Isaiah 5:15

5:15 Men will be humiliated,

they will be brought low;

the proud will be brought low. ¹ 

Psalms 49:2

49:2 Pay attention, all you people, ² 

both rich and poor!

Jeremiah 5:4-5

5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. ³ 

They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. ⁴ 

They do not know what their God requires of them. ⁵ 

5:5 I will go to the leaders ⁶ 

and speak with them.

Surely they know what the Lord demands. ⁷ 

Surely they know what their God requires of them.” ⁸ 

Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority

and refuse to submit to him. ⁹ 

Romans 3:23

3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Revelation 6:15-17

6:15 Then ¹⁰  the kings of the earth, the ¹¹  very important people, the generals, ¹²  the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave ¹³  and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 6:16 They ¹⁴  said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁵  6:17 because the great day of their ¹⁶  wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” ¹⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “men are brought down, men are brought low, the eyes of pride are brought low.”

² tn Heb “even the sons of mankind, even the sons of man.” Because of the parallel line, where “rich and poor” are mentioned, some treat these expressions as polar opposites, with בְּנֵי אָדָם (bÿney ’adam) referring to the lower classes and בְּנֵי אִישׁ (bÿney ’ish) to higher classes (cf. NIV, NRSV). But usage does not support such a view. The rare phrase בְּנֵי אִישׁ (“sons of man”) appears to refer to human beings in general in its other uses (see Pss 4:2; 62:9; Lam 3:33). It is better to understand “even the sons of mankind” and “even the sons of man” as synonymous expressions (cf. NEB “all mankind, every living man”). The repetition emphasizes the need for all people to pay attention, for the psalmist’s message is relevant to everyone.

³ tn Heb “Surely they are poor.” The translation is intended to make clear the explicit contrasts and qualifications drawn in this verse and the next.

⁴ tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

⁵ tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

⁶ tn Or “people in power”; Heb “the great ones.”

⁷ tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

⁸ tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

⁹ tn Heb “have broken the yoke and torn off the yoke ropes.” Compare Jer 2:20 and the note there.

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated; nor is it translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

¹² tn Grk “chiliarchs.” A chiliarch was normally a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).

¹³ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

¹⁴ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁵ tn It is difficult to say where this quotation ends. The translation ends it after “withstand it” at the end of v. 17, but it is possible that it should end here, after “Lamb” at the end of v. 16. If it ends after “Lamb,” v. 17 is a parenthetical explanation by the author.

¹⁶ tc Most mss (A Ï bo) change the pronoun “their” to “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou) in order to bring the text in line with the mention of the one seated on the throne in the immediately preceding verse, and to remove the ambiguity about whose wrath is in view here. The reading αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”) is well supported by א C 1611 1854 2053 2329 2344 pc latt sy. On both internal and external grounds, it should be regarded as original.

¹⁷ tn The translation “to withstand (it)” for ἵστημι (Jisthmi) is based on the imagery of holding one’s ground in a military campaign or an attack (BDAG 482 s.v. B.4).