Isaiah 51:6

51:6 Look up at the sky!

Look at the earth below!

For the sky will dissipate ¹  like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like clothes;

its residents will die like gnats.

But the deliverance I give ²  is permanent;

the vindication I provide ³  will not disappear. ⁴ 

Matthew 24:35

24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ⁵ 

Matthew 24:1

The Destruction of the Temple

24:1 Now ⁶  as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings. ⁷ 

Colossians 1:8

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁸  brothers and sisters ⁹  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹⁰  from God our Father! ¹¹ 

Colossians 1:17

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ¹²  in him.

¹ tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.

² tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”

³ tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”

⁴ tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

⁷ sn The Jerusalem temple was widely admired around the world. See Josephus, Ant. 15.11 [15.380-425]; J. W. 5.5 [5.184-227] and Tacitus, History 5.8, who called it “immensely opulent.” Josephus compared it to a beautiful snowcapped mountain.

⁸ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

⁹ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

¹⁰ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

¹¹ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

¹² tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.