10:5 The one who gathers crops 1 in the summer is a wise 2 son,
but the one who sleeps 3 during the harvest
is a son who brings shame to himself. 4
3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 17
“Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! 18
3:8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.
3:9 “There your fathers tested me and tried me, 19 and they saw my works for forty years.
3:10 “Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering 20 and they have not known my ways.’
3:11 “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” 21
3:12 See to it, 22 brothers and sisters, 23 that none of you has 24 an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes 25 the living God. 26 3:13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception. 3:14 For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence 27 firm until the end. 3:15 As it says, 28 “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! 29 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 30
25:1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 25:2 Five 31 of the virgins 32 were foolish, and five were wise. 25:3 When 33 the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take extra 34 olive oil 35 with them. 25:4 But the wise ones took flasks of olive oil with their lamps. 25:5 When 36 the bridegroom was delayed a long time, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 25:6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is here! Come out to meet him.’ 37 25:7 Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 25:8 The 38 foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ 25:9 ‘No,’ they replied. 39 ‘There won’t be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 25:10 But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then 40 the door was shut. 25:11 Later, 41 the other virgins came too, saying, ‘Lord, lord! Let us in!’ 42 25:12 But he replied, 43 ‘I tell you the truth, 44 I do not know you!’
1 tn The direct object “crops” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the verb; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.
2 tn Heb “prudent.” The term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) refers to a wise and so successful person. He seizes the opportunity, knowing the importance of the season.
3 sn The term “sleeps” is figurative, an implied comparison that has become idiomatic (like the contemporary English expression “asleep on the job”). It means that this individual is lazy or oblivious to the needs of the hour.
4 tn The phrase “to himself” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for the sake of clarity. Another option is “to his father.”
5 tn The syntactical relationship between vv. 24-25 is disputed. The question turns on whether v. 25 is connected to v. 24 or not. A lack of a clear connective makes an independent idea more likely. However, one must then determine what the beginning of the sentence connects to. Though it makes for slightly awkward English, the translation has opted to connect it to “he will answer” so that this functions, in effect, as an apodosis. One could end the sentence after “us” and begin a new sentence with “He will answer” to make simpler sentences, although the connection between the two sentences is thereby less clear. The point of the passage, however, is clear. Once the door is shut, because one failed to come in through the narrow way, it is closed permanently. The moral: Do not be too late in deciding to respond.
6 tn Or “the master of the household.”
7 tn Or “rises,” or “stands up.”
8 tn Or “Sir.”
9 tn Grk “Open to us.”
10 tn Grk “and answering, he will say to you.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “he will answer you.”
11 sn For the imagery behind the statement “I do not know where you come from,” see Ps 138:6; Isa 63:16; Jer 1:5; Hos 5:3.
12 tn Grk “They will raze you to the ground.”
13 tn Grk “your children within you.” The phrase “[your] walls” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the city of Jerusalem, metaphorically pictured as an individual, is spoken of here.
14 sn (Not) one stone on top of another is an idiom for total destruction.
15 tn Grk “leave stone on stone.”
16 tn Grk “the time of your visitation.” To clarify what this refers to, the words “from God” are supplied at the end of the verse, although they do not occur in the Greek text.
17 sn The following quotation is from Ps 95:7b-11.
18 tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”
19 tn Grk “tested me by trial.”
20 tn Grk “they are wandering in the heart.”
21 tn Grk “if they shall enter my rest,” a Hebrew idiom expressing an oath that something will certainly not happen.
22 tn Or “take care.”
23 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.
24 tn Grk “that there not be in any of you.”
25 tn Or “deserts,” “rebels against.”
26 tn Grk “in forsaking the living God.”
27 tn Grk “the beginning of the confidence.”
28 tn Grk “while it is said.”
29 tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”
30 sn A quotation from Ps 95:7b-8.
31 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
32 tn Grk “Five of them.”
33 tn Grk “For when.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.
34 tn The word “extra” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The point is that the five foolish virgins had only the oil in their lamps, but took along no extra supply from which to replenish them. This is clear from v. 8, where the lamps of the foolish virgins are going out because they are running out of oil.
35 tn On the use of olive oil in lamps, see L&N 6.202.
36 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
37 tc ‡ Most witnesses have αὐτοῦ (autou, “[with] him”) after ἀπάντησιν (apanthsin, “meeting”), a reading which makes explicit what is already implied in the shorter text (as found in א B 700). The translation likewise adds “him” for clarity’s sake even though the word is not considered part of the original text. NA27 has αὐτοῦ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
38 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
39 tn Grk “The wise answered, saying, ‘No.’”
40 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
41 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
42 tn Grk “Open to us.”
43 tn Grk “But answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
44 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”