Joel 2:30-31

2:30 I will produce portents both in the sky ¹  and on the earth –

blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

2:31 The sunlight will be turned to darkness

and the moon to the color of blood, ² 

before the day of the Lord comes –

that great and terrible day!

Malachi 4:1

4:1 (3:19) ³  “For indeed the day ⁴  is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord who rules over all. “It ⁵  will not leave even a root or branch.

Malachi 4:5

4:5 Look, I will send you Elijah ⁶  the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.

Matthew 3:7-10

3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees ⁷  and Sadducees ⁸  coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 3:8 Therefore produce fruit ⁹  that proves your ¹⁰  repentance, 3:9 and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 3:10 Even now the ax is laid at ¹¹  the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Matthew 3:12

3:12 His winnowing fork ¹²  is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, ¹³  but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.” ¹⁴ 

Matthew 12:45

12:45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ¹⁵  the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!”

Matthew 21:41-44

21:41 They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.”

21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ¹⁶ 

This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? ¹⁷ 

21:43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people ¹⁸  who will produce its fruit. 21:44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” ¹⁹ 

Matthew 22:6-7

22:6 The ²⁰  rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them. 22:7 The ²¹  king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death ²²  and set their city ²³  on fire.

Matthew 24:6

24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come. ²⁴ 

Matthew 24:14

24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, ²⁵  and then the end will come.

Matthew 24:21-22

24:21 For then there will be great suffering ²⁶  unlike anything that has happened ²⁷  from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen. 24:22 And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

Luke 11:50-51

11:50 so that this generation may be held accountable ²⁸  for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning ²⁹  of the world, ³⁰  11:51 from the blood of Abel ³¹  to the blood of Zechariah, ³²  who was killed ³³  between the altar and the sanctuary. ³⁴  Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against ³⁵  this generation.

Luke 19:42-44

19:42 saying, “If you had only known on this day, ³⁶  even you, the things that make for peace! ³⁷  But now they are hidden ³⁸  from your eyes. 19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build ³⁹  an embankment ⁴⁰  against you and surround you and close in on you from every side. 19:44 They will demolish you ⁴¹  – you and your children within your walls ⁴²  – and they will not leave within you one stone ⁴³  on top of another, ⁴⁴  because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” ⁴⁵ 

Luke 21:20-24

The Desolation of Jerusalem

21:20 “But when you see Jerusalem ⁴⁶  surrounded ⁴⁷  by armies, then know that its ⁴⁸  desolation ⁴⁹  has come near. 21:21 Then those who are in Judea must flee ⁵⁰  to the mountains. Those ⁵¹  who are inside the city must depart. Those ⁵²  who are out in the country must not enter it, 21:22 because these are days of vengeance, ⁵³  to fulfill ⁵⁴  all that is written. 21:23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! For there will be great distress ⁵⁵  on the earth and wrath against this people. 21:24 They ⁵⁶  will fall by the edge ⁵⁷  of the sword and be led away as captives ⁵⁸  among all nations. Jerusalem ⁵⁹  will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. ⁶⁰ 

Hebrews 6:8

6:8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; ⁶¹  its fate is to be burned.

Hebrews 10:27-30

10:27 but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury ⁶²  of fire that will consume God’s enemies. ⁶³  10:28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death ⁶⁴  without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ⁶⁵  10:29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for ⁶⁶  the Son of God, and profanes ⁶⁷  the blood of the covenant that made him holy, ⁶⁸  and insults the Spirit of grace? 10:30 For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” ⁶⁹  and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ⁷⁰ 

James 5:1-6

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ⁷¹  over the miseries that are coming on you. 5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 5:3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! ⁷²  5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5:5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁷³  5:6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you. ⁷⁴ 

Revelation 22:11

22:11 The evildoer must continue to do evil, ⁷⁵  and the one who is morally filthy ⁷⁶  must continue to be filthy. The ⁷⁷  one who is righteous must continue to act righteously, and the one who is holy must continue to be holy.”

[2:30]  ¹ tn Or “in the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[2:31]  ² tn Heb “to blood,” but no doubt this is intended to indicate by metonymy the color of blood rather than the substance itself. The blood red color suggests a visual impression here – something that could be caused by fires, volcanic dust, sandstorms, or other atmospheric phenomena.

[4:1]  ³ sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:6 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:19 HT, 4:2 ET = 3:20 HT, etc., through 4:6 ET = 3:24 HT. Thus the book of Malachi in the Hebrew Bible has only three chapters, with 24 verses in ch. 3.

[4:1]  ⁴ sn This day is the well-known “day of the Lord” so pervasive in OT eschatological texts (see Joel 2:30-31; Amos 5:18; Obad 15). For the believer it is a day of grace and salvation; for the sinner, a day of judgment and destruction.

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[4:5]  ⁶ sn I will send you Elijah the prophet. In light of the ascension of Elijah to heaven without dying (2 Kgs 2:11), Judaism has always awaited his return as an aspect of the messianic age (see, e.g., John 1:19-28). Jesus identified John the Baptist as Elijah, because he came in the “spirit and power” of his prototype Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36).

[3:7]  ⁷ sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[3:7]  ⁸ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[3:8]  ⁹ sn Fruit worthy of repentance refers to the deeds that indicate a change of attitude (heart) on the part of John’s hearers.

[3:8]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “fruit worthy of.”

[3:10]  ¹¹ sn Laid at the root. That is, placed and aimed, ready to begin cutting.

[3:12]  ¹² sn A winnowing fork was a pitchfork-like tool used to toss threshed grain in the air so that the wind blew away the chaff, leaving the grain to fall to the ground. The note of purging is highlighted by the use of imagery involving sifting though threshed grain for the useful kernels.

[3:12]  ¹³ tn Or “granary,” “barn” (referring to a building used to store a farm’s produce rather than a building to house livestock).

[3:12]  ¹⁴ sn The image of fire that cannot be extinguished is from the OT: Job 20:26; Isa 34:8-10; 66:24.

[12:45]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.

[21:42]  ¹⁶ tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

[21:42]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.

[21:43]  ¹⁸ tn Or “to a nation” (so KJV, NASB, NLT).

[21:44]  ¹⁹ tc A few witnesses, especially of the Western text (D 33 it sy^s Or Eus^syr), do not contain 21:44. However, the verse is found in א B C L W Z (Θ) 0102 Ë^1,13 Ï lat sy^c,p,h co and should be included as authentic.

[22:6]  ²⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[22:7]  ²¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[22:7]  ²² tn Grk “he sent his soldiers, destroyed those murderers.” The verb ἀπώλεσεν (apwlesen) is causative, indicating that the king was the one behind the execution of the murderers. In English the causative idea is not expressed naturally here; either a purpose clause (“he sent his soldiers to put those murderers to death”) or a relative clause (“he sent his soldier who put those murderers to death”) is preferred.

[22:7]  ²³ tn The Greek text reads here πόλις (polis), which could be translated “town” or “city.” The prophetic reference is to the city of Jerusalem, so “city” is more appropriate here.

[24:6]  ²⁴ tn Grk “it is not yet the end.”

[24:14]  ²⁵ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).

[24:21]  ²⁶ tn Traditionally, “great tribulation.”

[24:21]  ²⁷ sn Suffering unlike anything that has happened. Some refer this event to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. While the events of a.d. 70 may reflect somewhat the comments Jesus makes here, the reference to the scope and severity of this judgment strongly suggest that much more is in view. Most likely Jesus is referring to the great end-time judgment on Jerusalem in the great tribulation.

[11:50]  ²⁸ tn Or “that this generation may be charged with”; or “the blood of all the prophets… may be required from this generation.” This is a warning of judgment. These people are responsible for the shedding of prophetic blood.

[11:50]  ²⁹ tn Or “foundation.” However, this does not suggest a time to the modern reader.

[11:50]  ³⁰ tn The order of the clauses in this complicated sentence has been rearranged to simplify it for the modern reader.

[11:51]  ³¹ sn Gen 4:10 indicates that Abel’s blood cried out for justice.

[11:51]  ³² sn It is not clear which Zechariah is meant here. It is probably the person mentioned in 2 Chr 24:20-25.

[11:51]  ³³ tn Or “who perished.”

[11:51]  ³⁴ tn Or “and the temple”; Grk “and the house,” but in this context a reference to the house of God as a place of sanctuary.

[11:51]  ³⁵ tn Or “required from.”

[19:42]  ³⁶ sn On this day. They had missed the time of Messiah’s coming; see v. 44.

[19:42]  ³⁷ tn Grk “the things toward peace.” This expression seems to mean “the things that would ‘lead to,’ ‘bring about,’ or ‘make for’ peace.”

[19:42]  ³⁸ sn But now they are hidden from your eyes. This becomes an oracle of doom in the classic OT sense; see Luke 13:31-35; 11:49-51; Jer 9:2; 13:7; 14:7. They are now blind and under judgment (Jer 15:5; Ps 122:6).

[19:43]  ³⁹ sn Jesus now predicted the events that would be fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. The details of the siege have led some to see Luke writing this after Jerusalem’s fall, but the language of the verse is like God’s exilic judgment for covenant unfaithfulness (Hab 2:8; Jer 6:6, 14; 8:13-22; 9:1; Ezek 4:2; 26:8; Isa 29:1-4). Specific details are lacking and the procedures described (build an embankment against you) were standard Roman military tactics.

[19:43]  ⁴⁰ sn An embankment refers to either wooden barricades or earthworks, or a combination of the two.

[19:44]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “They will raze you to the ground.”

[19:44]  ⁴² tn Grk “your children within you.” The phrase “[your] walls” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the city of Jerusalem, metaphorically pictured as an individual, is spoken of here.

[19:44]  ⁴³ sn (Not) one stone on top of another is an idiom for total destruction.

[19:44]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “leave stone on stone.”

[19:44]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “the time of your visitation.” To clarify what this refers to, the words “from God” are supplied at the end of the verse, although they do not occur in the Greek text.

[21:20]  ⁴⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[21:20]  ⁴⁷ sn See Luke 19:41-44. This passage refers to the events associated with the fall of Jerusalem, when the city is surrounded by armies.

[21:20]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “her,” referring to the city of Jerusalem (the name “Jerusalem” in Greek is a feminine noun).

[21:20]  ⁴⁹ sn The phrase its desolation is a reference to the fall of the city, which is the only antecedent present in Luke’s account. The parallels to this in Matt 24:15 and Mark 13:14 refer to the temple’s desolation, though Matthew’s allusion is clearer. They focus on the parallel events of the end, not on the short term realization in a.d. 70. The entire passage has a prophetic “two events in one” typology, where the near term destruction (a.d. 70) is like the end. So the evangelists could choose to focus on the near time realization (Luke) or on its long term fulfillment, which mirrors it (Matthew, Mark).

[21:21]  ⁵⁰ sn Fleeing to the mountains is a key OT image: Gen 19:17; Judg 6:2; Isa 15:5; Jer 16:16; Zech 14:5.

[21:21]  ⁵¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:21]  ⁵² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:22]  ⁵³ tn Or “of punishment.” This is a time of judgment.

[21:22]  ⁵⁴ tn The passive construction with the infinitive πλησθῆναι (plhsqhnai) has been translated as an active construction for simplicity, in keeping with contemporary English style.

[21:23]  ⁵⁵ sn Great distress means that this is a period of great judgment.

[21:24]  ⁵⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:24]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “by the mouth of the sword” (an idiom for the edge of a sword).

[21:24]  ⁵⁸ sn Here is the predicted judgment against the nation until the time of Gentile rule has passed: Its people will be led away as captives.

[21:24]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “And Jerusalem.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:24]  ⁶⁰ sn Until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled implies a time when Israel again has a central role in God’s plan.

[6:8]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “near to a curse.”

[10:27]  ⁶² tn Grk “zeal,” recalling God’s jealous protection of his holiness and honor (cf. Exod 20:5).

[10:27]  ⁶³ tn Grk “the enemies.”

[10:28]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “dies.”

[10:28]  ⁶⁵ sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.

[10:29]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “tramples under foot.”

[10:29]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “regarded as common.”

[10:29]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “by which he was made holy.”

[10:30]  ⁶⁹ sn A quotation from Deut 32:35.

[10:30]  ⁷⁰ sn A quotation from Deut 32:36.

[5:1]  ⁷¹ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[5:3]  ⁷² tn Or “hoarded up treasure for the last days”; Grk “in the last days.”

[5:5]  ⁷³ sn James’ point seems to be that instead of seeking deliverance from condemnation, they have defied God’s law (fattened your hearts) and made themselves more likely objects of his judgment (in a day of slaughter).

[5:6]  ⁷⁴ tn Literally a series of verbs without connectives, “you have condemned, you have murdered…he does not resist.”

[22:11]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “must do evil still.”

[22:11]  ⁷⁶ tn For this translation see L&N 88.258; the term refers to living in moral filth.

[22:11]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “filthy, and the.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek, but because of the length and complexity of the construction a new sentence was started in the translation.