Isaiah 56:11

56:11 The dogs have big appetites;

they are never full. ¹ 

They are shepherds who have no understanding;

they all go their own way,

each one looking for monetary gain. ² 

Ezekiel 22:12-13

22:12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; ³  you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, ⁴  declares the sovereign Lord. ⁵ 

22:13 “‘See, I strike my hands together ⁶  at the dishonest profit you have made, and at the bloodshed ⁷  they have done among you.

Ezekiel 22:27

22:27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit.

Amos 8:4-6

8:4 Listen to this, you who trample ⁸  the needy,

and do away with ⁹  the destitute in the land.

8:5 You say,

“When will the new moon festival ¹⁰  be over, ¹¹  so we can sell grain?

When will the Sabbath end, ¹²  so we can open up the grain bins? ¹³ 

We’re eager ¹⁴  to sell less for a higher price, ¹⁵ 

and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales! ¹⁶ 

8:6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, ¹⁷ 

a pair of sandals ¹⁸  for the needy!

We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!” ¹⁹ 

Micah 3:11

3:11 Her ²⁰  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ²¹ 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ²²  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ²³ 

Disaster will not overtake ²⁴  us!”

Matthew 21:13

21:13 And he said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ ²⁵  but you are turning it into a den ²⁶  of robbers!” ²⁷ 

Matthew 23:14

23:14 [[EMPTY]] ²⁸ 

[56:11]  ¹ sn The phrase never full alludes to the greed of the leaders.

[56:11]  ² tn Heb “for his gain from his end.”

[22:12]  ³ tn Heb “usury and interest you take.” See 18:13, 17. This kind of economic exploitation violated the law given in Lev 25:36.

[22:12]  ⁴ sn Forgetting the Lord is also addressed in Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14; Jer 3:21; 13:25; Ezek 23:35; Hos 2:15; 8:14; 13:6.

[22:12]  ⁵ tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.

[22:13]  ⁶ sn This gesture apparently expresses mourning and/or anger (see 6:11; 21:14, 17).

[22:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “the blood which was in you.”

[8:4]  ⁸ tn See the note on the word “trample” in 2:7.

[8:4]  ⁹ tn Or “put an end to”; or “exterminate.”

[8:5]  ¹⁰ sn Apparently work was prohibited during the new moon festival, just as it was on the Sabbath.

[8:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “pass by.”

[8:5]  ¹² tn The verb, though omitted in the Hebrew text, is supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[8:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “sell grain.” Here “grain” could stand by metonymy for the bins where it was stored.

[8:5]  ¹⁴ tn Here and in v. 6 the words “we’re eager” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[8:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to make small the ephah and to make great the shekel.” The “ephah” was a unit of dry measure used to determine the quantity purchased, while the “shekel” was a standard weight used to determine the purchase price. By using a smaller than standard ephah and a heavier than standard shekel, these merchants were able to increase their profit (“sell less for a higher price”) by cheating the buyer.

[8:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and to cheat with deceptive scales”; NASB, NIV “dishonest scales”; NRSV “false balances.”

[8:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to buy the poor for silver.”

[8:6]  ¹⁸ tn See the note on the word “sandals” in 2:6.

[8:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “The chaff of the grain we will sell.”

[3:11]  ²⁰ sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11]  ²² tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11]  ²³ tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

[3:11]  ²⁴ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

[21:13]  ²⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 56:7.

[21:13]  ²⁶ tn Or “a hideout” (see L&N 1.57).

[21:13]  ²⁷ sn A quotation from Jer 7:11. The meaning of Jesus’ statement about making the temple courts a den of robbers probably operates here at two levels. Not only were the religious leaders robbing the people financially, but because of this they had also robbed them spiritually by stealing from them the opportunity to come to know God genuinely. It is possible that these merchants had recently been moved to this location for convenience.

[23:14]  ²⁸ tc The most important mss (א B D L Z Θ Ë¹ 33 892* pc and several versional witnesses) do not have 23:14 “Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ property, and as a show you pray long prayers! Therefore you will receive a more severe punishment.” Part or all of the verse is contained (either after v. 12 or after v. 13) in W 0102 0107 ˹³ Ï and several versions, but it is almost certainly not original. The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number as well, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations. Note also that Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 are very similar in wording and are not disputed textually.