Isaiah 65:6

65:6 Look, I have decreed: ¹ 

I will not keep silent, but will pay them back;

I will pay them back exactly what they deserve, ² 

Jeremiah 20:2

20:2 When he heard Jeremiah’s prophecy, he had the prophet flogged. ³  Then he put him in the stocks ⁴  which were at the Upper Gate of Benjamin in the Lord’s temple. ⁵ 

Ezekiel 34:3-4

34:3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep! 34:4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness ⁶  you have ruled over them.

Matthew 22:6

22:6 The ⁷  rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them.

Matthew 22:2

22:2 “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.

Colossians 1:20

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ⁸  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Colossians 1:3

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ⁹  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

Colossians 1:9-10

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ¹⁰  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ¹¹  to fill ¹²  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ¹³  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ¹⁴  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Revelation 13:7-10

13:7 The beast ¹⁵  was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. ¹⁶  He was given ruling authority ¹⁷  over every tribe, people, ¹⁸  language, and nation, 13:8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, ¹⁹  everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world ²⁰  in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. ²¹  13:9 If anyone has an ear, he had better listen!

13:10 If anyone is meant for captivity,

into captivity he will go.

If anyone is to be killed by the sword, ²² 

then by the sword he must be killed.

This ²³  requires steadfast endurance ²⁴  and faith from the saints.

Revelation 13:15-17

13:15 The second beast ²⁵  was empowered ²⁶  to give life ²⁷  to the image of the first beast ²⁸  so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 13:16 He also caused ²⁹  everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave ³⁰ ) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. 13:17 Thus no one was allowed to buy ³¹  or sell things ³²  unless he bore ³³  the mark of the beast – that is, his name or his number. ³⁴ 

Revelation 16:6

16:6 because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets,

so ³⁵  you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!” ³⁶ 

Revelation 17:5-6

17:5 On ³⁷  her forehead was written a name, a mystery: ³⁸  “Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.” 17:6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. ³⁹  I ⁴⁰  was greatly astounded ⁴¹  when I saw her.

Revelation 18:24

18:24 The ⁴²  blood of the saints and prophets was found in her, ⁴³ 

along with the blood ⁴⁴  of all those who had been killed on the earth.”

[65:6]  ¹ tn Heb “Look, it is written before me.”

[65:6]  ² tn Heb “I will pay back into their lap.”

[20:2]  ³ tn Heb “And Pashhur son of Immer, the priest and he [= who] was chief overseer [or officer] in the house of the Lord heard Jeremiah prophesying these words/things 20:2 and Pashhur had the prophet Jeremiah flogged.” This verse and the previous one has been restructured in the translation to better conform with contemporary English style.

[20:2]  ⁴ tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. It occurs only here, in 29:26 where it is followed by a parallel word that occurs only there and is generally translated “collar,” and in 2 Chr 16:10 where it is preceded by the word “house of.” It is most often translated “stocks” and explained as an instrument of confinement for keeping prisoners in a crooked position (from its relation to a root meaning “to turn.” See BDB 246 s.v. מַהְפֶּכֶת and KBL 500 s.v. מַהְפֶּכֶת for definition and discussion.) For a full discussion including the interpretation of the ancient versions see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:542-43.

[20:2]  ⁵ sn A comparison of Ezek 8:3 and 9:2 in their contexts will show that this probably refers to the northern gate to the inner court of the temple. It is called Upper because it was on higher ground above the gate in the outer court. It is qualified by “in the Lord’s temple” to distinguish it from the Benjamin Gate in the city wall (cf. 37:13; 38:7). Like the Benjamin Gate in the city wall it faced north toward the territory of the tribe of Benjamin.

[34:4]  ⁶ tn The term translated “harshness” is used to describe the oppression the Israelites suffered as slaves in Egypt (Exod 1:13).

[22:6]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[1:20]  ⁸ tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[1:3]  ⁹ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).

[1:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ¹¹ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ¹² tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:10]  ¹³ tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[13:7]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and it was given to him to go to war.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:7]  ¹⁶ tc Many mss omit the phrase “it was given to make war with the saints and to overcome them” (Ì⁴⁷ A C 2053 Ï^A sa). It is, however, found in Ì^115vid א 051 1006 (1611) 1841 (1854) 2329 2344 2351 (Ï^K) lat sy^ph,(h) bo. Although the ms evidence is somewhat in favor of the shorter reading, the support of ̹¹⁵ (a recently-discovered ms) for the longer reading balances things out. Normally, the shorter reading should be given preference. However, in an instance in which homoioteleuton could play a role, caution must be exercised. In this passage, accidental omission is quite likely. That this could have happened seems apparent from the two occurrences of the identical phrase “and it was given to him” (καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ, kai edoqh autw) in v. 7. The scribe’s eye skipped over the first καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ and went to the second, hence creating an accidental omission of eleven words.

[13:7]  ¹⁷ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:7]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and people,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here or before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[13:8]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:8]  ²⁰ tn The prepositional phrase “since the foundation of the world” is traditionally translated as a modifier of the immediately preceding phrase in the Greek text, “the Lamb who was killed” (so also G. B. Caird, Revelation [HNTC], 168), but it is more likely that the phrase “since the foundation of the world” modifies the verb “written” (as translated above). Confirmation of this can be found in Rev 17:8 where the phrase “written in the book of life since the foundation of the world” occurs with no ambiguity.

[13:8]  ²¹ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[13:10]  ²² tc Many mss (C 051* 2351 Ï^A pc) read “if anyone will kill with the sword, it is necessary for him to be killed with the sword” (εἴ τις ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτενεῖ, δεῖ αὐτὸν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι). Other mss (א 1006 1611* 1854 al) are similar except that they read a present tense “kills” (ἀποκτείνει, apokteinei) in this sentence. Both of these variants may be regarded as essentially saying the same thing. On the other hand, codex A reads “if anyone is to be killed by the sword, he is to be killed by the sword” (εἴ τις ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι). Thus the first two variants convey the idea of retribution, while the last variant, supported by codex A, does not. (There are actually a dozen variants here, evidence that scribes found the original text quite difficult. Only the most important variants are discussed in this note.) The first two variants seem to be in line with Jesus’ comments in Matt 26:52: “everyone who takes up the sword will die by the sword.” The last variant, however, seems to be taking up an idea found in Jer 15:2: “Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.” Though G. B. Caird, Revelation (HNTC), 169-70, gives four arguments in favor of the first reading (i.e., “whoever kills with the sword must with the sword be killed”), the arguments he puts forward can be read equally as well to support the latter alternative. In the end, the reading in codex A seems to be original. The fact that this sentence seems to be in parallel with 10a (which simply focuses on God’s will and suffering passively and is therefore akin to the reading in codex A), and that it most likely gave rise to the others as the most difficult reading, argues for its authenticity.

[13:10]  ²³ tn On ὧδε (Jwde) here, BDAG 1101 s.v. 2 states: “a ref. to a present event, object, or circumstance, in this case, at this point, on this occasion, under these circumstances…in this case moreover 1 Cor 4:2. ὧδε ἡ σοφία ἐστίν…Rv 13:18; cf. 17:9. ὧδέ ἐστιν ἡ ὑπομονή…13:10; 14:12.”

[13:10]  ²⁴ tn Or “perseverance.”

[13:15]  ²⁵ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the second beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:15]  ²⁶ tn Grk “it was given [permitted] to it [the second beast].”

[13:15]  ²⁷ tn Grk “breath,” but in context the point is that the image of the first beast is made to come to life and speak.

[13:15]  ²⁸ tn Grk “of the beast”; the word “first” has been supplied to specify the referent.

[13:16]  ²⁹ tn Or “forced”; Grk “makes” (ποιεῖ, poiei).

[13:16]  ³⁰ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[13:17]  ³¹ tn Grk “and that no one be able to buy or sell.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Although the ἵνα (Jina) is left untranslated, the English conjunction “thus” is used to indicate that this is a result clause.

[13:17]  ³² tn The word “things” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context. In the context of buying and selling, food could be primarily in view, but the more general “things” was used in the translation because the context is not specific.

[13:17]  ³³ tn Grk “except the one who had.”

[13:17]  ³⁴ tn Grk “his name or the number of his name.”

[16:6]  ³⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that this judgment is the result of what these wicked people did to the saints and prophets.

[16:6]  ³⁶ tn Grk “They are worthy”; i.e., of this kind of punishment. By extension, “they got what they deserve.”

[17:5]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:5]  ³⁸ tn Some translations consider the word μυστήριον (musthrion, “mystery”) a part of the name written (“Mystery Babylon the Great,” so KJV, NIV), but the gender of both ὄνομα (onoma, “name”) and μυστήριον are neuter, while the gender of “Babylon” is feminine. This strongly suggests that μυστήριον should be understood as an appositive to ὄνομα (“a name, i.e., a mystery”).

[17:6]  ³⁹ tn Or “of the witnesses to Jesus.” Here the genitive ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) is taken as an objective genitive; Jesus is the object of their testimony.

[17:6]  ⁴⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:6]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “I marveled a great marvel” (an idiom for great astonishment).

[18:24]  ⁴² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:24]  ⁴³ tn The shift in pronouns from second to third person corresponds to the Greek text.

[18:24]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “and of all.” The phrase “along with the blood” has been repeated from the previous clause for stylistic reasons.