Matthew 13:21

13:21 But he has no root in himself and does not endure; ¹  when ²  trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

Matthew 18:7

18:7 Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! It ³  is necessary that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the person through whom they come.

Luke 17:1-2

Sin, Forgiveness, Faith, and Service

17:1 Jesus ⁴  said to his disciples, “Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe ⁵  to the one through whom they come! 17:2 It would be better for him to have a millstone ⁶  tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea ⁷  than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. ⁸ 

Romans 9:32-33

9:32 Why not? Because they pursued ⁹  it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. ¹⁰  They stumbled over the stumbling stone, ¹¹  9:33 just as it is written,

“Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble

and a rock that will make them fall, ¹² 

yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ¹³ 

Philippians 1:10

1:10 so that you can decide what is best, and thus be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ,

¹ tn Grk “is temporary.”

² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

³ tn Grk “For it.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

⁴ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁵ sn See Luke 6:24-26.

⁶ tn This term refers to the heavy upper stone of a grinding mill (L&N 7.70; BDAG 660 s.v. μυλικός).

⁷ tn Grk “if a millstone were tied…and he were thrown.” The conditional construction in Greek has been translated by English infinitives: “to have… and be thrown.”

⁸ tn Or “to stumble.” This verb, σκανδαλίσῃ (skandalish), has the same root as the noun σκάνδαλον (skandalon) in 17:1, translated “stumbling blocks”; this wordplay is difficult to reproduce in English. It is possible that the primary cause of offense here would be leading disciples (“little ones”) astray in a similar fashion.

⁹ tn Grk “Why? Because not by faith but as though by works.” The verb (“they pursued [it]”) is to be supplied from the preceding verse for the sake of English style; yet a certain literary power is seen in Paul’s laconic style.

¹⁰ tc Most mss, especially the later ones (א² D Ψ 33 Ï sy), read νόμου (nomou, “of the law”) here, echoing Paul’s usage in Rom 3:20, 28 and elsewhere. The qualifying phrase is lacking in א* A B F G 6 629 630 1739 1881 pc lat co. The longer reading thus is weaker externally and internally, being motivated apparently by a need to clarify.

¹¹ tn Grk “the stone of stumbling.”

¹² tn Grk “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”

¹³ sn A quotation from Isa 28:16; 8:14.