Malachi 3:9

3:9 You are bound for judgment ¹  because you are robbing me – this whole nation is guilty. ² 

Genesis 27:12

27:12 My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him ³  and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.”

Joshua 7:11-12

7:11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenantal commandment! ⁴  They have taken some of the riches; ⁵  they have stolen them and deceitfully put them among their own possessions. ⁶  7:12 The Israelites are unable to stand before their enemies; they retreat because they have become subject to annihilation. ⁷  I will no longer be with you, ⁸  unless you destroy what has contaminated you. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 48:10

48:10 A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!

A curse on anyone who keeps from carrying out his destruction! ¹⁰ 

Matthew 24:51

24:51 and will cut him in two, ¹¹  and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Luke 12:1-2

Fear God, Not People

12:1 Meanwhile, ¹²  when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus ¹³  began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against ¹⁴  the yeast of the Pharisees, ¹⁵  which is hypocrisy. ¹⁶  12:2 Nothing is hidden ¹⁷  that will not be revealed, ¹⁸  and nothing is secret that will not be made known.

Luke 12:46

12:46 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, ¹⁹  and assign him a place with the unfaithful. ²⁰ 

Acts 5:1-10

The Judgment on Ananias and Sapphira

5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property. 5:2 He ²¹  kept back for himself part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge; he brought ²²  only part of it and placed it at the apostles’ feet. 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled ²³  your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of ²⁴  the land? 5:4 Before it was sold, ²⁵  did it not ²⁶  belong to you? And when it was sold, was the money ²⁷  not at your disposal? How have you thought up this deed in your heart? ²⁸  You have not lied to people ²⁹  but to God!”

5:5 When Ananias heard these words he collapsed and died, and great fear gripped ³⁰  all who heard about it. 5:6 So the young men came, ³¹  wrapped him up, ³²  carried him out, and buried ³³  him. 5:7 After an interval of about three hours, ³⁴  his wife came in, but she did not know ³⁵  what had happened. 5:8 Peter said to her, “Tell me, were the two of you ³⁶  paid this amount ³⁷  for the land?” Sapphira ³⁸  said, “Yes, that much.” 5:9 Peter then told her, “Why have you agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!” 5:10 At once ³⁹  she collapsed at his feet and died. So when the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

Revelation 21:8

21:8 But to the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, ⁴⁰  idol worshipers, ⁴¹  and all those who lie, their place ⁴²  will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. ⁴³  That ⁴⁴  is the second death.”

[3:9]  ¹ tn Heb “cursed with a curse” that is, “under a curse” (so NIV, NLT, CEV).

[3:9]  ² tn The phrase “is guilty” is not present in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

[27:12]  ³ tn Heb “Perhaps my father will feel me and I will be in his eyes like a mocker.” The Hebrew expression “I will be in his eyes like” means “I would appear to him as.”

[7:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “They have violated my covenant which I commanded them.”

[7:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “what was set apart [to the Lord].”

[7:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “and also they have stolen, and also they have lied, and also they have placed [them] among their items.”

[7:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “they turn [the] back before their enemies because they are set apart [to destruction by the Lord].”

[7:12]  ⁸ tn The second person pronoun is plural in Hebrew, indicating these words are addressed to the entire nation.

[7:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “what is set apart [to destruction by the Lord] from your midst.”

[48:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “who withholds his sword from bloodshed.” This verse is an editorial aside (or apostrophe) addressed to the Babylonian destroyers to be diligent in carrying out the work of the Lord in destroying Moab.

[24:51]  ¹¹ tn The verb διχοτομέω (dicotomew) means to cut an object into two parts (L&N 19.19). This is an extremely severe punishment compared to the other two later punishments. To translate it simply as “punish” is too mild. If taken literally this servant is dismembered, although it is possible to view the stated punishment as hyperbole (L&N 38.12).

[12:1]  ¹² tn The phrase ἐν οἷς (en Jois) can be translated “meanwhile.”

[12:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:1]  ¹⁴ tn According to L&N 27.59, “to pay attention to, to keep on the lookout for, to be alert for, to be on your guard against.” This is another Lukan present imperative calling for constant vigilance.

[12:1]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[12:1]  ¹⁶ sn The pursuit of popularity can lead to hypocrisy, if one is not careful.

[12:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “concealed.”

[12:2]  ¹⁸ sn I.e., be revealed by God. The passive voice verbs here (“be revealed,” be made known”) see the revelation as coming from God. The text is both a warning about bad things being revealed and an encouragement that good things will be made known, though the stress with the images of darkness and what is hidden in vv. 2-3 is on the attempt to conceal.

[12:46]  ¹⁹ tn The verb διχοτομέω (dicotomew) means to cut an object into two parts (L&N 19.19). This is an extremely severe punishment compared to the other two later punishments. To translate it simply as “punish” is too mild. If taken literally this servant is dismembered, although it is possible to view the stated punishment as hyperbole (L&N 38.12).

[12:46]  ²⁰ tn Or “unbelieving.” Here the translation employs the slightly more ambiguous “unfaithful,” which creates a link with the point of the parable – faithfulness versus unfaithfulness in servants. The example of this verse must be taken together with the examples of vv. 47-48 as part of a scale of reactions with the most disobedient response coming here. The fact that this servant is placed in a distinct group, unlike the one in vv. 47-48, also suggests ultimate exclusion. This is the hypocrite of Matt 24:51.

[5:2]  ²¹ tn Grk “And he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[5:2]  ²² tn The participle ἐνέγκας (enenka") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[5:3]  ²³ sn This is a good example of the Greek verb fill (πληρόω, plhrow) meaning “to exercise control over someone’s thought and action” (cf. Eph 5:18).

[5:3]  ²⁴ tn The words “from the sale of” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the meaning, since the phrase “proceeds from the land” could possibly be understood as crops rather than money from the sale.

[5:4]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Remaining to you.”

[5:4]  ²⁶ tn The negative interrogative particle οὐχί (ouci) expects a positive reply to this question and the following one (“And when it was sold, was it not at your disposal?”).

[5:4]  ²⁷ tn Grk “it”; the referent of the pronoun (the money generated from the sale of the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:4]  ²⁸ tn Grk “How is it that you have [or Why have you] placed this deed in your heart?” Both of these literal translations differ from the normal way of expressing the thought in English.

[5:4]  ²⁹ tn Grk “to men.” If Peter’s remark refers only to the apostles, the translation “to men” would be appropriate. But if (as is likely) the action was taken to impress the entire congregation (who would presumably have witnessed the donation or been aware of it) then the more general “to people” is more appropriate, since the audience would have included both men and women.

[5:5]  ³⁰ tn Or “fear came on,” “fear seized”; Grk “fear happened to.”

[5:6]  ³¹ tn Or “arose.”

[5:6]  ³² tn The translation “wrapped up” for συνέστειλαν (sunesteilan) is suggested by L&N 79.119, but another interpretation is possible. The same verb could also be translated “removed” (see L&N 15.200), although that sense appears somewhat redundant and out of sequence with the following verb and participle (“carried him out and buried him”).

[5:6]  ³³ sn Buried. Same day burial was a custom in the Jewish world of the first century (cf. also Deut 21:23).

[5:7]  ³⁴ tn Grk “It happened that after an interval of about three hours.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[5:7]  ³⁵ tn Grk “came in, not knowing.” The participle has been translated with concessive or adversative force: “although she did not know.” In English, the adversative conjunction (“but”) conveys this nuance more smoothly.

[5:8]  ³⁶ tn The words “the two of” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to indicate that the verb (ἀπέδοσθε, apedosqe) is plural and thus refers to both Ananias and Sapphira.

[5:8]  ³⁷ tn Grk “so much,” “as much as this.”

[5:8]  ³⁸ tn Grk “She”; the referent (Sapphira) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:10]  ³⁹ tn Grk “And at once.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[21:8]  ⁴⁰ tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”

[21:8]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “idolaters.”

[21:8]  ⁴² tn Grk “their share.”

[21:8]  ⁴³ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[21:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “sulfur, which is.” The relative pronoun has been translated as “that” to indicate its connection to the previous clause. The nearest logical antecedent is “the lake [that burns with fire and sulfur],” although “lake” (λίμνη, limnh) is feminine gender, while the pronoun “which” (ὅ, Jo) is neuter gender. This means that (1) the proper antecedent could be “their place” (Grk “their share,”) agreeing with the relative pronoun in number and gender, or (2) the neuter pronoun still has as its antecedent the feminine noun “lake,” since agreement in gender between pronoun and antecedent was not always maintained, with an explanatory phrase occurring with a neuter pronoun regardless of the case of the antecedent. In favor of the latter explanation is Rev 20:14, where the phrase “the lake of fire” is in apposition to the phrase “the second death.”