Exodus 7:11-12

7:11 Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers, ¹  and the magicians ²  of Egypt by their secret arts ³  did the same thing. 7:12 Each man ⁴  threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.

Exodus 8:18-19

8:18 When ⁵  the magicians attempted ⁶  to bring forth gnats by their secret arts, they could not. So there were gnats on people and on animals. 8:19 The magicians said ⁷  to Pharaoh, “It is the finger ⁸  of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ⁹  and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

Isaiah 47:12-14

47:12 Persist ¹⁰  in trusting ¹¹  your amulets

and your many incantations,

which you have faithfully recited ¹²  since your youth!

Maybe you will be successful ¹³  –

maybe you will scare away disaster. ¹⁴ 

47:13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. ¹⁵ 

Let them take their stand –

the ones who see omens in the sky,

who gaze at the stars,

who make monthly predictions –

let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! ¹⁶ 

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat ¹⁷  of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 47:2

47:2 Pick up millstones and grind flour!

Remove your veil,

strip off your skirt,

expose your legs,

cross the streams!

Isaiah 3:8-9

3:8 Jerusalem certainly stumbles,

Judah falls,

for their words and their actions offend the Lord; ¹⁹ 

they rebel against his royal authority. ²⁰ 

3:9 The look on their faces ²¹  testifies to their guilt; ²² 

like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. ²³ 

Too bad for them! ²⁴ 

For they bring disaster on themselves.

Revelation 16:2

16:2 So ²⁵  the first angel ²⁶  went and poured out his bowl on the earth. Then ²⁷  ugly and painful sores ²⁸  appeared on the people ²⁹  who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.

[7:11]  ¹ sn For information on this Egyptian material, see D. B. Redford, A Study of the Biblical Story of Joseph (VTSup), 203-4.

[7:11]  ² tn The חַרְטֻּמִּים (kharttummim) seem to have been the keepers of Egypt’s religious and magical texts, the sacred scribes.

[7:11]  ³ tn The term בְּלַהֲטֵיהֶם (bÿlahatehem) means “by their secret arts”; it is from לוּט (lut, “to enwrap”). The Greek renders the word “by their magic”; Tg. Onq. uses “murmurings” and “whispers,” and other Jewish sources “dazzling display” or “demons” (see further B. Jacob, Exodus, 253-54). They may have done this by clever tricks, manipulation of the animals, or demonic power. Many have suggested that Aaron and the magicians were familiar with an old trick in which they could temporarily paralyze a serpent and then revive it. But here Aaron’s snake swallows up their snakes.

[7:12]  ⁴ tn The verb is plural, but the subject is singular, “a man – his staff.” This noun can be given a distributive sense: “each man threw down his staff.”

[8:18]  ⁵ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the main clause as a temporal clause.

[8:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the magicians did so.”

[8:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the magicians said.”

[8:19]  ⁸ tn The word “finger” is a bold anthropomorphism (a figure of speech in which God is described using human characteristics).

[8:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh became hard.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.

[47:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”

[47:12]  ¹¹ tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.

[47:12]  ¹² tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”

[47:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”

[47:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.

[47:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you are tired because of the abundance of your advice.”

[47:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “let them stand and rescue you – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make known by months – from those things which are coming upon you.”

[47:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

[47:14]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.

[3:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for their tongue and their deeds [are] to the Lord.”

[3:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to rebel [against] the eyes of his majesty.” The word כָּבוֹד (kavod) frequently refers to the Lord’s royal splendor that is an outward manifestation of his authority as king.

[3:9]  ²¹ sn This refers to their proud, arrogant demeanor.

[3:9]  ²² tn Heb “answers against them”; NRSV “bears witness against them.”

[3:9]  ²³ tn Heb “their sin, like Sodom, they declare, they do not conceal [it].”

[3:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “woe to their soul.”

[16:2]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the directions given by the voice from the temple.

[16:2]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the first”; the referent (the first angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:2]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[16:2]  ²⁸ tn Or “ulcerated sores”; the term in the Greek text is singular but is probably best understood as a collective singular.

[16:2]  ²⁹ tn Grk ‘the men,” but this is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") and refers to both men and women.