1 Peter 4:3

4:3 For the time that has passed was sufficient for you to do what the non-Christians ¹  desire. ²  You lived then ³  in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, drinking bouts, ⁴  and wanton idolatries. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 9:14

9:14 Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to ⁶  the gods called Baal, ⁷  as their fathers ⁸  taught them to do.

Jeremiah 16:19

16:19 Then I said, ⁹ 

“Lord, you give me strength and protect me.

You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble. ¹⁰ 

Nations from all over the earth

will come to you and say,

‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods –

worthless idols that could not help them at all. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 44:17

44:17 Instead we will do everything we vowed we would do. ¹²  We will sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the goddess called the Queen of Heaven ¹³  just as we and our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders previously did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and had no troubles. ¹⁴ 

Ezekiel 20:18

20:18 “‘But I said to their children ¹⁵  in the wilderness, “Do not follow the practices of your fathers; do not observe their regulations, ¹⁶  nor defile yourselves with their idols.

Amos 2:4

2:4 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions ¹⁷  –

make that four! ¹⁸  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ¹⁹ 

They rejected the Lord’s law; ²⁰ 

they did not obey his commands.

Their false gods, ²¹ 

to which their fathers were loyal, ²² 

led them astray.

Zechariah 1:4-6

1:4 “Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets called out, saying, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “Turn now from your evil wickedness,”’ but they would by no means obey me,” says the Lord. 1:5 “As for your ancestors, where are they? And did the prophets live forever? 1:6 But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? ²³  Then they paid attention ²⁴  and confessed, ‘The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.’”

Matthew 15:2-3

15:2 “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their ²⁵  hands when they eat.” ²⁶  15:3 He answered them, ²⁷  “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?

Acts 7:51-52

7:51 “You stubborn ²⁸  people, with uncircumcised ²⁹  hearts and ears! ³⁰  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ³¹  did! 7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors ³²  not persecute? ³³  They ³⁴  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ³⁵  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ³⁶ 

Acts 19:34-35

19:34 But when they recognized ³⁷  that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison, ³⁸  “Great is Artemis ³⁹  of the Ephesians!” for about two hours. ⁴⁰  19:35 After the city secretary ⁴¹  quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, what person ⁴²  is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the keeper ⁴³  of the temple of the great Artemis ⁴⁴  and of her image that fell from heaven? ⁴⁵ 

Galatians 1:4

1:4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father,

[4:3]  ¹ tn Grk “the Gentiles,” used here of those who are not God’s people.

[4:3]  ² tn Grk “to accomplish the desire of the Gentiles.”

[4:3]  ³ tn Grk “having gone along,” referring to the readers’ behavior in time past.

[4:3]  ⁴ tn According to BDAG 857 s.v. πότος the term refers to a social gathering at which wine is served, hence “drinking parties” (cf. TEV, NASB). However, the collocation with the other terms in v. 4 suggests something less sophisticated and more along the lines of wild and frenzied drinking bouts.

[4:3]  ⁵ tn The Greek words here all occur in the plural to describe their common practice in the past.

[9:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “they have gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[9:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Baals,” referring either to the pagan gods called “Baals” or the images of Baal (so NLT).

[9:14]  ⁸ tn Or “forefathers,” or “ancestors.” Here the referent could be the immediate parents or, by their example, more distant ancestors.

[16:19]  ⁹ tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to show the shift from God, who has been speaking to Jeremiah, to Jeremiah, who here addresses God.

[16:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “O Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of trouble. The literal which piles up attributes is of course more forceful than the predications. However, piling up poetic metaphors like this adds to the length of the English sentence and risks lack of understanding on the part of some readers. Some rhetorical force has been sacrificed for the sake of clarity.

[16:19]  ¹¹ tn Once again the translation has sacrificed some of the rhetorical force for the sake of clarity and English style: Heb “Only falsehood did our ancestors possess, vanity and [things in which?] there was no one profiting in them.”

[44:17]  ¹² tn Heb “that went out of our mouth.” I.e., everything we said, promised, or vowed.

[44:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” The expressions have been combined to simplify and shorten the sentence. The same combination also occurs in vv. 18, 19.

[44:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “saw [or experienced] no disaster/trouble/harm.”

[20:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “sons,” reflecting the patriarchal idiom of the culture.

[20:18]  ¹⁶ tn Or “standard of justice.” See Ezek 7:27.

[2:4]  ¹⁷ tn This is the same Hebrew term that is translated “crimes” in the previous oracles (see at 1:3). The change to “covenant transgressions” reflects the probability that the prophet is condemning the nation of Israel for violating stipulations of the Mosaic Law.

[2:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Judah, even because of four.”

[2:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[2:4]  ²⁰ tn Or “instruction”; NCV “teachings.”

[2:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “lies.” This may very well be a derogatory term for idols (perhaps also at Ps. 40:4 [Heb 40:5]). Elsewhere false gods are called “vanities” (Deut 32:21; 1 Kgs 16:13, 26) and a delusion (Isa 66:3). In no other prophetic passages, however, are they called “lies.” The term could refer to the deceptions of false prophets (note Ezek 13:6-9; cf. Hab 2:3). See F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos (AB), 301-6.

[2:4]  ²² tn Heb “after which their fathers walked.” The expression “to walk after” is an idiom meaning “to be loyal to.” See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 75-76.

[1:6]  ²³ tc BHS suggests אֶתְכֶם (’etkhem, “you”) for the MT אֲבֹתֵיכֶם (’avotekhem, “your fathers”) to harmonize with v. 4. In v. 4 the ancestors would not turn but in v. 6 they appear to have done so. The subject in v. 6, however, is to be construed as Zechariah’s own listeners.

[1:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they turned” (so ASV). Many English versions have “they repented” here; cf. CEV “they turned back to me.”

[15:2]  ²⁵ tc ‡ Although most witnesses read the genitive plural pronoun αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”), it may have been motivated by clarification (as it is in the translation above). Several other authorities do not have the pronoun, however (א B Δ 073 ˹ 579 700 892 1424 pc f g¹); the lack of an unintentional oversight as the reason for omission strengthens their combined testimony in this shorter reading. NA²⁷ has the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[15:2]  ²⁶ tn Grk “when they eat bread.”

[15:3]  ²⁷ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.”

[7:51]  ²⁸ sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

[7:51]  ²⁹ tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.

[7:51]  ³⁰ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

[7:51]  ³¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ³² tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ³³ sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.

[7:52]  ³⁴ tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[7:52]  ³⁵ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.

[7:52]  ³⁶ sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).

[19:34]  ³⁷ tn Grk “But recognizing.” The participle ἐπιγνόντες (epignonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:34]  ³⁸ tn Grk “[they shouted] with one voice from all of them” (an idiom).

[19:34]  ³⁹ sn Artemis was a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus, 1.25 mi (2 km) northeast of the Grand Theater. Dimensions were 418 ft by 239 ft (125 m by 72 m) for the platform; the temple proper was 377 ft by 180 ft (113 m by 54 m). The roof was supported by 117 columns, each 60 ft (18 m) high by 6 ft (1.8 m) in diameter. The Emperor Justinian of Byzantium later took these columns for use in construction of the Hagia Sophia, where they still exist (in modern day Istanbul).

[19:34]  ⁴⁰ sn They all shouted…for about two hours. The extent of the tumult shows the racial and social tensions of a cosmopolitan city like Ephesus, indicating what the Christians in such locations had to face.

[19:35]  ⁴¹ tn Or “clerk.” The “scribe” (γραμματεύς, grammateu") was the keeper of the city’s records.

[19:35]  ⁴² tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo").

[19:35]  ⁴³ tn See BDAG 670 s.v. νεωκόρος. The city is described as the “warden” or “guardian” of the goddess and her temple.

[19:35]  ⁴⁴ sn Artemis was a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus.

[19:35]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).