Isaiah 5:19

5:19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly, ¹ 

so we can see;

let the plan of the Holy One of Israel ²  take shape ³  and come to pass,

then we will know it!”

Isaiah 30:12-13

30:12 For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

“You have rejected this message; ⁴ 

you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick, ⁵ 

and rely on that kind of behavior. ⁶ 

30:13 So this sin will become your downfall.

You will be like a high wall

that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse;

it crumbles suddenly, in a flash. ⁷ 

Isaiah 60:22

60:22 The least of you will multiply into ⁸  a thousand;

the smallest of you will become a large nation.

When the right time comes, I the Lord will quickly do this!” ⁹ 

Habakkuk 2:3

2:3 For the message is a witness to what is decreed; ¹⁰ 

it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out. ¹¹ 

Even if the message ¹²  is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently; ¹³ 

for it will certainly come to pass – it will not arrive late.

Luke 18:7-8

18:7 Won’t ¹⁴  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ¹⁵  to him day and night? ¹⁶  Will he delay ¹⁷  long to help them? 18:8 I tell you, he will give them justice speedily. ¹⁸  Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith ¹⁹  on earth?”

Luke 18:2

18:2 He said, ²⁰  “In a certain city ²¹  there was a judge ²²  who neither feared God nor respected people. ²³ 

Luke 2:3

2:3 Everyone ²⁴  went to his own town ²⁵  to be registered.

Luke 3:8-10

3:8 Therefore produce ²⁶  fruit ²⁷  that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say ²⁸  to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ²⁹  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ³⁰  3:9 Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, ³¹  and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be ³²  cut down and thrown into the fire.”

3:10 So ³³  the crowds were asking ³⁴  him, “What then should we do?”

[5:19]  ¹ 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]  ² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[5:19]  ³ tn Heb “draw near” (so NASB); NRSV “hasten to fulfillment.”

[30:12]  ⁴ tn The sentence actually begins with the word “because.” In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.

[30:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “and you trust in oppression and cunning.”

[30:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “and you lean on it”; NAB “and depend on it.”

[30:13]  ⁷ tn The verse reads literally, “So this sin will become for you like a breach ready to fall, bulging on a high wall, the breaking of which comes suddenly, in a flash.” Their sin produces guilt and will result in judgment. Like a wall that collapses their fall will be swift and sudden.

[60:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “will become” (so NASB, NIV).

[60:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “I, the Lord, in its time, I will quickly do it.”

[2:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “For the vision is still for the appointed time.” The Hebrew word עוֹד (’od, “still”) is better emended to עֵד (’ed, “witness”) in light of the parallelism (see the note on the word “turn out” in the following line). The “appointed time” refers to the time when the divine judgment anticipated in vv. 6-20 will be realized.

[2:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and a witness to the end and it does not lie.” The Hebrew term יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) has been traditionally understood as a verb form from the root פּוּחַ (puakh, “puff, blow”; cf. NEB “it will come in breathless haste”; NASB “it hastens toward the goal”) but recent scholarship has demonstrated that it is actually a noun meaning “witness” (cf. NIV “it speaks of the end / and will not prove false”; NRSV “it speaks of the end, and does not lie”). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 106. “The end” corresponds to “the appointed time” of the preceding line and refers to the time when the prophecy to follow will be fulfilled.

[2:3]  ¹² tn Heb “it”; the referent (the message) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “If it should delay, wait for it.” The Hebrew word חָזוֹן (khazon, “vision, message”) is the subject of the third person verbs in v. 3 and the antecedent of the pronominal suffix in the phrase “for it.”

[18:7]  ¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:7]  ¹⁵ sn The prayers have to do with the righteous who cry out to him to receive justice. The context assumes the righteous are persecuted.

[18:7]  ¹⁶ tn The emphatic particles in this sentence indicate that God will indeed give justice to the righteous.

[18:7]  ¹⁷ sn The issue of delay has produced a whole host of views for this verse. (1) Does this assume provision to endure in the meantime? Or (2) does it mean God restricts the level of persecution until he comes? Either view is possible.

[18:8]  ¹⁸ tn Some argue this should be translated “suddenly.” When vindication comes it will be quick. But the more natural meaning is “soon.” God will not forget his elect and will respond to them. It may be that this verse has a prophetic perspective. In light of the eternity that comes, vindication is soon.

[18:8]  ¹⁹ sn Will he find faith on earth? The Son of Man is looking for those who continue to believe in him, despite the wait.

[18:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “lose heart, saying.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronominal subject “He.”

[18:2]  ²¹ tn Or “town.”

[18:2]  ²² sn The judge here is apparently portrayed as a civil judge who often handled financial cases.

[18:2]  ²³ tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.

[2:3]  ²⁴ tn Grk “And everyone.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:3]  ²⁵ tn Or “hometown” (so CEV).

[3:8]  ²⁶ tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew; see v. 4).

[3:8]  ²⁷ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit” (so NIV; cf. Matt 3:8 where the singular καρπός is found). Some other translations render the plural καρπούς as “fruits” (e.g., NRSV, NASB, NAB, NKJV).

[3:8]  ²⁸ tn In other words, “do not even begin to think this.”

[3:8]  ²⁹ sn We have Abraham as our father. John’s warning to the crowds really assumes two things: (1) A number of John’s listeners apparently believed that simply by their physical descent from Abraham, they were certain heirs of the promises made to the patriarch, and (2) God would never judge his covenant people lest he inadvertently place the fulfillment of his promises in jeopardy. In light of this, John tells these people two things: (1) they need to repent and produce fruit in keeping with repentance, for only that saves from the coming wrath, and (2) God will raise up “children for Abraham from these stones” if he wants to. Their disobedience will not threaten the realization of God’s sovereign purposes.

[3:8]  ³⁰ sn The point of the statement God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham is that ancestry or association with a tradition tied to the great founder of the Jewish nation is not an automatic source of salvation.

[3:9]  ³¹ sn Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees. The imagery of an “ax already laid at the root of the trees” is vivid, connoting sudden and catastrophic judgment for the unrepentant and unfruitful. The image of “fire” serves to further heighten the intensity of the judgment referred to. It is John’s way of summoning all people to return to God with all their heart and avoid his unquenchable wrath soon to be poured out. John’s language and imagery is probably ultimately drawn from the OT where Israel is referred to as a fruitless vine (Hos 10:1-2; Jer 2:21-22) and the image of an “ax” is used to indicate God’s judgment (Ps 74:5-6; Jer 46:22).

[3:9]  ³² tn Grk “is”; the present tense (ἐκκόπτεται, ekkoptetai) has futuristic force here.

[3:10]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the people’s response.

[3:10]  ³⁴ tn Though this verb is imperfect, in this context it does not mean repeated, ongoing questions, but simply a presentation in vivid style as the following verbs in the other examples are aorist.