Isaiah 3:11

3:11 Too bad for the wicked sinners!

For they will get exactly what they deserve. ¹ 

Ecclesiastes 8:12

8:12 Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes ²  and still live a long time, ³ 

yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people ⁴  – for they stand in fear ⁵  before him.

Romans 2:5-9

2:5 But because of your stubbornness ⁶  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ⁷  2:6 He ⁸  will reward ⁹  each one according to his works: ¹⁰  2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 2:8 but ¹¹  wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition ¹²  and do not obey the truth but follow ¹³  unrighteousness. 2:9 There will be ¹⁴  affliction and distress on everyone ¹⁵  who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek, ¹⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “for the work of his hands will be done to him.”

² tn Heb “does evil one hundred [times].”

³ tn Heb “and prolongs his [life].”

⁴ tn Heb “those who fear God.”

⁵ tn Heb “they fear.”

⁶ tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.

⁷ tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

⁸ tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

⁹ tn Or “will render,” “will recompense.” In this context Paul is setting up a hypothetical situation, not stating that salvation is by works.

¹⁰ sn A quotation from Ps 62:12; Prov 24:12; a close approximation to Matt 16:27.

¹¹ tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

¹² tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”

¹³ tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”

¹⁴ tn No verb is expressed in this verse, but the verb “to be” is implied by the Greek construction. Literally “suffering and distress on everyone…”

¹⁵ tn Grk “every soul of man.”

¹⁶ sn Paul uses the term Greek here and in v. 10 to refer to non-Jews, i.e., Gentiles.