, see Isa 40:8; 55:10-11.