Genesis 19:14

19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. ¹  He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy ²  the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. ³ 

Ecclesiastes 1:9

1:9 What exists now ⁴  is what will be, ⁵ 

and what has been done is what will be done;

there is nothing truly new on earth. ⁶ 

Ecclesiastes 8:11

8:11 When ⁷  a sentence ⁸  is not executed ⁹  at once against a crime, ¹⁰ 

the human heart ¹¹  is encouraged to do evil. ¹² 

Isaiah 5:18-19

5:18 Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead, ¹³ 

who pull sin as with cart ropes. ¹⁴ 

5:19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly, ¹⁵ 

so we can see;

let the plan of the Holy One of Israel ¹⁶  take shape ¹⁷  and come to pass,

then we will know it!”

Jeremiah 5:12-13

5:12 “These people have denied what the Lord says. ¹⁸ 

They have said, ‘That is not so! ¹⁹ 

No harm will come to us.

We will not experience war and famine. ²⁰ 

5:13 The prophets will prove to be full of wind. ²¹ 

The Lord has not spoken through them. ²² 

So, let what they say happen to them.’”

Jeremiah 17:15

17:15 Listen to what they are saying to me. ²³ 

They are saying, “Where are the things the Lord threatens us with?

Come on! Let’s see them happen!” ²⁴ 

Ezekiel 12:22-27

12:22 “Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel, ‘The days pass slowly, and every vision fails’? 12:23 Therefore tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: I hereby end this proverb; they will not recite it in Israel any longer.’ But say to them, ‘The days are at hand when every vision will be fulfilled. ²⁵  12:24 For there will no longer be any false visions or flattering omens amidst the house of Israel. 12:25 For I, the Lord, will speak. Whatever word I speak will be accomplished. It will not be delayed any longer. Indeed in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and accomplish it, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

12:26 The word of the Lord came to me: 12:27 “Take note, son of man, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for distant days; he is prophesying about the far future.’

Malachi 2:17

Resistance to the Lord through Self-deceit

2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, ²⁶  and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Matthew 24:28

24:28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures ²⁷  will gather. ²⁸ 

Luke 12:45

12:45 But if ²⁹  that ³⁰  slave should say to himself, ³¹  ‘My master is delayed ³²  in returning,’ and he begins to beat ³³  the other ³⁴  slaves, both men and women, ³⁵  and to eat, drink, and get drunk,

[19:14]  ¹ sn The language has to be interpreted in the light of the context and the social customs. The men are called “sons-in-law” (literally “the takers of his daughters”), but the daughters had not yet had sex with a man. It is better to translate the phrase “who were going to marry his daughters.” Since formal marriage contracts were binding, the husbands-to-be could already be called sons-in-law.

[19:14]  ² tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.

[19:14]  ³ tn Heb “and he was like one taunting in the eyes of his sons-in-law.” These men mistakenly thought Lot was ridiculing them and their lifestyle. Their response illustrates how morally insensitive they had become.

[1:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “what is.” The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect. Another option is to translate, “What has been.” See the next line, which speaks of the past and the future.

[1:9]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verbal form is an imperfect.

[1:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[8:11]  ⁷ tn The particle אֲשֶׁר (’asher) is used as a conjunction in a conditional/temporal clause to introduce the protasis (“when” or “if”), and עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken) introduces the apodosis (“then”); cf. BDB 83 s.v. אֲשֶׁר 8.d.

[8:11]  ⁸ tn The noun פִתְגָם (fitgam, “decision; announcement; edict; decree”) is a loanword from Persian patigama (HALOT 984 s.v. פִּתְגָם; BDB 834 s.v. פִּתְגָם). The Hebrew noun occurs twice in the OT (Eccl 8:11; Esth 1:20), twice in the Apocrypha (Sir 5:11; 8:9), and five times in Qumran (11QtgJob 9:2; 29:4; 30:1; 34:3; 1QapGen 22:27). The English versions consistently nuance this as a judicial sentence against a crime: “sentence” (KJV, NEB, NAB, ASV, NASB, RSV, NRSV, MLB, YLT), “sentence for a crime” (NIV), “sentence imposed” (NJPS), “sentence on a crime” (Moffatt).

[8:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “is not done.” The verb עָשַׂה (’asah, “to do”) refers to a judicial sentence being carried out (HALOT 892 s.v. 2). The Niphal can denote “be executed; be carried out” of a sentence (Eccl 8:11) or royal decree (Esth 9:1; BDB 795 s.v. 1.a). Similarly, the Qal can denote “to execute” vengeance (Judg 11:36) or judgment (1 Sam 28:18; Isa 48:14; Ezek 25:11; 28:26; Ps 149:7, 9; BDB 794 s.v.).

[8:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the evil.”

[8:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the heart of the sons of man.” The singular noun לֵב (lev, “heart”) is used collectively. The term לֵב is often used figuratively (metonymy) in reference to inclinations and determinations of the will (BDB 525 s.v. 4), moral character (BDB 525 s.v. 6), and as a synecdoche for the man himself (BDB 525 s.v. 7).

[8:11]  ¹² tn Heb “is full to do evil.” The verb מָלֵא (male’, “to fill”) is used figuratively (metonymy): the lack of swift judicial punishment only emboldens the wicked to commit more crimes without fear of retribution. Most English versions translate the term literally: “are filled” (NIV, MLB, YLT), “is fully set” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NRSV). However, several versions nuance it figuratively: “emboldened” (ASV, NJPS) and “boldly” (NEB). Moffatt renders the line, “Because sentence on a crime is not executed at once, the mind of man is prone to evil practices.”

[5:18]  ¹⁰ sn See the note at v. 8.

[5:18]  ¹¹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “Woe to those who pull evil with the ropes of emptiness, and, as [with] ropes of a cart, sin.” Though several textual details are unclear, the basic idea is apparent. The sinners are so attached to their sinful ways (compared here to a heavy load) that they strain to drag them along behind them. If שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness”) is retained, it makes a further comment on their lifestyle, denouncing it as one that is devoid of what is right and destined to lead to nothing but destruction. Because “emptiness” does not form a very tight parallel with “cart” in the next line, some emend שָׁוְא to שֶׂה (she, “sheep”) and עֲגָלָה (’agalah, “cart”) to עֵגֶל (’egel, “calf”): “Those who pull evil along with a sheep halter are as good as dead who pull sin with a calf rope” (following the lead of the LXX and improving the internal parallelism of the verse). In this case, the verse pictures the sinners pulling sin along behind them as one pulls an animal with a halter. For a discussion of this view, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:163, n. 1. Nevertheless, this emendation is unnecessary. The above translation emphasizes the folly of the Israelites who hold on to their sin (and its punishment) even while they hope for divine intervention.

[5:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “let his work hurry, let it hasten.” The pronoun “his” refers to God, as the parallel line makes clear. The reference to his “work” alludes back to v. 12, which refers to his ‘work” of judgment. With these words the people challenged the prophet’s warning of approaching judgment. They were in essence saying that they saw no evidence that God was about to work in such a way.

[5:19]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[5:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “draw near” (so NASB); NRSV “hasten to fulfillment.”

[5:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “have denied the Lord.” The words “What…says” are implicit in what follows.

[5:12]  ¹⁷ tn Or “he will do nothing”; Heb “Not he [or it]!”

[5:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “we will not see the sword and famine.”

[5:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “will be wind.”

[5:13]  ²⁰ tc Heb “the word is not in them.” The MT has a highly unusual form here, the Piel perfect with the definite article (הַדִּבֵּר, haddibber). It is undoubtedly best to read with the LXX (Greek version) and one Hebrew ms the article on the noun (הַדָּבָר, haddavar).

[17:15]  ²² tn Heb “Behold, they are saying to me.”

[17:15]  ²³ tn Heb “Where is the word of the Lord. Let it come [or come to pass] please.”

[12:23]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the days draw near and the word of every vision (draws near).”

[2:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

[24:28]  ³¹ tn The same Greek term can refer to “eagles” or “vultures” (L&N 4.42; BDAG 22 s.v. ἀετός), but in this context it must mean vultures because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed by scavengers.

[24:28]  ³² tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.

[12:45]  ³⁴ tn In the Greek text this is a third class condition that for all practical purposes is a hypothetical condition (note the translation of the following verb “should say”).

[12:45]  ³⁵ tn The term “that” (ἐκεῖνος, ekeino") is used as a catchword to list out, in the form of a number of hypothetical circumstances, what the possible responses of “that” servant could be. He could be faithful (vv. 43-44) or totally unfaithful (vv. 45-46). He does not complete his master’s will with knowledge (v. 47) or from ignorance (v 48). These differences are indicated by the different levels of punishment in vv. 46-48.

[12:45]  ³⁶ tn Grk “should say in his heart.”

[12:45]  ³⁷ tn Or “is taking a long time.”

[12:45]  ³⁸ sn The slave’s action in beginning to beat the other slaves was not only a failure to carry out what was commanded but involved doing the exact reverse.

[12:45]  ³⁹ tn The word “other” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[12:45]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “the menservants and the maidservants.” The term here, used in both masculine and feminine grammatical forms, is παῖς (pais), which can refer to a slave, but also to a slave who is a personal servant, and thus regarded kindly (L&N 87.77).