Matthew 24:35

24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ¹ 

Psalms 102:26

102:26 They will perish,

but you will endure. ² 

They will wear out like a garment;

like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear. ³ 

Isaiah 51:6

51:6 Look up at the sky!

Look at the earth below!

For the sky will dissipate ⁴  like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like clothes;

its residents will die like gnats.

But the deliverance I give ⁵  is permanent;

the vindication I provide ⁶  will not disappear. ⁷ 

Luke 16:17

16:17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter ⁸  in the law to become void. ⁹ 

Luke 21:33

21:33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ¹⁰ 

Hebrews 1:11-12

1:11 They will perish, but you continue.

And they will all grow old like a garment,

1:12 and like a robe you will fold them up

and like a garment ¹¹  they will be changed,

but you are the same and your years will never run out.” ¹² 

Hebrews 1:2

1:2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, ¹³  whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. ¹⁴ 

Hebrews 3:10-13

3:10 “Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering ¹⁵  and they have not known my ways.’

3:11 “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” ¹⁶ 

3:12 See to it, ¹⁷  brothers and sisters, ¹⁸  that none of you has ¹⁹  an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes ²⁰  the living God. ²¹  3:13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception.

Revelation 20:11

The Great White Throne

20:11 Then ²²  I saw a large ²³  white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven ²⁴  fled ²⁵  from his presence, and no place was found for them.

[24:35]  ¹ sn The words that Jesus predicts here will never pass away. They are more stable and lasting than creation itself. For this kind of image, see Isa 40:8; 55:10-11.

[102:26]  ² tn Heb “stand.”

[102:26]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb חָלַף (khalaf) occurs twice in this line, once in the Hiphil (“you will remove them”) and once in the Qal (“they will disappear”). The repetition draws attention to the statement.

[51:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.

[51:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”

[51:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”

[51:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”

[16:17]  ⁸ tn Or “one small part of a letter” (L&N 33.37).

[16:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “to fall”; that is, “to drop out of the text.” Jesus’ point may be that the law is going to reach its goal without fail, in that the era of the promised kingdom comes.

[21:33]  ¹⁰ sn The words that Jesus predicts here will never pass away. They are more stable and lasting than creation itself. For this kind of image, see Isa 40:8; 55:10-11.

[1:12]  ¹¹ tc The words “like a garment” (ὡς ἱμάτιον, Jw" Jimation) are found in excellent and early mss (Ì⁴⁶ א A B D* 1739) though absent in a majority of witnesses (D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1881 Ï lat sy bo). Although it is possible that longer reading was produced by overzealous scribes who wanted to underscore the frailty of creation, it is much more likely that the shorter reading was produced by scribes who wanted to conform the wording to that of Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX), which here lacks the second “like a garment.” Both external and internal considerations decidedly favor the longer reading, and point to the author of Hebrews as the one underscoring the difference between the Son and creation.

[1:12]  ¹² sn A quotation from Ps 102:25-27.

[1:2]  ¹³ tn The Greek puts an emphasis on the quality of God’s final revelation. As such, it is more than an indefinite notion (“a son”) though less than a definite one (“the son”), for this final revelation is not just through any son of God, nor is the emphasis specifically on the person himself. Rather, the focus here is on the nature of the vehicle of God’s revelation: He is no mere spokesman (or prophet) for God, nor is he merely a heavenly messenger (or angel); instead, this final revelation comes through one who is intimately acquainted with the heavenly Father in a way that only a family member could be. There is, however, no exact equivalent in English (“in son” is hardly good English style).

[1:2]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 11:3 for the same usage.

[3:10]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “they are wandering in the heart.”

[3:11]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “if they shall enter my rest,” a Hebrew idiom expressing an oath that something will certainly not happen.

[3:12]  ¹⁷ tn Or “take care.”

[3:12]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:12]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “that there not be in any of you.”

[3:12]  ²⁰ tn Or “deserts,” “rebels against.”

[3:12]  ²¹ tn Grk “in forsaking the living God.”

[20:11]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[20:11]  ²³ tn Traditionally, “great,” but μέγας (megas) here refers to size rather than importance.

[20:11]  ²⁴ tn Or “and the sky.” The same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky,” and context usually determines which is meant. In this apocalyptic scene, however, it is difficult to be sure what referent to assign the term.

[20:11]  ²⁵ tn Or “vanished.”