Ezekiel 38:21

38:21 I will call for a sword to attack ¹  Gog ²  on all my mountains, declares the sovereign Lord; every man’s sword will be against his brother.

Micah 7:4-6

7:4 The best of them is like a thorn;

the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. ³ 

The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –

your appointed time of punishment – is on the way, ⁴ 

and then you will experience confusion. ⁵ 

7:5 Do not rely on a friend;

do not trust a companion!

Don’t even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms! ⁶ 

7:6 For a son thinks his father is a fool,

a daughter challenges ⁷  her mother,

and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law;

a man’s enemies are his own servants. ⁸ 

Matthew 10:21

10:21 “Brother ⁹  will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against ¹⁰  parents and have them put to death.

Matthew 24:10

24:10 Then many will be led into sin, ¹¹  and they will betray one another and hate one another.

Luke 12:52-53

12:52 For from now on ¹²  there will be five in one household divided, three against two and two against three. 12:53 They will be divided, ¹³  father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Luke 21:16

21:16 You will be betrayed even by parents, ¹⁴  brothers, relatives, ¹⁵  and friends, and they will have some of you put to death.

¹ tn Heb “against.”

² tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gog, cf. v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “[the] godly from a row of thorn bushes.” The preposition מִן (min) is comparative and the comparative element (perhaps “sharper” is the idea) is omitted. See BDB 582 s.v. 6 and GKC 431 §133.e.

⁴ tn Heb “the day of your watchmen, your appointed [time], is coming.” The present translation takes “watchmen” to refer to actual sentries. However, the “watchmen” could refer figuratively to the prophets who had warned Judah of approaching judgment. In this case one could translate, “The day your prophets warned about – your appointed time of punishment – is on the way.”

⁵ tn Heb “and now will be their confusion.”

⁶ tn Heb “from the one who lies in your arms, guard the doors of your mouth.”

⁷ tn Heb “rises up against.”

⁸ tn Heb “the enemies of a man are the men of his house.”

⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁰ tn Or “will rebel against.”

¹¹ tn Or “many will fall away.” This could also refer to apostasy.

¹² sn From now on is a popular phrase in Luke: 1:48; 5:10; 22:18, 69; see Mic 7:6.

¹³ tn There is dispute whether this phrase belongs to the end of v. 52 or begins v. 53. Given the shift of object, a connection to v. 53 is slightly preferred.

¹⁴ sn To confess Christ might well mean rejection by one’s own family, even by parents.

¹⁵ tn Grk “and brothers and relatives,” but καί (kai) has not been translated twice here since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.