Genesis 6:13

6:13 So God said ¹  to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, ²  for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy ³  them and the earth.

Genesis 19:14

19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. ⁴  He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy ⁵  the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. ⁶ 

Exodus 9:18-21

9:18 I am going to cause very severe hail to rain down ⁷  about this time tomorrow, such hail as has never occurred ⁸  in Egypt from the day it was founded ⁹  until now. 9:19 So now, send instructions ¹⁰  to gather ¹¹  your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person ¹²  or animal caught ¹³  in the field and not brought into the house – the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”

9:20 Those ¹⁴  of Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their ¹⁵  servants and livestock into the houses, 9:21 but those ¹⁶  who did not take ¹⁷  the word of the Lord seriously left their servants and their cattle ¹⁸  in the field.

Proverbs 22:3

22:3 A shrewd person ¹⁹  sees danger ²⁰  and hides himself,

but the naive keep right on going ²¹  and suffer for it. ²² 

Proverbs 27:12

27:12 A shrewd person sees danger and hides himself,

but the naive keep right on going ²³  and suffer for it.

Ezekiel 3:17-19

3:17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman ²⁴  for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. 3:18 When I say to the wicked, “You will certainly die,” ²⁵  and you do not warn him – you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked deed and wicked lifestyle so that he may live – that wicked person will die for his iniquity, ²⁶  but I will hold you accountable for his death. ²⁷  3:19 But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life. ²⁸ 

Matthew 3:7

3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees ²⁹  and Sadducees ³⁰  coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Matthew 24:15

The Abomination of Desolation

24:15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation ³¹  – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

Matthew 24:25

24:25 Remember, ³²  I have told you ahead of time.

Matthew 24:2

24:2 And he said to them, ³³  “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, ³⁴  not one stone will be left on another. ³⁵  All will be torn down!” ³⁶ 

Matthew 3:6

3:6 and he was baptizing them ³⁷  in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

[6:13]  ¹ sn On the divine style utilized here, see R. Lapointe, “The Divine Monologue as a Channel of Revelation,” CBQ 32 (1970): 161-81.

[6:13]  ² tn Heb “the end of all flesh is coming [or “has come”] before me.” (The verb form is either a perfect or a participle.) The phrase “end of all flesh” occurs only here. The term “end” refers here to the end of “life,” as v. 3 and the following context (which describes how God destroys all flesh) make clear. The statement “the end has come” occurs in Ezek 7:2, 6, where it is used of divine judgment. The phrase “come before” occurs in Exod 28:30, 35; 34:34; Lev 15:14; Num 27:17; 1 Sam 18:13, 16; 2 Sam 19:8; 20:8; 1 Kgs 1:23, 28, 32; Ezek 46:9; Pss 79:11 (groans come before God); 88:3 (a prayer comes before God); 100:2; 119:170 (prayer comes before God); Lam 1:22 (evil doing comes before God); Esth 1:19; 8:1; 9:25; 1 Chr 16:29. The expression often means “have an audience with” or “appear before.” But when used metaphorically, it can mean “get the attention of” or “prompt a response.” This is probably the sense in Gen 6:13. The necessity of ending the life of all flesh on earth is an issue that has gotten the attention of God. The term “end” may even be a metonymy for that which has prompted it – violence (see the following clause).

[6:13]  ³ tn The participle, especially after הִנֵּה (hinneh) has an imminent future nuance. The Hiphil of שָׁחָת (shakhat) here has the sense “to destroy” (in judgment). Note the wordplay involving this verb in vv. 11-13: The earth is “ruined” because all flesh has acted in a morally “corrupt” manner. Consequently, God will “destroy” all flesh (the referent of the suffix “them”) along with the ruined earth. They had ruined themselves and the earth with violence, and now God would ruin them with judgment. For other cases where “earth” occurs as the object of the Hiphil of שָׁחָת, see 1 Sam 6:5; 1 Chr 20:1; Jer 36:29; 51:25.

[19:14]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.

[19:14]  ⁶ 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.

[9:18]  ⁷ tn הִנְנִי מַמְטִיר (hinÿni mamtir) is the futur instans construction, giving an imminent future translation: “Here – I am about to cause it to rain.”

[9:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “which not was like it in Egypt.” The pronoun suffix serves as the resumptive pronoun for the relative particle: “which…like it” becomes “the like of which has not been.” The word “hail” is added in the translation to make clear the referent of the relative particle.

[9:18]  ⁹ tn The form הִוָּסְדָה (hivvasdah) is perhaps a rare Niphal perfect and not an infinitive (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 117).

[9:19]  ¹⁰ tn The object “instructions” is implied in the context.

[9:19]  ¹¹ tn הָעֵז (ha’ez) is the Hiphil imperative from עוּז (’uz, “to bring into safety” or “to secure”). Although there is no vav (ו) linking the two imperatives, the second could be subordinated by virtue of the meanings. “Send to bring to safety.”

[9:19]  ¹² tn Heb “man, human.”

[9:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “[who] may be found.” The verb can be the imperfect of possibility.

[9:20]  ¹⁴ tn The text has “the one fearing.” The singular expression here and throughout vv. 20-21 refers to all who fit the description.

[9:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his” (singular).

[9:21]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text again has the singular.

[9:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “put to his heart.”

[9:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his servants and his cattle.”

[22:3]  ¹⁹ sn The contrast is between the “shrewd” (prudent) person and the “simpleton.” The shrewd person knows where the dangers and pitfalls are in life and so can avoid them; the naive person is unwary, untrained, and gullible, unable to survive the dangers of the world and blundering into them.

[22:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “evil,” a term that is broad enough to include (1) “sin” as well as (2) any form of “danger” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT) or “trouble” (TEV, CEV). The second option is more likely what is meant here: The naive simpleton does not see the danger to be avoided and so suffers for it.

[22:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “go on”; the word “right” is supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning: The naive person, oblivious to impending danger, meets it head on (cf. TEV “will walk right into it”).

[22:3]  ²² tn The verb עָנַשׁ (’anash) means “to fine” specifically. In the Niphal stem it means “to be fined,” or more generally, “to be punished.” In this line the punishment is the consequence of blundering into trouble – they will pay for it.

[27:12]  ²³ tn Heb “go on”; the word “right” is supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning: The naive person, oblivious to impending danger, meets it head on.

[3:17]  ²⁴ tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24; 2 Kgs 9:17.

[3:18]  ²⁵ sn Even though the infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the warning, the warning is still implicitly conditional, as the following context makes clear.

[3:18]  ²⁶ tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and v. 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”

[3:18]  ²⁷ tn Heb “his blood I will seek from your hand.” The expression “seek blood from the hand” is equivalent to requiring the death penalty (2 Sam 4:11-12).

[3:19]  ²⁸ tn Verses 17-19 are repeated in Ezek 33:7-9.

[3:7]  ²⁹ sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[3:7]  ³⁰ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[24:15]  ³¹ sn The reference to the abomination of desolation is an allusion to Dan 9:27. Though some have seen the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in the actions of Antiochus IV (or a representative of his) in 167 b.c., the words of Jesus seem to indicate that Antiochus was not the final fulfillment, but that there was (from Jesus’ perspective) still another fulfillment yet to come. Some argue that this was realized in a.d. 70, while others claim that it refers specifically to Antichrist and will not be fully realized until the period of the great tribulation at the end of the age (cf. Mark 13:14, 19, 24; Rev 3:10).

[24:25]  ³² tn Or “Pay attention!” Grk “Behold.”

[24:2]  ³³ tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (ajpokriqei") is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[24:2]  ³⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[24:2]  ³⁵ sn With the statement not one stone will be left on another Jesus predicted the total destruction of the temple, something that did occur in a.d. 70.

[24:2]  ³⁶ tn Grk “not one stone will be left here on another which will not be thrown down.”

[3:6]  ³⁷ tn Grk “they were being baptized by him.” The passive construction has been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.