Psalms 69:22-28

69:22 May their dining table become a trap before them!

May it be a snare for that group of friends! ¹ 

69:23 May their eyes be blinded! ² 

Make them shake violently! ³ 

69:24 Pour out your judgment ⁴  on them!

May your raging anger ⁵  overtake them!

69:25 May their camp become desolate,

their tents uninhabited! ⁶ 

69:26 For they harass ⁷  the one whom you discipline; ⁸ 

they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish. ⁹ 

69:27 Hold them accountable for all their sins! ¹⁰ 

Do not vindicate them! ¹¹ 

69:28 May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living! ¹² 

Do not let their names be listed with the godly! ¹³ 

Isaiah 65:12-16

65:12 I predestine you to die by the sword, ¹⁴ 

all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, ¹⁵ 

because I called to you, and you did not respond,

I spoke and you did not listen.

You did evil before me; ¹⁶ 

you chose to do what displeases me.”

65:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry!

Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty!

Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated!

65:14 Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts! ¹⁷ 

But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; ¹⁸ 

you will wail because your spirits will be crushed. ¹⁹ 

65:15 Your names will live on in the curse formulas of my chosen ones. ²⁰ 

The sovereign Lord will kill you,

but he will give his servants another name.

65:16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth ²¹ 

will do so in the name of the faithful God; ²² 

whoever makes an oath in the earth

will do so in the name of the faithful God. ²³ 

For past problems will be forgotten;

I will no longer think about them. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 66:15-16

66:15 For look, the Lord comes with fire,

his chariots come like a windstorm, ²⁵ 

to reveal his raging anger,

his battle cry, and his flaming arrows. ²⁶ 

66:16 For the Lord judges all humanity ²⁷ 

with fire and his sword;

the Lord will kill many. ²⁸ 

Daniel 9:26

9:26 Now after the sixty-two weeks,

an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. ²⁹ 

As for the city and the sanctuary,

the people of the coming prince will destroy ³⁰  them.

But his end will come speedily ³¹  like a flood. ³² 

Until the end of the war that has been decreed

there will be destruction.

Daniel 12:1

12:1 “At that time Michael,

the great prince who watches over your people, ³³ 

will arise. ³⁴ 

There will be a time of distress

unlike any other from the nation’s beginning ³⁵ 

up to that time.

But at that time your own people,

all those whose names are ³⁶  found written in the book,

will escape.

Joel 1:2

A Locust Plague Foreshadows the Day of the Lord

1:2 Listen to this, you elders; ³⁷ 

pay attention, ³⁸  all inhabitants of the land.

Has anything like this ever happened in your whole life ³⁹ 

or in the lifetime ⁴⁰  of your ancestors? ⁴¹ 

Joel 2:2

2:2 It will be ⁴²  a day of dreadful darkness, ⁴³ 

a day of foreboding storm clouds, ⁴⁴ 

like blackness ⁴⁵  spread over the mountains.

It is a huge and powerful army ⁴⁶  –

there has never been anything like it ever before,

and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! ⁴⁷ 

Zechariah 11:8-9

11:8 Next I eradicated the three shepherds in one month, ⁴⁸  for I ran out of patience with them and, indeed, they detested me as well. 11:9 I then said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be eradicated, let it be eradicated. As for those who survive, let them eat each other’s flesh!”

Zechariah 14:2-3

14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem ⁴⁹  to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away. ⁵⁰ 

14:3 Then the Lord will go to battle ⁵¹  and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days. ⁵² 

Malachi 4:1

4:1 (3:19) ⁵³  “For indeed the day ⁵⁴  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 ⁵⁵  will not leave even a root or branch.

Mark 13:9

Persecution of Disciples

13:9 “You must watch out for yourselves. You will be handed over ⁵⁶  to councils ⁵⁷  and beaten in the synagogues. ⁵⁸  You will stand before governors and kings ⁵⁹  because of me, as a witness to them.

Luke 19:43-44

19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build ⁶⁰  an embankment ⁶¹  against you and surround you and close in on you from every side. 19:44 They will demolish you ⁶²  – you and your children within your walls ⁶³  – and they will not leave within you one stone ⁶⁴  on top of another, ⁶⁵  because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” ⁶⁶ 

Luke 21:24

21:24 They ⁶⁷  will fall by the edge ⁶⁸  of the sword and be led away as captives ⁶⁹  among all nations. Jerusalem ⁷⁰  will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. ⁷¹ 

Luke 21:1

The Widow’s Offering

21:1 Jesus ⁷²  looked up ⁷³  and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. ⁷⁴ 

Luke 2:16

2:16 So they hurried off and located Mary and Joseph, and found the baby lying in a manger. ⁷⁵ 

Hebrews 10:26-29

10:26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, ⁷⁶  10:27 but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury ⁷⁷  of fire that will consume God’s enemies. ⁷⁸  10:28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death ⁷⁹  without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ⁸⁰  10:29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for ⁸¹  the Son of God, and profanes ⁸²  the blood of the covenant that made him holy, ⁸³  and insults the Spirit of grace?

[69:22]  ¹ tc Heb “and to the friends for a snare.” The plural of שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) is used in Ps 55:20 of one’s “friends.” If the reading of the MT is retained here, the term depicts the psalmist’s enemies as a close-knit group of friends who are bound together by their hatred for the psalmist. Some prefer to revocalize the text as וּלְשִׁלּוּמִים (ulÿshillumim, “and for retribution”). In this case the noun stands parallel to פַּח (pakh, “trap”) and מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), and one might translate, “may their dining table become a trap before them, [a means of] retribution and a snare” (cf. NIV).

[69:23]  ² tn Heb “may their eyes be darkened from seeing.”

[69:23]  ³ tn Heb “make their hips shake continually.”

[69:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger.

[69:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971), 17-81.

[69:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “in their tents may there not be one who dwells.”

[69:26]  ⁷ tn Or “persecute”; Heb “chase.”

[69:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “for you, the one whom you strike, they chase.”

[69:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “they announce the pain of your wounded ones” (i.e., “the ones whom you wounded,” as the parallel line makes clear).

[69:27]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “place sin upon their sin.”

[69:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “let them not come into your vindication.”

[69:28]  ¹² tn Heb “let them be wiped out of the scroll of the living.”

[69:28]  ¹³ tn Heb “and with the godly let them not be written.”

[65:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I assign you to the sword.” Some emend the Qal verb form מָנִיתִי (maniti, “I assign”) to the Piel מִנִּיתִי (minniti, “ I ordain”). The verb sounds like the name of the god Meni (מְנִי, mÿni, “Destiny, Fate”). The sound play draws attention to the irony of the statement. The sinners among God’s people worship the god Meni, apparently in an effort to ensure a bright destiny for themselves. But the Lord is the one who really determines their destiny and he has decreed their demise.

[65:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or “at the slaughter”; NIV “for the slaughter”; NLT “before the executioner.”

[65:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[65:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “from the good of the heart.”

[65:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from the pain of the heart.”

[65:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from the breaking of the spirit.”

[65:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “you will leave your name for an oath to my chosen ones.”

[65:16]  ²¹ tn Or “in the land” (NIV, NCV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs again later in this verse, with the same options.

[65:16]  ²² tn Heb “will pronounce a blessing by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ²³ tn Heb “will take an oath by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “for the former distresses will be forgotten, and they will be hidden from my eyes.”

[66:15]  ²⁵ sn Chariots are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way that they kick up dust.

[66:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “to cause to return with the rage of his anger, and his battle cry [or “rebuke”] with flames of fire.”

[66:16]  ²⁷ tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “upon all men”; TEV “all the people of the world.”

[66:16]  ²⁸ tn Heb “many are the slain of the Lord.”

[9:26]  ²⁹ sn The expression have nothing is difficult. Presumably it refers to an absence of support or assistance for the anointed one at the time of his “cutting off.” The KJV rendering “but not for himself,” apparently suggesting a vicarious death, cannot be defended.

[9:26]  ³⁰ tc Some witnesses (e.g., the Syriac) understand a passive verb and the preposition עִם (’im, “with) rather than the noun עַם (’am, “people”), thus reading “the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed with the coming prince.”

[9:26]  ³¹ tn The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[9:26]  ³² sn Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.

[12:1]  ³³ tn Heb “stands over the sons of your people.”

[12:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “will stand up.”

[12:1]  ³⁵ tn Or “from the beginning of a nation.”

[12:1]  ³⁶ tn The words “whose names are” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

[1:2]  ³⁷ sn Elders here refers not necessarily to men advanced in years, but to leaders within the community.

[1:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “give ear.”

[1:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “days.” The term “days” functions here as a synecdoche for one’s lifespan.

[1:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “days.”

[1:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “fathers.”

[2:2]  ⁴² tn The phrase “It will be” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style.

[2:2]  ⁴³ tn Heb “darkness and gloom.” These two terms probably form a hendiadys here. This picture recalls the imagery of the supernatural darkness in Egypt during the judgments of the exodus (Exod 10:22). These terms are also frequently used as figures (metonymy of association) for calamity and divine judgment (Isa 8:22; 59:9; Jer 23:12; Zeph 1:15). Darkness is often a figure (metonymy of association) for death, dread, distress and judgment (BDB 365 s.v. חשֶׁךְ 3).

[2:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “a day of cloud and darkness.”

[2:2]  ⁴⁵ tc The present translation here follows the proposed reading שְׁחֹר (shÿkhor, “blackness”) rather than the MT שַׁחַר (shakhar, “morning”). The change affects only the vocalization; the Hebrew consonants remain unchanged. Here the context calls for a word describing darkness. The idea of morning or dawn speaks instead of approaching light, which does not seem to fit here. The other words in the verse (e.g., “darkness,” “gloominess,” “cloud,” “heavy overcast”) all emphasize the negative aspects of the matter at hand and lead the reader to expect a word like “blackness” rather than “dawn.” However, NIrV paraphrases the MT nicely: “A huge army of locusts is coming. They will spread across the mountains like the sun when it rises.”

[2:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “A huge and powerful people”; KJV, ASV “a great people and a strong.” Many interpreters understand Joel 2 to describe an invasion of human armies, either in past history (e.g., the Babylonian invasion of Palestine in the sixth century b.c.) or in an eschatological setting. More probably, however, the language of this chapter referring to “people” and “armies” is a hypocatastic description of the locusts of chapter one. Cf. TEV “The great army of locusts advances like darkness.”

[2:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “it will not be repeated for years of generation and generation.”

[11:8]  ⁴⁸ sn Zechariah is only dramatizing what God had done historically (see the note on the word “cedars” in 11:1). The “one month” probably means just any short period of time in which three kings ruled in succession. Likely candidates are Elah, Zimri, Tibni (1 Kgs 16:8-20); Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem (2 Kgs 15:8-16); or Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah (2 Kgs 24:1–25:7).

[14:2]  ⁴⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[14:2]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “not be cut off from the city” (so NRSV); NAB “not be removed.”

[14:3]  ⁵¹ sn The statement the Lord will go to battle introduces the conflict known elsewhere as the “battle of Armageddon,” a battle in which the Lord delivers his people and establishes his millennial reign (cf. Joel 3:12, 15-16; Ezek 38–39; Rev 16:12-21; 19:19-21).

[14:3]  ⁵² tn Heb “as he fights on a day of battle” (similar NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[4:1]  ⁵³ 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]  ⁵⁴ 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]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[13:9]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “They will hand you over.” “They” is an indefinite plural, referring to people in general. The parallel in Matt 10:17 makes this explicit.

[13:9]  ⁵⁷ sn Councils in this context refers to local judicial bodies attached to the Jewish synagogue. This group would be responsible for meting out justice and discipline within the Jewish community.

[13:9]  ⁵⁸ sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.

[13:9]  ⁵⁹ sn These statements look at persecution both from a Jewish context as the mention of councils and synagogues suggests, and from a Gentile one as the reference to governors and kings suggests. Some fulfillment of Jewish persecution can be seen in Acts.

[19:43]  ⁶⁰ 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]  ⁶¹ sn An embankment refers to either wooden barricades or earthworks, or a combination of the two.

[19:44]  ⁶² tn Grk “They will raze you to the ground.”

[19:44]  ⁶³ 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]  ⁶⁴ sn (Not) one stone on top of another is an idiom for total destruction.

[19:44]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “leave stone on stone.”

[19:44]  ⁶⁶ 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.

[21:24]  ⁶⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:24]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “by the mouth of the sword” (an idiom for the edge of a sword).

[21:24]  ⁶⁹ 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]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “And Jerusalem.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:24]  ⁷¹ sn Until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled implies a time when Israel again has a central role in God’s plan.

[21:1]  ⁷² tn Grk “He”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[21:1]  ⁷³ tn Grk “looking up, he saw.” The participle ἀναβλέψας (anableya") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:1]  ⁷⁴ tn On the term γαζοφυλάκιον (gazofulakion), often translated “treasury,” see BDAG 186 s.v., which states, “For Mk 12:41, 43; Lk 21:1 the mng. contribution box or receptacle is attractive. Acc. to Mishnah, Shekalim 6, 5 there were in the temple 13 such receptacles in the form of trumpets. But even in these passages the general sense of ‘treasury’ is prob., for the contributions would go [into] the treasury via the receptacles.” Based upon the extra-biblical evidence (see sn following), however, the translation opts to refer to the actual receptacles and not the treasury itself.

[2:16]  ⁷⁵ tn Or “a feeding trough.”

[10:26]  ⁷⁶ tn Grk “is left,” with “for us” implied by the first half of the verse.

[10:27]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “zeal,” recalling God’s jealous protection of his holiness and honor (cf. Exod 20:5).

[10:27]  ⁷⁸ tn Grk “the enemies.”

[10:28]  ⁷⁹ tn Grk “dies.”

[10:28]  ⁸⁰ sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.

[10:29]  ⁸¹ tn Grk “tramples under foot.”

[10:29]  ⁸² tn Grk “regarded as common.”

[10:29]  ⁸³ tn Grk “by which he was made holy.”