Judges 9:48

9:48 He and all his men ¹  went up on Mount Zalmon. He ²  took an ax ³  in his hand and cut off a tree branch. He put it ⁴  on his shoulder and said to his men, “Quickly, do what you have just seen me do!” ⁵ 

Matthew 16:24

16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ⁶  he must deny ⁷  himself, take up his cross, ⁸  and follow me.

Matthew 16:1

The Demand for a Sign

16:1 Now when the Pharisees ⁹  and Sadducees ¹⁰  came to test Jesus, ¹¹  they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ¹² 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹³  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

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.

Hebrews 13:1

Final Exhortations

13:1 Brotherly love must continue.

Hebrews 5:3

5:3 and for this reason he is obligated to make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people.

¹ tn Heb “his people.”

² tn Heb “Abimelech.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun (“he”) due to considerations of English style.

³ tn The Hebrew text has the plural here.

⁴ tn Heb “he lifted it and put [it].”

⁵ tn Heb “What you have seen me do, quickly do like me.”

⁶ tn Grk “to come after me.”

⁷ tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.

⁸ sn To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.

⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

¹⁰ sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.

¹¹ tn The object of the participle πειράζοντες (peirazontes) is not given in the Greek text but has been supplied here for clarity.

¹² sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.

¹³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.