Jeremiah 6:18

6:18 So the Lord said, ¹ 

“Hear, you nations!

Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people. ² 

Jeremiah 31:10

31:10 Hear what the Lord has to say, O nations.

Proclaim it in the faraway lands along the sea.

Say, “The one who scattered Israel will regather them.

He will watch over his people like a shepherd watches over his flock.”

Jeremiah 46:14

46:14 “Make an announcement throughout Egypt.

Proclaim it in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. ³ 

‘Take your positions and prepare to do battle.

For the enemy army is destroying all the nations around you.’ ⁴ 

Psalms 64:9

64:9 and all people will fear. ⁵ 

They will proclaim ⁶  what God has done,

and reflect on his deeds.

Psalms 96:3

96:3 Tell the nations about his splendor!

Tell ⁷  all the nations about his amazing deeds!

Isaiah 12:4

12:4 At that time ⁸  you will say:

“Praise the Lord!

Ask him for help! ⁹ 

Publicize his mighty acts among the nations!

Make it known that he is unique! ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 48:6

48:6 You have heard; now look at all the evidence! ¹¹ 

Will you not admit that what I say is true? ¹² 

From this point on I am announcing to you new events

that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about. ¹³ 

Isaiah 66:18-19

66:18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming ¹⁴  to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; ¹⁵  they will come and witness my splendor. 66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them ¹⁶  and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, ¹⁷  Lud ¹⁸  (known for its archers ¹⁹ ), Tubal, Javan, ²⁰  and to the distant coastlands ²¹  that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor.

Revelation 14:6-8

Three Angels and Three Messages

14:6 Then ²²  I saw another ²³  angel flying directly overhead, ²⁴  and he had ²⁵  an eternal gospel to proclaim ²⁶  to those who live ²⁷  on the earth – to every nation, tribe, ²⁸  language, and people. 14:7 He declared ²⁹  in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”

14:8 A ³⁰  second ³¹  angel ³²  followed the first, ³³  declaring: ³⁴  “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great city! ³⁵  She made all the nations ³⁶  drink of the wine of her immoral passion.” ³⁷ 

[6:18]  ¹ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the flow of the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:18]  ² tn Heb “Know, congregation [or witness], what in [or against] them.” The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The meaning of the noun of address in the second line (“witness,” rendered as an imperative in the translation, “Be witnesses”) is greatly debated. It is often taken as “congregation” but the lexicons and commentaries generally question the validity of reading that word since it is nowhere else applied to the nations. BDB 417 s.v. עֵדָה 3 says that the text is dubious. HALOT 747 s.v. I עֵדָה, 4 emends the text to דֵּעָה (de’ah). Several modern English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, God’s Word) take it as the feminine singular noun “witness” (cf. BDB 729 s.v. II עֵדָה) and understand it as a collective. This solution is also proposed by J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 259, n. 3) and appears to make the best sense in the context. The end of the line is very elliptical but is generally taken as either, “what I will do with/to them,” or “what is coming against them” (= “what will happen to them”) on the basis of the following context.

[46:14]  ³ tn Heb “Declare in Egypt and announce in Migdol and announce in Noph [= Memphis] and in Tahpanhes.” The sentence has been restructured to reflect the fact that the first command is a general one, followed by announcements in specific (representative?) cities.

[46:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “For the sword devours those who surround you.” The “sword” is again figurative of destructive forces. Here it is a reference to the forces of Nebuchadnezzar which have already destroyed the Egyptian forces at Carchemish and have made victorious forays into the Philistine plain.

[64:9]  ⁵ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read וַיִּרְאוּ (vayyir’u, “and they will see”) instead of וַיִּירְאוּ (vayyirÿ’u, “and they will proclaim”).

[64:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “the work of God,” referring to the judgment described in v. 7.

[96:3]  ⁷ tn The verb “tell” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[12:4]  ⁸ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[12:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “call in his name,” i.e., “invoke his name.”

[12:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “bring to remembrance that his name is exalted.” The Lord’s “name” stands here for his character and reputation.

[48:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “gaze [at] all of it”; KJV “see all this.”

[48:6]  ¹² tn Heb “[as for] you, will you not declare?”

[48:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “and hidden things, and you do not know them.”

[66:18]  ¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[66:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”

[66:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).

[66:19]  ¹⁷ tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).

[66:19]  ¹⁸ sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).

[66:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).

[66:19]  ²⁰ sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).

[66:19]  ²¹ tn Or “islands” (NIV).

[14:6]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[14:6]  ²³ tc Most mss (Ì47 א* Ï sa) lack ἄλλον (allon, “another”) here, but the support for it is stronger (Ì^115vid א² A C P 051 1006 1611 1841 2053 2329 al latt sy bo). The problem that its inclusion represents is that there is no reference to any other angel in the immediate context (the last mention was in 11:15). In this instance, the longer reading is harder. The word was probably intentionally omitted in order to resolve the tension; less likely, it might have been accidentally omitted since its spelling is similar to “angel” (ἄγγελος, angelos).

[14:6]  ²⁴ tn L&N 1.10 states, “a point or region of the sky directly above the earth – ‘high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.’”

[14:6]  ²⁵ tn Grk “having.”

[14:6]  ²⁶ tn Or “an eternal gospel to announce as good news.”

[14:6]  ²⁷ tn Grk “to those seated on the earth.”

[14:6]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and tribe,” 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.

[14:7]  ²⁹ tn Grk “people, saying.” In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence. For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.

[14:8]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:8]  ³¹ tc There are several different variants comprising a textual problem involving “second” (δεύτερος, deuteros). First, several mss (A 1 2329 Ï^K) read “another, a second angel” (ἄλλος δεύτερος ἄγγελος, allo" deutero" angelo"). Second, other mss (Ì⁴⁷ א* 1006 1841 1854 pc) read just “another, a second” (ἄλλος δεύτερος). Third, the reading “another angel” (ἄλλος ἄγγελος) is supported by a few Greek mss and some versional evidence (69 pc ar vg). Fourth, several mss (א² [C reads δεύτερον instead of δεύτερος] 051 1611 2053 2344 Ï^A) support the reading “another, a second angel” (ἄλλος ἄγγελος δεύτερος). The reading that most likely gave rise to the others is the fourth. The first reading attempts to smooth out the grammar by placing the adjective in front of the noun. The second reading may have dropped out the “angel” on the basis of its similarity to “another” (ἄλλος). The third reading either intentionally or accidentally left out the word “second.” In any event, this is weakly attested and should not be given much consideration. (If, however, this reading had had good support, with “second” floating, and with “third” in the text in 14:9, one could possibly see δεύτερος as a motivated reading. But without sufficient support for the third reading, the one thing that is most certain is that δεύτερος was part of the original text here.) It is difficult to account for the rise of the other readings if “second” is not original. And the undisputed use of “third” (τρίτος, tritos) in 14:9 may be another indicator that the adjective “second” was in the original text. Finally, the fourth reading is the more difficult and therefore, in this case, to be accepted as the progenitor of the others.

[14:8]  ³² tn Grk “And another angel, a second.”

[14:8]  ³³ tn The words “the first” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[14:8]  ³⁴ tn For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.

[14:8]  ³⁵ sn The fall of Babylon the great city is described in detail in Rev 18:2-24.

[14:8]  ³⁶ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[14:8]  ³⁷ tn Grk “of the wine of the passion of the sexual immorality of her.” Here τῆς πορνείας (th" porneia") has been translated as an attributive genitive. In an ironic twist of fate, God will make Babylon drink her own mixture, but it will become the wine of his wrath in retribution for her immoral deeds (see the note on the word “wrath” in 16:19).