Jeremiah 31:28

31:28 In the past I saw to it that they were uprooted and torn down, that they were destroyed and demolished. But now I will see to it that they are built up and firmly planted. ¹  I, the Lord, affirm it!” ² 

Joshua 23:14-15

23:14 “Look, today I am about to die. ³  You know with all your heart and being ⁴  that not even one of all the faithful promises the Lord your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized – not one promise is unfulfilled! ⁵  23:15 But in the same way every faithful promise the Lord your God made to you has been realized, ⁶  it is just as certain, if you disobey, that the Lord will bring on you every judgment ⁷  until he destroys you from this good land which the Lord your God gave you.

Zechariah 8:14-15

8:14 “For the Lord who rules over all says, ‘As I had planned to hurt ⁸  you when your fathers made me angry,’ says the Lord who rules over all, ‘and I was not sorry, 8:15 so, to the contrary, I have planned in these days to do good to Jerusalem and Judah – do not fear!

Matthew 24:35

24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ⁹ 

¹ tn Heb “Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and demolish, so I will watch over them to build and to plant.” The words here repeat those of 1:10 and 1:12.

² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

³ tn Heb “go the way of all the earth.”

⁴ tn Or “soul.”

⁵ tn Heb “one word from all these words which the Lord your God spoke to you has not fallen, the whole has come to pass for you, one word from it has not fallen.”

⁶ tn Heb “and it will be as every good word which the Lord your God spoke to you has come to pass.”

⁷ tn Heb “so the Lord will bring every injurious [or “evil”] word [or “thing”] upon you.”

⁸ tn The verb זָמַם (zamam) usually means “to plot to do evil,” but with a divine subject (as here), and in light of v. 15 where it means to plan good, the meaning here has to be the implementation of discipline (cf. NCV, CEV “punish”). God may bring hurt but its purpose is redemptive and/or pedagogical.

⁹ 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.