Isaiah 65:23

65:23 They will not work in vain,

or give birth to children that will experience disaster. ¹ 

For the Lord will bless their children

and their descendants. ² 

Psalms 115:14

115:14 May he increase your numbers,

yours and your children’s! ³ 

Acts 3:26

3:26 God raised up ⁴  his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning ⁵  each one of you from your iniquities.” ⁶ 

Romans 11:16-24

11:16 If the first portion ⁷  of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches. ⁸ 

11:17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in ⁹  the richness of the olive root, 11:18 do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 11:19 Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 11:20 Granted! ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; ¹²  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?

[65:23]  ¹ tn Heb “and they will not give birth to horror.”

[65:23]  ² tn Heb “for offspring blessed by the Lord they [will be], and their descendants along with them.”

[115:14]  ³ tn Heb “may he add to you, to you and your sons.” The prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating this is a prayer.

[3:26]  ⁴ tn Grk “God raising up his servant, sent him.” The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Some translations (e.g., NIV, NRSV) render this participle as temporal (“when God raised up his servant”).

[3:26]  ⁵ sn The picture of turning is again seen as the appropriate response to the message. See v. 19 above. In v. 19 it was “turning to,” here it is “turning away from.” The direction of the two metaphors is important.

[3:26]  ⁶ tn For the translation of plural πονηρία (ponhria) as “iniquities,” see G. Harder, TDNT 6:565. The plural is important, since for Luke turning to Jesus means turning away from sins, not just the sin of rejecting Jesus.

[11:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “firstfruits,” a term for the first part of something that has been set aside and offered to God before the remainder can be used.

[11:16]  ⁸ sn Most interpreters see Paul as making use of a long-standing metaphor of the olive tree (the root…the branches) as a symbol for Israel. See, in this regard, Jer 11:16, 19. A. T. Hanson, Studies in Paul’s Technique and Theology, 121-24, cites rabbinic use of the figure of the olive tree, and goes so far as to argue that Rom 11:17-24 is a midrash on Jer 11:16-19.

[11:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “became a participant of.”

[11:20]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “well!”, an adverb used to affirm a statement. It means “very well,” “you are correct.”

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

[11:22]  ¹² tn Grk “if you continue in (the) kindness.”