Jeremiah 5:31

5:31 The prophets prophesy lies.

The priests exercise power by their own authority. ¹ 

And my people love to have it this way.

But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes! ² 

Jeremiah 13:21

13:21 What will you say ³  when the Lord ⁴  appoints as rulers over you those allies

that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such? ⁵ 

Then anguish and agony will grip you

like that of a woman giving birth to a baby. ⁶ 

Isaiah 10:3

10:3 What will you do on judgment day, ⁷ 

when destruction arrives from a distant place?

To whom will you run for help?

Where will you leave your wealth?

Isaiah 20:6

20:6 At that time ⁸  those who live on this coast ⁹  will say, ‘Look what has happened to our source of hope to whom we fled for help, expecting to be rescued from the king of Assyria! How can we escape now?’”

Isaiah 33:14

33:14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;

panic ¹⁰  grips the godless. ¹¹ 

They say, ¹²  ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?

Who among us can coexist with unquenchable ¹³  fire?’

Hebrews 2:3

2:3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him,

¹ tn Heb “they shall rule at their hands.” Since the word “hand” can be used figuratively for authority or mean “side” and the pronoun “them” can refer to the priests themselves or the prophets, the following translations have also been suggested: “the priests rule under their [the prophets’] directions,” or “the priests rule in league with them [the prophets].” From the rest of the book it would appear that the prophets did not exercise authority over the priests nor did they exercise the same authority over the people that the priests did. Hence it probably mean “by their own hand/power/authority.”

² tn Heb “But what will you do at its end?” The rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “Nothing!”

³ tn Or perhaps more rhetorically equivalent, “Will you not be surprised?”

⁴ tn The words “The Lord” are not in the text. Some commentators make the enemy the subject, but they are spoken of as “them.”

⁵ tn Or “to be rulers.” The translation of these two lines is somewhat uncertain. The sentence structure of these two lines raises problems in translation. The Hebrew text reads: “What will you do when he appoints over you [or punishes you (see BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.B.2 for the former, Qal.A.3 for the latter)] and you, yourself, taught them over you friends [or chiefs (see BDB 48 s.v. I אַלּוּף 2 and Ps 55:13 for the former and BDB 49 s.v. II אַלּוּף and Exod 15:15 for the latter)] for a head.” The translation assumes that the clause “and you, yourself, taught them [= made them accustomed, i.e., “prepared”] [to be] over you” is parenthetical coming between the verb “appoint” and its object and object modifier (i.e., “appointed over you allies for rulers”). A quick check of other English versions will show how varied the translation of these lines has been. Most English versions seem to ignore the second “over you” after “you taught them.” Some rearrange the text to get what they think is a sensible meaning. For a fairly thorough treatment see W. McKane, Jeremiah (ICC), 1:308-10.

⁶ tn Heb “Will not pain [here = mental anguish] take hold of you like a woman giving birth.” The question is rhetorical expecting a positive answer.

⁷ tn Heb “the day of visitation” (so KJV, ASV), that is, the day when God arrives to execute justice on the oppressors.

⁸ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).

⁹ sn This probably refers to the coastal region of Philistia (cf. TEV).

¹⁰ tn Or “trembling” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “shake with fear.”

¹¹ tn Or “the defiled”; TEV “The sinful people of Zion”; NLT “The sinners in Jerusalem.”

¹² tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹³ tn Or “perpetual”; or “everlasting” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).