Hebrews 12:1

The Lord’s Discipline

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, ¹  we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,

Hebrews 13:7

13:7 Remember your leaders, who spoke God’s message to you; reflect on the outcome of their lives and imitate their faith.

The Song of Songs 1:8

The Lover to His Beloved:

1:8 If you do not know, O most beautiful of women,

simply follow the tracks of my flock,

and pasture your little lambs

beside the tents of the shepherds.

Jeremiah 6:16

6:16 The Lord said to his people: ² 

“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. ³ 

Ask where the old, reliable paths ⁴  are.

Ask where the path is that leads to blessing ⁵  and follow it.

If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”

But they said, “We will not follow it!”

Romans 4:12

4:12 And he is also the father of the circumcised, ⁶  who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised. ⁷ 

James 5:10-11

5:10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, ⁸  take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name. 5:11 Think of how we regard ⁹  as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and you have seen the Lord’s purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. ¹⁰ 

James 5:1

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ¹¹  over the miseries that are coming on you.

James 3:5-6

3:5 So too the tongue is a small part of the body, ¹²  yet it has great pretensions. ¹³  Think ¹⁴  how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze. 3:6 And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents ¹⁵  the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It ¹⁶  pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence – and is set on fire by hell. ¹⁷ 

¹ tn Grk “having such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.”

² tn The words, “to his people” are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

³ tn Heb “Stand at the crossroads and look.”

⁴ tn Heb “the ancient path,” i.e., the path the Lord set out in ancient times (cf. Deut 32:7).

⁵ tn Heb “the way of/to the good.”

⁶ tn Grk “the father of circumcision.”

⁷ tn Grk “the ‘in-uncircumcision faith’ of our father Abraham.”

⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

⁹ tn Grk “Behold! We regard…”

¹⁰ sn An allusion to Exod 34:6; Neh 9:17; Ps 86:15; 102:13; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2.

¹¹ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

¹² tn Grk “a small member.”

¹³ tn Grk “boasts of great things.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “Behold.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “makes itself,” “is made.”

¹⁶ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

¹⁷ sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).