Ecclesiastes 7:2

7:2 It is better to go to a funeral ¹ 

than a feast. ² 

For death ³  is the destiny ⁴  of every person, ⁵ 

and the living should ⁶  take this ⁷  to heart.

Jeremiah 5:31

5:31 The prophets prophesy lies.

The priests exercise power by their own authority. ⁸ 

And my people love to have it this way.

But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes! ⁹ 

Ezekiel 7:2-3

7:2 “You, son of man – this is what the sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land! ¹⁰  7:3 The end is now upon you, and I will release my anger against you; I will judge ¹¹  you according to your behavior, ¹²  I will hold you accountable for ¹³  all your abominable practices.

Ezekiel 7:6

7:6 An end comes ¹⁴  – the end comes! ¹⁵  It has awakened against you ¹⁶  – the end is upon you! Look, it is coming! ¹⁷ 

Matthew 24:13-14

24:13 But the person who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁸  24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, ¹⁹  and then the end will come.

Romans 13:12

13:12 The night has advanced toward dawn; the day is near. So then we must lay aside the works of darkness, and put on the weapons of light.

Romans 13:1

Submission to Civil Government

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, ²⁰  and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

Colossians 1:29

1:29 Toward this goal ²¹  I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully ²²  works in me.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²³  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:24

1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.

Philippians 4:5

4:5 Let everyone see your gentleness. ²⁴  The Lord is near!

Hebrews 10:25

10:25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day ²⁵  drawing near. ²⁶ 

James 5:8-9

5:8 You also be patient and strengthen your hearts, for the Lord’s return is near. 5:9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, ²⁷  so that you may not be judged. See, the judge stands before the gates! ²⁸ 

James 5:2

5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten.

James 3:9-11

3:9 With it we bless the Lord ²⁹  and Father, and with it we curse people ³⁰  made in God’s image. 3:10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters. ³¹  3:11 A spring does not pour out fresh water and bitter water from the same opening, does it?

James 3:1

The Power of the Tongue

3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, ³²  because you know that we will be judged more strictly. ³³ 

James 2:18-19

2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” ³⁴  Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by ³⁵  my works. 2:19 You believe that God is one; well and good. ³⁶  Even the demons believe that – and tremble with fear. ³⁷ 

[7:2]  ¹ tn Heb “house of mourning.” The phrase refers to a funeral where the deceased is mourned.

[7:2]  ² tn Heb “house of drinking”; or “house of feasting.” The Hebrew noun מִשְׁתֶּה (mishteh) can denote (1) “feast; banquet,” occasion for drinking-bouts (1 Sam 25:36; Isa 5:12; Jer 51:39; Job 1:5; Esth 2:18; 5:14; 8:17; 9:19) or (2) “drink” (exilic/postexilic – Ezra 3:7; Dan 1:5, 8, 16); see HALOT 653 s.v. מִשְׁתֶּה 4; BDB 1059 s.v. שָׁתַה.

[7:2]  ³ tn Heb “it”; the referent (“death”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “the end.” The noun סוֹף (sof) literally means “end; conclusion” (HALOT 747 s.v. סוֹף 1; BDB 693 s.v. סוֹף). It is used in this context in reference to death, as the preceding phrase “house of mourning” (i.e., funeral) suggests.

[7:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “all men” or “every man.”

[7:2]  ⁶ tn The imperfect tense verb יִתֵּן, yitten (from נָתָן, natan, “to give”) functions in a modal sense, denoting obligation, that is, the subject’s obligatory or necessary conduct: “should” or “ought to” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 31-32, §172; IBHS 508-9 §31.4g).

[7:2]  ⁷ tn The word “this” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[5:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “they shall rule at their hands.” Since the word “hand” can be used figuratively for authority or mean “side” and the pronoun “them” can refer to the priests themselves or the prophets, the following translations have also been suggested: “the priests rule under their [the prophets’] directions,” or “the priests rule in league with them [the prophets].” From the rest of the book it would appear that the prophets did not exercise authority over the priests nor did they exercise the same authority over the people that the priests did. Hence it probably mean “by their own hand/power/authority.”

[5:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “But what will you do at its end?” The rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “Nothing!”

[7:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “earth.” Elsewhere the expression “four corners of the earth” figuratively refers to the whole earth (Isa 11:12).

[7:3]  ¹¹ tn Or “punish” (cf. BDB 1047 s.v. שָׁפַט 3.c).

[7:3]  ¹² tn Heb “ways.”

[7:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “I will place on you.”

[7:6]  ¹⁴ tn Or “has come.”

[7:6]  ¹⁵ tn Or “has come.”

[7:6]  ¹⁶ tc With different vowels the verb rendered “it has awakened” would be the noun “the end,” as in “the end is upon you.” The verb would represent a phonetic wordplay. The noun by virtue of repetition would continue to reinforce the idea of the end. Whether verb or noun, this is the only instance to occur with this preposition.

[7:6]  ¹⁷ tc For this entire verse, the LXX has only “the end is come.”

[24:13]  ¹⁸ sn But the person who endures to the end will be saved. Jesus was not claiming here that salvation is by works. He was simply arguing that genuine faith evidences itself in persistence through even the worst of trials.

[24:14]  ¹⁹ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).

[13:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “by God.”

[1:29]  ²¹ tn The Greek phrase εἴς ὅ (eis Jo, “toward which”) implies “movement toward a goal” and has been rendered by the English phrase “Toward this goal.”

[1:29]  ²² tn The prepositional phrase ἐν δυνάμει (en dunamei) seems to be functioning adverbially, related to the participle, and has therefore been translated “powerfully.”

[1:1]  ²³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[4:5]  ²⁴ tn Grk “let your gentleness be seen by all.” The passive voice construction has been converted to active voice in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[10:25]  ²⁵ sn The day refers to that well-known time of Christ’s coming and judgment in the future; see a similar use of “day” in 1 Cor 3:13.

[10:25]  ²⁶ tn This paragraph (vv. 19-25) is actually a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek, but it must be broken into shorter segments for English idiom. It begins with several subordinate phrases (since we have confidence and a great priest), has three parallel exhortations as its main verbs (let us draw near, hold, and take thought), and concludes with several subordinate phrases related to the final exhortation (not abandoning but encouraging).

[5:9]  ²⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[5:9]  ²⁸ sn The term gates is used metaphorically here. The physical referent would be the entrances to the city, but the author uses the term to emphasize the imminence of the judge’s approach.

[3:9]  ²⁹ tc Most later mss (Ï), along with several versional witnesses, have θεόν (qeon, “God”) here instead of κύριον (kurion, “Lord”). Such is a predictable variant since nowhere else in the NT is God described as “Lord and Father,” but he is called “God and Father” on several occasions. Further, the reading κύριον is well supported by early and diversified witnesses (̲⁰ א A B C P Ψ 33 81 945 1241 1739), rendering it as the overwhelmingly preferred reading.

[3:9]  ³⁰ tn Grk “men”; but here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpous) has generic force, referring to both men and women.

[3:10]  ³¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[3:1]  ³² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[3:1]  ³³ tn Grk “will receive a greater judgment.”

[2:18]  ³⁴ tn There is considerable doubt about where the words of the “someone” end and where James’ reply begins. Some see the quotation running to the end of v. 18; others to the end of v. 19. But most punctuate as shown above. The “someone” is then an objector, and the sense of his words is something like, “Some have faith; others have works; don’t expect everyone to have both.” James’ reply is that faith cannot exist or be seen without works.

[2:18]  ³⁵ tn Or “from.”

[2:19]  ³⁶ tn Grk “you do well.”

[2:19]  ³⁷ tn Grk “believe and tremble.” The words “with fear” are implied.