Deuteronomy 6:10-12

Exhortation to Worship the Lord Exclusively

6:10 Then when the Lord your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you – a land with large, fine cities you did not build, 6:11 houses filled with choice things you did not accumulate, hewn out cisterns you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant – and you eat your fill, 6:12 be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery. ¹ 

Deuteronomy 8:17

8:17 Be careful ²  not to say, “My own ability and skill ³  have gotten me this wealth.”

Deuteronomy 33:15

33:15 with the best ⁴  of the ancient mountains

and the harvest produced by the age-old hills;

Deuteronomy 33:2

33:2 He said:

A Historical Review

The Lord came from Sinai

and revealed himself ⁵  to Israel ⁶  from Seir.

He appeared in splendor ⁷  from Mount Paran,

and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. ⁸ 

With his right hand he gave a fiery law ⁹  to them.

Deuteronomy 26:16

Narrative Interlude

26:16 Today the Lord your God is commanding you to keep these statutes and ordinances, something you must do with all your heart and soul. ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 32:25-26

32:25 The sword will make people childless outside,

and terror will do so inside;

they will destroy ¹¹  both the young man and the virgin,

the infant and the gray-haired man.

The Weakness of Other Gods

32:26 “I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. ¹² 

I want to make people forget they ever existed.

Psalms 10:3-4

10:3 Yes, ¹³  the wicked man ¹⁴  boasts because he gets what he wants; ¹⁵ 

the one who robs others ¹⁶  curses ¹⁷  and ¹⁸  rejects the Lord. ¹⁹ 

10:4 The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks,

“God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.” ²⁰ 

Psalms 73:5-9

73:5 They are immune to the trouble common to men;

they do not suffer as other men do. ²¹ 

73:6 Arrogance is their necklace, ²² 

and violence their clothing. ²³ 

73:7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong; ²⁴ 

their thoughts are sinful. ²⁵ 

73:8 They mock ²⁶  and say evil things; ²⁷ 

they proudly threaten violence. ²⁸ 

73:9 They speak as if they rule in heaven,

and lay claim to the earth. ²⁹ 

Proverbs 30:9

30:9 lest I become satisfied and act deceptively ³⁰ 

and say, “Who is the Lord?”

Or lest I become poor and steal

and demean ³¹  the name of my God.

Jeremiah 2:31

2:31 You people of this generation,

listen to what the Lord says.

“Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel?

Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you? ³² 

Why then do you ³³  say, ‘We are free to wander. ³⁴ 

We will not come to you any more?’

Ezekiel 16:49-50

16:49 “‘See here – this was the iniquity ³⁵  of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help ³⁶  the poor and needy. 16:50 They were haughty and practiced abominable deeds before me. Therefore when I saw it I removed them.

Ezekiel 16:56

16:56 In your days of majesty, ³⁷  was not Sodom your sister a byword in your mouth,

Daniel 4:30

4:30 The king uttered these words: “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence ³⁸  by my own mighty strength ³⁹  and for my majestic honor?”

Daniel 5:19-23

5:19 Due to the greatness that he bestowed on him, all peoples, nations, and language groups were trembling with fear ⁴⁰  before him. He killed whom he wished, he spared ⁴¹  whom he wished, he exalted whom he wished, and he brought low whom he wished. 5:20 And when his mind ⁴²  became arrogant ⁴³  and his spirit filled with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and his honor was removed from him. 5:21 He was driven from human society, his mind ⁴⁴  was changed to that of an animal, he lived ⁴⁵  with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.

5:22 “But you, his son ⁴⁶  Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, ⁴⁷  although you knew all this. 5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods ⁴⁸  that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control ⁴⁹  your very breath and all your ways!

Hosea 13:6

13:6 When they were fed, ⁵⁰  they became satisfied;

when they were satisfied, they became proud; ⁵¹ 

as a result, they forgot me!

Habakkuk 1:15-16

1:15 The Babylonian tyrant ⁵²  pulls them all up with a fishhook;

he hauls them in with his throw net. ⁵³ 

When he catches ⁵⁴  them in his dragnet,

he is very happy. ⁵⁵ 

1:16 Because of his success ⁵⁶  he offers sacrifices to his throw net

and burns incense to his dragnet; ⁵⁷ 

for because of them he has plenty of food, ⁵⁸ 

and more than enough to eat. ⁵⁹ 

Romans 11:20

11:20 Granted! ⁶⁰  They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear!

James 1:9-10

1:9 Now the believer ⁶¹  of humble means ⁶²  should take pride ⁶³  in his high position. ⁶⁴  1:10 But the rich person’s pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow. ⁶⁵ 

Revelation 18:6-7

18:6 Repay her the same way she repaid others; ⁶⁶  pay her back double ⁶⁷  corresponding to her deeds. In the cup she mixed, mix double the amount for her. 18:7 As much as ⁶⁸  she exalted herself and lived in sensual luxury, ⁶⁹  to this extent give her torment and grief because she said to herself, ⁷⁰  ‘I rule as queen and am no widow; I will never experience grief!’

[6:12]  ¹ tn Heb “out of the house of slavery” (so NASB, NRSV).

[8:17]  ² tn For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 17 in the translation and the words “be careful” supplied to indicate the connection.

[8:17]  ³ tn Heb “my strength and the might of my hand.”

[33:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “head” or “top.”

[33:2]  ⁵ tn Or “rose like the sun” (NCV, TEV).

[33:2]  ⁶ tc Heb “to him.” The LXX reads “to us” (לָנוּ [lanu] for לָמוֹ [lamo]), the reading of the MT is acceptable since it no doubt has in mind Israel as a collective singular.

[33:2]  ⁷ tn Or “he shone forth” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[33:2]  ⁸ tc With slight alteration (מִמְרִבַת קָדֵשׁ [mimrivat qadesh] for the MT’s מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ [merivvot qodesh]) the translation would be “from Meribah Kadesh” (cf. NAB, NLT; see Deut 32:51). However, the language of holy war in the immediate context favors the reading of the MT, which views the Lord as accompanied by angelic hosts.

[33:2]  ⁹ tc The mispointed Hebrew term אֵשְׁדָּת (’eshdat) should perhaps be construed as אֵשְׁהַת (’eshhat) with Smr.

[26:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “mind and being”; cf. NCV “with your whole being”; TEV “obey them faithfully with all your heart.”

[32:25]  ¹¹ tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.

[32:26]  ¹² tc The LXX reads “I said I would scatter them.” This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT, CEV).

[10:3]  ¹³ tn The translation assumes כִּי (ki) is asseverative: “indeed, certainly.” Another option is to translate “for,” understanding v. 3 as giving the reason why the wicked so arrogantly seek to destroy the helpless (so NASB, NRSV).

[10:3]  ¹⁴ tn The representative or typical evildoer is described in vv. 3-11, 13, 15. Since the singular form predominates in these verses, it has been retained in the translation.

[10:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the wicked [one] boasts on account of the desire of his appetite.” The translation assumes that the preposition עַל (’al) introduces the reason why the wicked boasts (cf. this use of עַל with הָלַל (halal) in Ps 119:164 and Ezra 3:11). In this case, the “desire of his appetite” refers by metonymy to the object desired and acquired.

[10:3]  ¹⁶ tn The translation assumes the active participle is substantival, referring to the wicked man mentioned in the preceding line. The substantival participle is then understood as the subject of the following verbs. For other examples of the participle of בָּצַע (batsar) used of those who desire and/or acquire wealth through dishonest and/or violent means, see Prov 1:19; 15:27; Jer 6:13; 8:10; Hab 2:9.

[10:3]  ¹⁷ tn The verb בָּרַךְ (barakh) normally means “to bless,” but in a few cases it exhibits the polarized meaning “to curse” (1 Kgs 21:10, 13; Job 1:5-11; 2:5-9). (Some regard this use of בָּרַךְ as a mere euphemism.) The verb refers to the act of pronouncing or calling down a formal curse upon the object of one’s anger.

[10:3]  ¹⁸ tn The conjunction “and” is supplied in the translation; it does not appear in the Hebrew text.

[10:3]  ¹⁹ tn Another option is to translate, “he blesses one who robs others, [but] he curses the Lord.” In this case the subject of the verbs is “the wicked man” mentioned in the previous line, and “the one who robs others” is the object of the verb בָּרַךְ (barakh), which is understood in its usual sense of “bless.”

[10:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the wicked [one], according to the height of his nose, he does not seek, there is no God, all his thoughts.” The phrase “height of his nose” probably refers to an arrogant or snooty attitude; it likely pictures one with his nose turned upward toward the sky in pride. One could take the “wicked” as the subject of the negated verb “seek,” in which case the point is that the wicked do not “seek” God. The translation assumes that this statement, along with “there is no God,” is what the wicked man thinks to himself. In this case God is the subject of the verb “seek,” and the point is that God will not hold the wicked man accountable for his actions. Verse 13 strongly favors this interpretation. The statement “there is no God” is not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see v. 11).

[73:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “in the trouble of man they are not, and with mankind they are not afflicted.”

[73:6]  ²² sn Arrogance is their necklace. The metaphor suggests that their arrogance is something the wicked “wear” proudly. It draws attention to them, just as a beautiful necklace does to its owner.

[73:6]  ²³ tn Heb “a garment of violence covers them.” The metaphor suggests that violence is habitual for the wicked. They “wear” it like clothing; when one looks at them, violence is what one sees.

[73:7]  ²⁴ tc The MT reads “it goes out from fatness their eye,” which might be paraphrased, “their eye protrudes [or “bulges”] because of fatness.” This in turn might refer to their greed; their eyes “bug out” when they see rich food or produce (the noun חֵלֶב [khelev, “fatness”] sometimes refers to such food or produce). However, when used with the verb יָצָא (yatsa’, “go out”) the preposition מִן (“from”) more naturally indicates source. For this reason it is preferable to emend עֵינֵמוֹ (’enemo, “their eye”) to עֲוֹנָמוֹ, (’avonamo, “their sin”) and read, “and their sin proceeds forth from fatness,” that is, their prosperity gives rise to their sinful attitudes. If one follows this textual reading, another interpretive option is to take חֵלֶב (“fatness”) in the sense of “unreceptive, insensitive” (see its use in Ps 17:10). In this case, the sin of the wicked proceeds forth from their spiritual insensitivity.

[73:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the thoughts of [their] heart [i.e., mind] cross over” (i.e., violate God’s moral boundary, see Ps 17:3).

[73:8]  ²⁶ tn The verb מוּק (muq, “mock”) occurs only here in the OT.

[73:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and speak with evil.”

[73:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “oppression from an elevated place they speak.” The traditional accentuation of the MT places “oppression” with the preceding line. In this case, one might translate, “they mock and speak with evil [of] oppression, from an elevated place [i.e., “proudly”] they speak.” By placing “oppression” with what follows, one achieves better poetic balance in the parallelism.

[73:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “they set in heaven their mouth, and their tongue walks through the earth.” The meaning of the text is uncertain. Perhaps the idea is that they lay claim to heaven (i.e., speak as if they were ruling in heaven) and move through the earth declaring their superiority and exerting their influence. Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) the first line as adversative and translate, “they set their mouth against heaven,” that is, they defy God.

[30:9]  ³⁰ tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) means “to be disappointing; to deceive; to fail; to grow lean.” In the Piel stem it means “to deceive; to act deceptively; to cringe; to disappoint.” The idea of acting deceptively is illustrated in Hos 9:2 where it has the connotation of “disowning” or “refusing to acknowledge” (a meaning very close to its meaning here).

[30:9]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew verb literally means “to take hold of; to seize”; this produces the idea of doing violence to the reputation of God.

[2:31]  ³² tn Heb “a land of the darkness of Yah [= thick or deep darkness].” The idea of danger is an added connotation of the word in this context.

[2:31]  ³³ tn Heb “my people.”

[2:31]  ³⁴ tn Or more freely, “free to do as we please.” There is some debate about the meaning of this verb (רוּד, rud) because its usage is rare and its meaning is debated in the few passages where it does occur. The key to its meaning may rest in the emended text (reading וְרַדְתִּי [vÿradti] for וְיָרַדְתִּי [vÿyaradti]) in Judg 11:37 where it refers to the roaming of Jephthah’s daughter on the mountains of Israel.

[16:49]  ³⁵ tn Or “guilt.”

[16:49]  ³⁶ tn Heb “strengthen the hand of.”

[16:56]  ³⁷ tn Or “pride.”

[4:30]  ³⁸ tn Aram “house.”

[4:30]  ³⁹ tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”

[5:19]  ⁴⁰ tn Aram “were trembling and fearing.” This can be treated as a hendiadys, “were trembling with fear.”

[5:19]  ⁴¹ tn Aram “let live.” This Aramaic form is the aphel participle of חַיָה(khayah, “to live”). Theodotion and the Vulgate mistakenly take the form to be from מְחָא (mÿkha’, “to smite”).

[5:20]  ⁴² tn Aram “heart.”

[5:20]  ⁴³ sn The point of describing Nebuchadnezzar as arrogant is that he had usurped divine prerogatives, and because of his immense arrogance God had dealt decisively with him.

[5:21]  ⁴⁴ tn Aram “heart.”

[5:21]  ⁴⁵ tn Aram “his dwelling.”

[5:22]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “descendant”; or “successor.”

[5:22]  ⁴⁷ tn Aram “your heart.”

[5:23]  ⁴⁸ tn Aram “which.”

[5:23]  ⁴⁹ tn Aram “in whose hand [are].”

[13:6]  ⁵⁰ tc The MT reads כְּמַרְעִיתָם (kÿmar’itam, “according to their pasturage”; preposition כְּ (kaf) + noun מַרְעִית, mar’it, “pasture” + 3rd person masculine plural suffix). Text-critics propose: (1) כְּמוֹ רְעִיתִים (kÿmo rÿ’itim, “as I pastured them”; preposition כְּמוֹ (kÿmo) + Qal perfect 1st person common singular from רָעַה, ra’ah, “to pasture, feed” + 3rd person masculine plural suffix) and (2) כִּרְעוֹתָם (“when they had pastured”; preposition כְּ + Qal perfect 3rd person masculine plural from רָעַה). Some English versions follow the MT: “according to their pasture” (KJV), “as they had their pasture” (NASB), “when you entered the good land” (TEV). Others adopt the first emendation: “when I fed them” (NIV, NRSV), “I fed you [sic = them]” (CEV). Still others follow the second emendation: “but when they had fed to the full” (RSV), “when they grazed” (NJPS).

[13:6]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “their heart became exalted”; KJV, ASV “was exalted.”

[1:15]  ⁵² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Babylonian tyrant) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NASB “The Chaldeans”; NIV “The wicked foe”; NRSV “The enemy”). Babylonian imperialism is here compared to a professional fisherman who repeatedly brings in his catch and has plenty to eat.

[1:15]  ⁵³ tn Apparently two different types of fishing nets are referred to here. The חֵרֶם (kherem, “throw net”) was used by fishermen standing on the shore (see Ezek 47:10), while the מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret, “dragnet”) was used by men in a boat. See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 165.

[1:15]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “and he gathers.”

[1:15]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “Therefore he is happy and rejoices.” Here two synonyms are joined for emphasis.

[1:16]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “therefore.”

[1:16]  ⁵⁷ sn The fishing implements (throw net and dragnet) represent Babylonian military might. The prophet depicts the Babylonians as arrogantly worshiping their own power (sacrifices…burns incense, see also v. 11b).

[1:16]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “for by them his portion is full [or, “fat”].”

[1:16]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “and his food is plentiful [or, “fat”].”

[11:20]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “well!”, an adverb used to affirm a statement. It means “very well,” “you are correct.”

[1:9]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “brother.” Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. TEV, NLT “Christians”; CEV “God’s people”). The term broadly connotes familial relationships within the family of God (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a).

[1:9]  ⁶² tn Grk “the lowly brother,” but “lowly/humble” is clarified in context by the contrast with “wealthy” in v. 10.

[1:9]  ⁶³ tn Grk “let him boast.”

[1:9]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “his height,” “his exaltation.”

[1:10]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “a flower of grass.”

[18:6]  ⁶⁶ tn The word “others” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[18:6]  ⁶⁷ tn On this term BDAG 252 s.v. διπλόω states, “to double τὰ διπλᾶ pay back double Rv 18:6.”

[18:7]  ⁶⁸ tn “As much as” is the translation of ὅσα (Josa).

[18:7]  ⁶⁹ tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”

[18:7]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “said in her heart,” an idiom for saying something to oneself.