Isaiah 65:2

65:2 I spread out my hands all day long

to my rebellious people,

who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable,

and who did what they desired. ¹ 

Ezekiel 3:19

3:19 But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life. ² 

Matthew 17:17

17:17 Jesus answered, ³  “You ⁴  unbelieving ⁵  and perverse generation! How much longer ⁶  must I be with you? How much longer must I endure ⁷  you? ⁸  Bring him here to me.”

Matthew 23:37

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ⁹  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ¹⁰  How often I have longed ¹¹  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ¹²  you would have none of it! ¹³ 

John 1:11

1:11 He came to what was his own, ¹⁴  but ¹⁵  his own people ¹⁶  did not receive him. ¹⁷ 

Romans 10:21

10:21 But about Israel he says, “All day long I held out my hands to this disobedient and stubborn people!” ¹⁸ 

Galatians 4:11

4:11 I fear for you that my work for you may have been in vain.

¹ tn Heb “who walked [in] the way that is not good, after their thoughts.”

² tn Verses 17-19 are repeated in Ezek 33:7-9.

³ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

⁴ tn Grk “O.” The marker of direct address, ὦ (w), is functionally equivalent to a vocative and is represented in the translation by “you.”

⁵ tn Or “faithless.”

⁶ tn Grk “how long.”

⁷ tn Or “put up with.” See Num 11:12; Isa 46:4.

⁸ sn The pronouns you…you are plural, indicating that Jesus is speaking to a group rather than an individual.

⁹ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

¹⁰ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

¹¹ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

¹³ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “to his own things.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “and,” but in context this is an adversative use of καί (kai) and is thus translated “but.”

¹⁶ tn “People” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

¹⁷ sn His own people did not receive him. There is a subtle irony here: When the λόγος (logos) came into the world, he came to his own (τὰ ἴδια, ta idia, literally “his own things”) and his own people (οἱ ἴδιοι, Joi idioi), who should have known and received him, but they did not. This time John does not say that “his own” did not know him, but that they did not receive him (παρέλαβον, parelabon). The idea is one not of mere recognition, but of acceptance and welcome.

¹⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 65:2.