2 Chronicles 25:16

25:16 While he was speaking, Amaziah ¹  said to him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop prophesying or else you will be killed!” ²  So the prophet stopped, but added, “I know that the Lord has decided ³  to destroy you, because you have done this thing and refused to listen to my advice.”

Isaiah 29:21

29:21 those who bear false testimony against a person, ⁴ 

who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate ⁵ 

and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges. ⁶ 

Isaiah 30:9-11

30:9 For these are rebellious people –

they are lying children,

children unwilling to obey the Lord’s law. ⁷ 

30:10 They ⁸  say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!”

and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! ⁹ 

Tell us nice things,

relate deceptive messages. ¹⁰ 

30:11 Turn aside from the way,

stray off the path. ¹¹ 

Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.” ¹² 

Amos 5:10

5:10 The Israelites ¹³  hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; ¹⁴ 

they despise anyone who speaks honestly.

Amos 7:10-13

Amos Confronts a Priest

7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel ¹⁵  sent this message ¹⁶  to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel! ¹⁷  The land cannot endure all his prophecies. ¹⁸  7:11 As a matter of fact, ¹⁹  Amos is saying this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly be carried into exile ²⁰  away from its land.’”

7:12 Amaziah then said to Amos, “Leave, you visionary! ²¹  Run away to the land of Judah! Earn your living ²²  and prophesy there! 7:13 Don’t prophesy at Bethel ²³  any longer, for a royal temple and palace are here!” ²⁴ 

Micah 2:6

2:6 ‘Don’t preach with such impassioned rhetoric,’ they say excitedly. ²⁵ 

‘These prophets should not preach of such things;

we will not be overtaken by humiliation.’ ²⁶ 

Matthew 21:23

The Authority of Jesus

21:23 Now after Jesus ²⁷  entered the temple courts, ²⁸  the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority ²⁹  are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

Acts 4:17-19

4:17 But to keep this matter from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more ³⁰  to anyone in this name.” 4:18 And they called them in and ordered ³¹  them not to speak or teach at all in the name ³²  of Jesus. 4:19 But Peter and John replied, ³³  “Whether it is right before God to obey ³⁴  you rather than God, you decide,

Acts 5:28

5:28 saying, “We gave ³⁵  you strict orders ³⁶  not to teach in this name. ³⁷  Look, ³⁸  you have filled Jerusalem ³⁹  with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood ⁴⁰  on us!”

Acts 6:14

6:14 For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs ⁴¹  that Moses handed down to us.”

[25:16]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:16]  ² tn Heb “Stop yourself! Why should they strike you down?”

[25:16]  ³ tn The verb יָעַץ (ya’ats, “has decided”) is from the same root as יוֹעֵץ (yo’ets, “counselor”) in v. 16 and עֵצָה (’etsah, “advice”) later in v. 16. The wordplay highlights the appropriate nature of the divine punishment. Amaziah rejected the counsel of God’s prophet; now he would be the victim of God’s “counsel.”

[29:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “the ones who make a man a sinner with a word.” The Hiphil of חָטָא (khata’) here has a delocutive sense: “declare a man sinful/guilty.”

[29:21]  ⁵ sn Legal disputes were resolved at the city gate, where the town elders met. See Amos 5:10.

[29:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “and deprive by emptiness the innocent.”

[30:9]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps, “instruction” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NCV, TEV “teachings.”

[30:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “who” (so NASB, NRSV). A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “Do not see for us right things.”

[30:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Tell us smooth things, see deceptive things.”

[30:11]  ¹¹ sn The imagery refers to the way or path of truth, as revealed by God to the prophet.

[30:11]  ¹² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[5:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:10]  ¹⁴ sn In ancient Israelite culture, legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[7:10]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:10]  ¹⁶ tn The direct object of the verb translated “sent” is elided in the Hebrew text. The words “this message” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in the middle of the house of Israel.”

[7:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “words.”

[7:11]  ¹⁹ tn Or “for.”

[7:11]  ²⁰ tn See the note on the word “exile” in 5:5.

[7:12]  ²¹ tn Traditionally, “seer.” The word is a synonym for “prophet,” though it may carry a derogatory tone on the lips of Amaziah.

[7:12]  ²² tn Heb “Eat bread there.”

[7:13]  ²³ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “for it is a temple of a king and it is a royal house.” It is possible that the phrase “royal house” refers to a temple rather than a palace. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 243.

[2:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “‘Do not foam at the mouth,’ they foam at the mouth.” The verb נָטַף (nataf) means “to drip.” When used of speech it probably has the nuance “to drivel, to foam at the mouth” (HALOT 694 s.v. נטף). The sinful people tell the Lord’s prophets not to “foam at the mouth,” which probably refers in a derogatory way to their impassioned style of delivery. But the Lord (who is probably still speaking here, see v. 3) sarcastically refers to their impassioned exhortation as “foaming at the mouth.”

[2:6]  ²⁶ tc If one follows the MT as it stands, it would appear that the Lord here condemns the people for their “foaming at the mouth” and then announces that judgment is inevitable. The present translation assumes that this is a continuation of the quotation of what the people say. In this case the subject of “foam at the mouth” is the Lord’s prophets. In the second line יִסַּג (yissag, a Niphal imperfect from סוּג, sug, “to remove”) is emended to יַסִּגֵנוּ (yassigenu; a Hiphil imperfect from נָסַג/נָשַׂג, nasag/nasag, “to reach; to overtake”).

[21:23]  ²⁷ tn Grk “he.”

[21:23]  ²⁸ tn Grk “the temple.”

[21:23]  ²⁹ tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ.1

[4:17]  ³⁰ tn Or “speak no longer.”

[4:18]  ³¹ tn Or “commanded.”

[4:18]  ³² sn In the name of Jesus. Once again, the “name” reflects the person. The person of Jesus and his authority is the “troubling” topic that, as far as the Jewish leadership is concerned, needs controlling.

[4:19]  ³³ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[4:19]  ³⁴ tn Grk “hear,” but the idea of “hear and obey” or simply “obey” is frequently contained in the Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw; see L&N 36.14).

[5:28]  ³⁵ tc ‡ The majority of mss, including a few important witnesses (א² D E [Ψ] 1739 Ï sy sa), have the negative particle οὐ (ou) here, effectively turning the high priest’s words into a question: “Did we not give you strict orders not to teach in this name?” But the earliest and most important mss, along with some others (Ì⁷⁴ א* A B 1175 lat bo), lack the particle, making this a strong statement rather than a question. Scribes may have been tempted to omit the particle to strengthen the contrast between official Judaism and the new faith, but the fact that v. 27 introduces the quotation with ἐπηρώτησεν (ephrwthsen, “he questioned”) may well have prompted scribes to add οὐ to convert the rebuke into a question. Further, that excellent witnesses affirm the shorter reading is sufficient ground for accepting it as most probably authentic. NA²⁷ includes the particle in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[5:28]  ³⁶ tn Grk “We commanded you with a commandment” (a Semitic idiom that is emphatic).

[5:28]  ³⁷ sn The name (i.e., person) of Jesus is the constant issue of debate.

[5:28]  ³⁸ tn Grk “And behold.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[5:28]  ³⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:28]  ⁴⁰ sn To bring this man’s blood on us is an idiom meaning “you intend to make us guilty of this man’s death.”

[6:14]  ⁴¹ tn Or “practices.”