Isaiah 30:8-11

30:8 Now go, write it ¹  down on a tablet in their presence, ² 

inscribe it on a scroll,

so that it might be preserved for a future time

as an enduring witness. ³ 

30:9 For these are rebellious people –

they are lying children,

children unwilling to obey the Lord’s law. ⁴ 

30:10 They ⁵  say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!”

and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! ⁶ 

Tell us nice things,

relate deceptive messages. ⁷ 

30:11 Turn aside from the way,

stray off the path. ⁸ 

Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.” ⁹ 

Psalms 19:7-8

19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect

and preserves one’s life. ¹⁰ 

The rules set down by the Lord ¹¹  are reliable ¹² 

and impart wisdom to the inexperienced. ¹³ 

19:8 The Lord’s precepts are fair ¹⁴ 

and make one joyful. ¹⁵ 

The Lord’s commands ¹⁶  are pure ¹⁷ 

and give insight for life. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 119:130

119:130 Your instructions are a doorway through which light shines. ¹⁹ 

They give ²⁰  insight to the untrained. ²¹ 

Jeremiah 8:9

8:9 Your wise men will be put to shame.

They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. ²² 

Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,

what wisdom do they really have?

Micah 3:6

3:6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; ²³ 

it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. ²⁴ 

The sun will set on these prophets,

and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads. ²⁵ 

Matthew 6:23

6:23 But if your eye is diseased, ²⁶  your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Matthew 22:29

22:29 Jesus ²⁷  answered them, “You are deceived, ²⁸  because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God.

Mark 7:7-9

7:7 They worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.’ ²⁹ 

7:8 Having no regard ³⁰  for the command of God, you hold fast to human tradition.” ³¹  7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up ³²  your tradition.

Romans 1:22

1:22 Although they claimed ³³  to be wise, they became fools

Romans 1:2

1:2 This gospel ³⁴  he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

Romans 1:9

1:9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospel ³⁵  of his Son, is my witness that ³⁶  I continually remember you

[30:8]  ¹ tn The referent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix is uncertain. Perhaps it refers to the preceding message, which accuses the people of rejecting the Lord’s help in favor of an alliance with Egypt.

[30:8]  ² tn Heb “with them.” On the use of the preposition here, see BDB 86 s.v. II אֵת.

[30:8]  ³ sn Recording the message will enable the prophet to use it in the future as evidence that God warned his people of impending judgment and clearly spelled out the nation’s guilt. An official record of the message will also serve as proof of the prophet’s authority as God’s spokesman.

[30:9]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps, “instruction” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NCV, TEV “teachings.”

[30:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “who” (so NASB, NRSV). A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “Do not see for us right things.”

[30:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “Tell us smooth things, see deceptive things.”

[30:11]  ⁸ sn The imagery refers to the way or path of truth, as revealed by God to the prophet.

[30:11]  ⁹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[19:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[it] restores life.” Elsewhere the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) when used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”) as object, means to “rescue or preserve one’s life” (Job 33:30; Ps 35:17) or to “revive one’s strength” (emotionally or physically; cf. Ruth 4:15; Lam 1:11, 16, 19). Here the point seems to be that the law preserves the life of the one who studies it by making known God’s will. Those who know God’s will know how to please him and can avoid offending him. See v. 11a.

[19:7]  ¹¹ tn Traditionally, “the testimony of the Lord.” The noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to the demands of God’s covenant law.

[19:7]  ¹² tn God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.

[19:7]  ¹³ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly.

[19:8]  ¹⁴ tn Or “just.” Perhaps the idea is that they impart a knowledge of what is just and right.

[19:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “[they] make happy [the] heart.” Perhaps the point is that they bring a sense of joyful satisfaction to the one who knows and keeps them, for those who obey God’s law are richly rewarded. See v. 11b.

[19:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “command.” The singular here refers to the law as a whole.

[19:8]  ¹⁷ tn Because they reflect God’s character, his commands provide a code of moral and ethical purity.

[19:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb [they] enlighten [the] eyes.

[119:130]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the doorway of your words gives light.” God’s “words” refer here to the instructions in his law (see vv. 9, 57).

[119:130]  ²⁰ tn Heb “it [i.e., the doorway] gives.”

[119:130]  ²¹ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly. See Pss 19:7; 116:6.

[8:9]  ²² tn Heb “be trapped.” However, the word “trapped” generally carries with it the connotation of divine judgment. See BDB 540 s.v. לָכַד Niph.2, and compare usage in Jer 6:11 for support. The verbs in the first two lines are again the form of the Hebrew verb that emphasizes that the action is as good as done (Hebrew prophetic perfects).

[3:6]  ²³ tn Heb “it will be night for you without a vision.”

[3:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “it will be dark for you without divination.”

[3:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and the day will be dark over them.”

[6:23]  ²⁶ tn Or “if your eye is sick” (L&N 23.149).

[22:29]  ²⁷ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[22:29]  ²⁸ tn Or “mistaken” (cf. BDAG 822 s.v. πλανάω 2.c.γ).

[7:7]  ²⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

[7:8]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Having left the command.”

[7:8]  ³¹ tc The majority of mss, mostly Byzantine ([A] ˹³ 33 Ï), have at the end of v. 8 material that seems to have come from v. 4 and v. 13: “the washing of pots and cups, and you do many other similar things.” A slight variation on the wording occurs at the very beginning of v. 8 in mostly Western witnesses (D Θ 0131^vid 28 565 it). Such floating texts are usually signs of scribal emendations. The fact that the earliest and most reliable mss, as well as other important witnesses (Ì⁴⁵ א B L W Δ 0274 ˹ 2427 co), lacked this material also strongly suggests that the longer reading is secondary.

[7:9]  ³² tc The translation here follows the reading στήσητε (sthshte, “set up”) found in D W Θ Ë¹ 28 565 2542 it sy^s,p Cyp. The majority of mss here read τηρήσητε (thrhsete; א A L ˹³ 33 Ï co) or τηρῆτε (thrhte; B 2427), both translated “keep.” It is hard to know which reading is best: On the one hand, τηρήσητε/τηρῆτε has much stronger external support, but στήσητε is a more difficult reading. What makes “keep” suspect is that it appears in two different forms, suggesting independent alterations of a difficult reading. Further, scribes may have been influenced by the preceding “commandment of God” to change the text toward “keep” (TCGNT 81), a common enough expression (cf. Matt 19:17; John 14:15; 1 Tim 6:1; 1 John 5:3; Rev 14:12). Thus, the more difficult reading is “set up.” Also, the more natural opposite of “reject” (ἀθεῖτε [aqeite], literally “you set aside”) is “set up.” However, the Western reading may have been influenced by Exod 6:4 or Heb 10:9, but this likelihood seems remote. Thus, “set up” is more likely to be the original wording of Mark here.

[1:22]  ³³ tn The participle φάσκοντες (faskonte") is used concessively here.

[1:2]  ³⁴ tn Grk “the gospel of God, which he promised.” Because of the length and complexity of this sentence in Greek, it was divided into shorter English sentences in keeping with contemporary English style. To indicate the referent of the relative pronoun (“which”), the word “gospel” was repeated at the beginning of v. 2.

[1:9]  ³⁵ tn Grk “whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel.”

[1:9]  ³⁶ tn Grk “as.”