Job 24:15

24:15 And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight,

thinking, ¹  ‘No eye can see me,’

and covers his face with a mask.

Proverbs 9:17

9:17 “Stolen waters ²  are sweet,

and food obtained in secret ³  is pleasant!”

Jeremiah 23:24

23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself

where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. ⁴ 

“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” ⁵ 

the Lord asks. ⁶ 

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ⁷  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ⁸  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ⁹  who refuse to help ¹⁰  the immigrant ¹¹  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Ephesians 5:3

5:3 But ¹²  among you there must not be either sexual immorality, impurity of any kind, ¹³  or greed, as these are not fitting for the saints. ¹⁴ 

Ephesians 5:12

5:12 For the things they do ¹⁵  in secret are shameful even to mention.

[24:15]  ¹ tn Heb “saying.”

[9:17]  ² sn The offer is not wine and meat (which represented wisdom), but water that is stolen. The “water” will seem sweeter than wine because it is stolen – the idea of getting away with something exciting appeals to the baser instincts. In Proverbs the water imagery was introduced earlier in 5:15-19 as sexual activity with the adulteress, which would seem at the moment more enjoyable than learning wisdom. Likewise bread will be drawn into this analogy in 30:20. So the “calling out” is similar to that of wisdom, but what is being offered is very different.

[9:17]  ³ tn Heb “bread of secrecies.” It could mean “bread [eaten in] secret places,” a genitive of location; or it could mean “bread [gained through] secrets,” a genitive of source, the secrecies being metonymical for theft. The latter makes a better parallelism in this verse, for bread (= sexually immoral behavior) gained secretly would be like stolen water.

[23:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:24]  ⁵ tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[3:5]  ⁷ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

[3:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ¹¹ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”

[5:3]  ¹² tn The term “But” translates the δέ (de) in a contrastive way in light of the perfect obedience of Jesus in vv. 1-2 and the vices mentioned in v. 3.

[5:3]  ¹³ tn Grk “all impurity.”

[5:3]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “just as is fitting for saints.” The καθώς (kaqws) was rendered with “as” and the sense is causal, i.e., “for” or “because.” The negative particle “not” (“for these are not proper for the saints”) in this clause was supplied in English so as to make the sense very clear, i.e., that these vices are not befitting of those who name the name of Christ.

[5:12]  ¹⁵ tn The participle τὰ…γινόμενα (ta…ginomena) usually refers to “things happening” or “things which are,” but with the following genitive phrase ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν (Jup’ autwn), which indicates agency, the idea seems to be “things being done.” This passive construction was translated as an active one to simplify the English style.