Isaiah 5:6

5:6 I will make it a wasteland;

no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, ¹ 

and thorns and briers will grow there.

I will order the clouds

not to drop any rain on it.

Ezekiel 20:46-47

20:46 “Son of man, turn toward ²  the south, ³  and speak out against the south. ⁴  Prophesy against the open scrub ⁵  land of the Negev, 20:47 and say to the scrub land of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ⁶  I am about to start a fire in you, ⁷  and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The flaming fire will not be extinguished, and the whole surface of the ground from the Negev to the north will be scorched by it.

Hosea 3:4

3:4 For the Israelites ⁸  must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.

Micah 3:12

3:12 Therefore, because of you, ⁹  Zion will be plowed up like ¹⁰  a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount ¹¹  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ¹² 

Zechariah 11:1-2

The History and Future of Judah’s Wicked Kings

11:1 Open your gates, Lebanon,

so that the fire may consume your cedars. ¹³ 

11:2 Howl, fir tree,

because the cedar has fallen;

the majestic trees have been destroyed.

Howl, oaks of Bashan,

because the impenetrable forest has fallen.

Matthew 21:18-19

The Withered Fig Tree

21:18 Now early in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. 21:19 After noticing a fig tree ¹⁴  by the road he went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, “Never again will there be fruit from you!” And the fig tree withered at once.

Romans 11:19-27

11:19 Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 11:20 Granted! ¹⁵  They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear! 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. 11:22 Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God – harshness toward those who have fallen, but ¹⁶  God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; ¹⁷  otherwise you also will be cut off. 11:23 And even they – if they do not continue in their unbelief – will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?

11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, ¹⁸  so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel ¹⁹  until the full number ²⁰  of the Gentiles has come in. 11:26 And so ²¹  all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;

he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.

11:27 And this is my covenant with them, ²² 

when I take away their sins.” ²³ 

[5:6]  ¹ tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.

[20:46]  ² tn Heb “set your face toward.” This expression occurs as well in Ezek 6:2; 13:17.

[20:46]  ³ tn Or “the way toward the south,” or “the way toward Teman.” Teman is in the south and may be a location or the direction.

[20:46]  ⁴ tn Or “toward Darom.” Darom may mean the south or a region just north of southern city of Beer Sheba. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:417-18.

[20:46]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term can also mean “forest,” but a meaning of uncultivated wasteland fits the Negev region far better. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:418.

[20:47]  ⁶ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[20:47]  ⁷ tn Fire also appears as a form of judgment in Ezek 15:4-7; 19:12, 14.

[3:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “sons of Israel” (so NASB); KJV “children of Israel”; NAB “people of Israel” (likewise in the following verse).

[3:12]  ⁹ tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.

[3:12]  ¹⁰ tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).

[3:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[3:12]  ¹² tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”

[11:1]  ¹³ sn In this poetic section, plants and animals provide the imagery for rulers, especially evil ones (cf. respectively Isa 10:33-34; Ezek 31:8; Amos 2:9; Nah 2:12).

[21:19]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “one fig tree.”

[11:20]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “well!”, an adverb used to affirm a statement. It means “very well,” “you are correct.”

[11:22]  ¹⁶ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[11:22]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “if you continue in (the) kindness.”

[11:25]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[11:25]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”

[11:25]  ²⁰ tn Grk “fullness.”

[11:26]  ²¹ tn It is not clear whether the phrase καὶ οὕτως (kai Joutws, “and so”) is to be understood in a modal sense (“and in this way”) or in a temporal sense (“and in the end”). Neither interpretation is conclusive from a grammatical standpoint, and in fact the two may not be mutually exclusive. Some, like H. Hübner, who argue strongly against the temporal reading, nevertheless continue to give the phrase a temporal significance, saying that God will save all Israel in the end (Gottes Ich und Israel [FRLANT], 118).

[11:27]  ²² sn A quotation from Isa 59:20-21.

[11:27]  ²³ sn A quotation from Isa 27:9; Jer 31:33-34.