Mark 14:9

14:9 I tell you the truth, ¹  wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

Mark 14:25

14:25 I tell you the truth, ²  I will no longer drink of the fruit ³  of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

Mark 3:28

3:28 I tell you the truth, ⁴  people will be forgiven for all sins, even all the blasphemies they utter. ⁵ 

Mark 6:11

6:11 If a place will not welcome you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off ⁶  your feet as a testimony against them.”

Mark 8:12

8:12 Sighing deeply in his spirit he said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? I tell you the truth, ⁷  no sign will be given to this generation.”

Mark 9:1

9:1 And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, ⁸  there are some standing here who will not ⁹  experience ¹⁰  death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” ¹¹ 

Mark 9:41

9:41 For I tell you the truth, ¹²  whoever gives you a cup of water because ¹³  you bear Christ’s ¹⁴  name will never lose his reward.

Mark 10:15

10:15 I tell you the truth, ¹⁵  whoever does not receive ¹⁶  the kingdom of God like a child ¹⁷  will never ¹⁸  enter it.”

Mark 10:29

10:29 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, ¹⁹  there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel

Matthew 5:18

5:18 I ²⁰  tell you the truth, ²¹  until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter ²²  will pass from the law until everything takes place.

Matthew 6:2

6:2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, ²³  do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues ²⁴  and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, ²⁵  they have their reward.

Matthew 6:5

Private Prayer

6:5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues ²⁶  and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.

Matthew 6:16

Proper Fasting

6:16 “When ²⁷  you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive ²⁸  so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, ²⁹  they have their reward.

Luke 4:24

4:24 And he added, ³⁰  “I tell you the truth, ³¹  no prophet is acceptable ³²  in his hometown.

Luke 11:51

11:51 from the blood of Abel ³³  to the blood of Zechariah, ³⁴  who was killed ³⁵  between the altar and the sanctuary. ³⁶  Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against ³⁷  this generation.

John 1:51

1:51 He continued, ³⁸  “I tell all of you the solemn truth ³⁹  – you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” ⁴⁰ 

John 3:3

3:3 Jesus replied, ⁴¹  “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁴²  unless a person is born from above, ⁴³  he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴⁴ 

John 3:5

3:5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁴⁵  unless a person is born of water and spirit, ⁴⁶  he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

John 3:11

3:11 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁴⁷  we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but ⁴⁸  you people ⁴⁹  do not accept our testimony. ⁵⁰ 

John 5:19

5:19 So Jesus answered them, ⁵¹  “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁵²  the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, ⁵³  but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father ⁵⁴  does, the Son does likewise. ⁵⁵ 

John 5:24-25

5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁵⁶  the one who hears ⁵⁷  my message ⁵⁸  and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, ⁵⁹  but has crossed over from death to life. 5:25 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁶⁰  a time ⁶¹  is coming – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

John 6:26

6:26 Jesus replied, ⁶²  “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁶³  you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate all the loaves of bread you wanted. ⁶⁴ 

John 6:32

6:32 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁶⁵  it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven.

John 6:47

6:47 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁶⁶  the one who believes ⁶⁷  has eternal life. ⁶⁸ 

John 13:38

13:38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? ⁶⁹  I tell you the solemn truth, ⁷⁰  the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times!

John 21:18

21:18 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁷¹  when you were young, you tied your clothes around you ⁷²  and went wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will tie you up ⁷³  and bring you where you do not want to go.”

[14:9]  ¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[14:25]  ² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[14:25]  ³ tn Grk “the produce” (“the produce of the vine” is a figurative expression for wine).

[3:28]  ⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[3:28]  ⁵ tn Grk “all the sins and blasphemies they may speak will be forgiven the sons of men.”

[6:11]  ⁶ sn To shake the dust off represented shaking off the uncleanness from one’s feet; see Luke 10:11; Acts 13:51; 18:6. It was a sign of rejection.

[8:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[9:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[9:1]  ⁹ tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

[9:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[9:1]  ¹¹ sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the kingdom of God come with power: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to after six days in 9:2 seems to indicate that Mark had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration was a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (8:31; 9:31; 10:33), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.

[9:41]  ¹² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[9:41]  ¹³ tn Grk “in [the] name that of Christ you are.”

[9:41]  ¹⁴ tn Or “bear the Messiah’s”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[10:15]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[10:15]  ¹⁶ sn On receive see John 1:12.

[10:15]  ¹⁷ sn The point of the comparison receive the kingdom of God like a child has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit and willingness to be dependent and receive from others than any inherent humility the child might possess.

[10:15]  ¹⁸ tn The negation in Greek (οὐ μή, ou mh) is very strong here.

[10:29]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[5:18]  ²⁰ tn Grk “For I tell.” Here an explanatory γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[5:18]  ²¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[5:18]  ²² tn Grk “Not one iota or one serif.”

[6:2]  ²³ tn Grk “give alms,” but this term is not in common use today. The giving of alms was highly regarded in the ancient world (Deut 15:7-11).

[6:2]  ²⁴ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[6:2]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[6:5]  ²⁶ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[6:16]  ²⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[6:16]  ²⁸ tn Here the term “disfigure” used in a number of translations was not used because it could convey to the modern reader the notion of mutilation. L&N 79.17 states, “‘to make unsightly, to disfigure, to make ugly.’ ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ‘for they make their faces unsightly’ Mt 6:16.”

[6:16]  ²⁹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[4:24]  ³⁰ tn Grk “said,” but since this is a continuation of previous remarks, “added” is used here.

[4:24]  ³¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[4:24]  ³² sn Jesus argues that he will get no respect in his own hometown. There is a wordplay here on the word acceptable (δεκτός, dektos), which also occurs in v. 19: Jesus has declared the “acceptable” year of the Lord (here translated year of the Lord’s favor), but he is not “accepted” by the people of his own hometown.

[11:51]  ³³ sn Gen 4:10 indicates that Abel’s blood cried out for justice.

[11:51]  ³⁴ sn It is not clear which Zechariah is meant here. It is probably the person mentioned in 2 Chr 24:20-25.

[11:51]  ³⁵ tn Or “who perished.”

[11:51]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ tn Or “required from.”

[1:51]  ³⁸ tn Grk “and he said to him.”

[1:51]  ³⁹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[1:51]  ⁴⁰ sn The title Son of Man appears 13 times in John’s Gospel. It is associated especially with the themes of crucifixion (3:14; 8:28), revelation (6:27; 6:53), and eschatological authority (5:27; 9:35). The title as used in John’s Gospel has for its background the son of man figure who appears in Dan 7:13-14 and is granted universal regal authority. Thus for the author, the emphasis in this title is not on Jesus’ humanity, but on his heavenly origin and divine authority.

[3:3]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[3:3]  ⁴² tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:3]  ⁴³ tn The word ἄνωθεν (anwqen) has a double meaning, either “again” (in which case it is synonymous with παλίν [palin]) or “from above” (BDAG 92 s.v. ἄνωθεν). This is a favorite technique of the author of the Fourth Gospel, and it is lost in almost all translations at this point. John uses the word 5 times, in 3:3, 7; 3:31; 19:11 and 23. In the latter 3 cases the context makes clear that it means “from above.” Here (3:3, 7) it could mean either, but the primary meaning intended by Jesus is “from above.” Nicodemus apparently understood it the other way, which explains his reply, “How can a man be born when he is old? He can’t enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” The author uses the technique of the “misunderstood question” often to bring out a particularly important point: Jesus says something which is misunderstood by the disciples or (as here) someone else, which then gives Jesus the opportunity to explain more fully and in more detail what he really meant.

[3:3]  ⁴⁴ sn What does Jesus’ statement about not being able to see the kingdom of God mean within the framework of John’s Gospel? John uses the word kingdom (βασιλεία, basileia) only 5 times (3:3, 5; 18:36 [3x]). Only here is it qualified with the phrase of God. The fact that John does not stress the concept of the kingdom of God does not mean it is absent from his theology, however. Remember the messianic implications found in John 2, both the wedding and miracle at Cana and the cleansing of the temple. For Nicodemus, the term must surely have brought to mind the messianic kingdom which Messiah was supposed to bring. But Nicodemus had missed precisely this point about who Jesus was. It was the Messiah himself with whom Nicodemus was speaking. Whatever Nicodemus understood, it is clear that the point is this: He misunderstood Jesus’ words. He over-literalized them, and thought Jesus was talking about repeated physical birth, when he was in fact referring to new spiritual birth.

[3:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:5]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “born of water and wind” (the same Greek word, πνεύματος [pneumatos], may be translated either “spirit/Spirit” or “wind”).

[3:11]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:11]  ⁴⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to show the contrast present in the context.

[3:11]  ⁴⁹ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in the translation to indicate that the verb is second person plural (referring to more than Nicodemus alone).

[3:11]  ⁵⁰ sn Note the remarkable similarity of Jesus’ testimony to the later testimony of the Apostle John himself in 1 John 1:2: “And we have seen and testify and report to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us.” This is only one example of how thoroughly the author’s own thoughts were saturated with the words of Jesus (and also how difficult it is to distinguish the words of Jesus from the words of the author in the Fourth Gospel).

[5:19]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[5:19]  ⁵² tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:19]  ⁵³ tn Grk “nothing from himself.”

[5:19]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “that one”; the referent (the Father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:19]  ⁵⁵ sn What works does the Son do likewise? The same that the Father does – and the same that the rabbis recognized as legitimate works of God on the Sabbath (see note on working in v. 17). (1) Jesus grants life (just as the Father grants life) on the Sabbath. But as the Father gives physical life on the Sabbath, so the Son grants spiritual life (John 5:21; note the “greater things” mentioned in v. 20). (2) Jesus judges (determines the destiny of people) on the Sabbath, just as the Father judges those who die on the Sabbath, because the Father has granted authority to the Son to judge (John 5:22-23). But this is not all. Not only has this power been granted to Jesus in the present; it will be his in the future as well. In v. 28 there is a reference not to spiritually dead (only) but also physically dead. At their resurrection they respond to the Son as well.

[5:24]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:24]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “obeys.”

[5:24]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “word.”

[5:24]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “and does not come into judgment.”

[5:25]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:25]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “an hour.”

[6:26]  ⁶² tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[6:26]  ⁶³ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[6:26]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “because you ate of the loaves of bread and were filled.”

[6:32]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[6:47]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[6:47]  ⁶⁷ tc Most witnesses (A C² D Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat and other versions) have “in me” (εἰς ἐμέ, eis eme) here, while the Sinaitic and Curetonian Syriac versions read “in God.” These clarifying readings are predictable variants, being motivated by the scribal tendency toward greater explicitness. That the earliest and best witnesses (Ì^66,75vid א B C* L T W Θ 892 pc) lack any object is solid testimony to the shorter text’s authenticity.

[6:47]  ⁶⁸ tn Compare John 6:40.

[13:38]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “Will you die willingly for me?”

[13:38]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[21:18]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[21:18]  ⁷² tn Or “you girded yourself.”

[21:18]  ⁷³ tn Grk “others will gird you.”