1 Thessalonians 5:11

5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:14

5:14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, ¹  admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all.

Isaiah 40:1-2

The Lord Returns to Jerusalem

40:1 “Comfort, comfort my people,”

says your ²  God.

40:2 “Speak kindly to ³  Jerusalem, ⁴  and tell her

that her time of warfare is over, ⁵ 

that her punishment is completed. ⁶ 

For the Lord has made her pay double ⁷  for all her sins.”

Luke 21:28

21:28 But when these things ⁸  begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption ⁹  is drawing near.”

Hebrews 12:12

12:12 Therefore, strengthen ¹⁰  your listless hands and your weak knees, ¹¹ 

[5:14]  ¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.

[40:1]  ² tn The pronominal suffix is second masculine plural. The identity of the addressee is uncertain: (1) God’s people may be addressed, or (2) the unidentified heralds commanded to comfort Jerusalem.

[40:2]  ³ tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.

[40:2]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[40:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “that she is filled [with] her warfare.” Some understand צָבָא (tsavah, “warfare”) as meaning “hard service” or “compulsory labor” in this context.

[40:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”

[40:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “for she has received from the hand of the Lord double.” The principle of the double portion in punishment is also seen in Jer 16:18; 17:18 and Rev 18:6. For examples of the double portion in Israelite law, see Exod 22:4, 7, 9 (double restitution by a thief) and Deut 21:17 (double inheritance portion for the firstborn).

[21:28]  ⁸ sn These things are all the events of vv. 8-27. Disciples represent the righteous here. The events surrounding the fall of the nation are a down payment on a fuller judgment to come on all humanity. The presence of one guarantees the other.

[21:28]  ⁹ sn With Jesus’ return comes the manifestation of judgment and final salvation (redemption).

[12:12]  ¹⁰ tn Or “straighten.”

[12:12]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Isa 35:3. Strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees refers to the readers’ need for renewed resolve and fresh strength in their struggles (cf. Heb 10:36-39; 12:1-3).