Psalms 106:12-14

106:12 They believed his promises; ¹ 

they sang praises to him.

106:13 They quickly forgot what he had done; ² 

they did not wait for his instructions. ³ 

106:14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving ⁴  for meat; ⁵ 

they challenged God ⁶  in the desert.

Isaiah 58:2

58:2 They seek me day after day;

they want to know my requirements, ⁷ 

like a nation that does what is right

and does not reject the law of their God.

They ask me for just decrees;

they want to be near God.

Ezekiel 33:32

33:32 Realize ⁸  that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice and skilled musician. ⁹  They hear your words, but they do not obey them. ¹⁰ 

Matthew 13:20-21

13:20 The ¹¹  seed sown on rocky ground ¹²  is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 13:21 But he has no root in himself and does not endure; ¹³  when ¹⁴  trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

Mark 4:16-17

4:16 These are the ones sown on rocky ground: As soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy. 4:17 But ¹⁵  they have no root in themselves and do not endure. ¹⁶  Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away.

Mark 6:20

6:20 because Herod stood in awe of ¹⁷  John and protected him, since he knew that John ¹⁸  was a righteous and holy man. When Herod ¹⁹  heard him, he was thoroughly baffled, ²⁰  and yet ²¹  he liked to listen to John. ²² 

John 5:35

5:35 He was a lamp that was burning and shining, ²³  and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time ²⁴  in his light.

Galatians 3:1

Justification by Law or by Faith?

3:1 You ²⁵  foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell ²⁶  on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed ²⁷  as crucified!

Galatians 3:4

3:4 Have you suffered so many things for nothing? – if indeed it was for nothing.

Galatians 4:15-20

4:15 Where then is your sense of happiness ²⁸  now? For I testify about you that if it were possible, you would have pulled out your eyes and given them to me! 4:16 So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? ²⁹ 

4:17 They court you eagerly, ³⁰  but for no good purpose; ³¹  they want to exclude you, so that you would seek them eagerly. ³²  4:18 However, it is good ³³  to be sought eagerly ³⁴  for a good purpose ³⁵  at all times, and not only when I am present with you. 4:19 My children – I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you! ³⁶  4:20 I wish I could be with you now and change my tone of voice, ³⁷  because I am perplexed about you.

[106:12]  ¹ tn Heb “his words.”

[106:13]  ² tn Heb “his works.”

[106:13]  ³ tn Heb “his counsel.”

[106:14]  ³ sn They had an insatiable craving. This is described in Num 11:4-35.

[106:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “they craved [with] a craving.”

[106:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “they tested God.”

[58:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”

[33:32]  ⁵ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[33:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “one who makes playing music well.”

[33:32]  ⁷ sn Similar responses are found in Isa 29:13; Matt 21:28-32; James 1:22-25.

[13:20]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:20]  ⁷ tn Grk “The one sown on rocky ground, this is the one.” The next two statements like this one have this same syntactical structure.

[13:21]  ⁷ tn Grk “is temporary.”

[13:21]  ⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[4:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[4:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “are temporary.”

[6:20]  ⁹ tn Grk “was fearing,” “was respecting”; the imperfect tense connotes an ongoing fear or respect for John.

[6:20]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:20]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:20]  ¹² tc In place of ἠπόρει (hporei, “he was baffled”) the majority of mss (A C D ˹ 33 Ï lat sy) have ἐποίει (epoiei, “he did”; cf. KJV’s “he did many things.”) The best mss (א B L [W] Θ 2427 co) support the reading followed in the translation. The variation may be no more than a simple case of confusion of letters, since the two readings look very much alike. The verb ποιέω (poiew, “I do”) certainly occurs more frequently than ἀπορέω (aporew, “I am at a loss”), so a scribe would be more likely to write a more familiar word. Further, even though the reading ἐποίει is the harder reading in terms of the sense, it is virtually nonsensical here, rendering it most likely an unintentional corruption.

[6:20]  ¹³ tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “and yet” to indicate the concessive nature of the final clause.

[6:20]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:35]  ¹⁰ sn He was a lamp that was burning and shining. Sir 48:1 states that the word of Elijah was “a flame like a torch.” Because of the connection of John the Baptist with Elijah (see John 1:21 and the note on John’s reply, “I am not”), it was natural for Jesus to apply this description to John.

[5:35]  ¹¹ tn Grk “for an hour.”

[3:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “O” (an interjection used both in address and emotion). In context the following section is highly charged emotionally.

[3:1]  ¹² tn Or “deceived”; the verb βασκαίνω (baskainw) can be understood literally here in the sense of bewitching by black magic, but could also be understood figuratively to refer to an act of deception (see L&N 53.98 and 88.159).

[3:1]  ¹³ tn Or “publicly placarded,” “set forth in a public proclamation” (BDAG 867 s.v. προγράφω 2).

[4:15]  ¹² tn Or “blessedness.”

[4:16]  ¹³ tn Or “have I become your enemy because I am telling you the truth?” The participle ἀληθεύων (alhqeuwn) can be translated as a causal adverbial participle or as a participle of means (as in the translation).

[4:17]  ¹⁴ tn Or “They are zealous for you.”

[4:17]  ¹⁵ tn Or “but not commendably” (BDAG 505 s.v. καλῶς 2).

[4:17]  ¹⁶ tn Or “so that you would be zealous.”

[4:18]  ¹⁵ tn Or “commendable.”

[4:18]  ¹⁶ tn Or “to be zealous.”

[4:18]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “But it is always good to be zealous in good.”

[4:19]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “My children, for whom I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you.” The relative clauses in English do not pick up the emotional force of Paul’s language here (note “tone of voice” in v. 20, indicating that he is passionately concerned for them); hence, the translation has been altered slightly to capture the connotative power of Paul’s plea.

[4:20]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “voice” or “tone.” The contemporary English expression “tone of voice” is a good approximation to the meaning here.