Psalms 109:16

109:16 For he never bothered to show kindness; ¹ 

he harassed the oppressed and needy,

and killed the disheartened. ² 

Isaiah 63:2-6

63:2 Why are your clothes red?

Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat? ³ 

63:3 “I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself;

no one from the nations joined me.

I stomped on them ⁴  in my anger;

I trampled them down in my rage.

Their juice splashed on my garments,

and stained ⁵  all my clothes.

63:4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance,

and then payback time arrived. ⁶ 

63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help;

I was shocked because there was no one offering support. ⁷ 

So my right arm accomplished deliverance;

my raging anger drove me on. ⁸ 

63:6 I trampled nations in my anger,

I made them drunk ⁹  in my rage,

I splashed their blood on the ground.” ¹⁰ 

Obadiah 1:15

The Coming Day of the Lord

1:15 “For the day of the Lord ¹¹  is approaching ¹²  for all the nations! ¹³ 

Just as you have done, so it will be done to you.

You will get exactly what your deeds deserve. ¹⁴ 

Matthew 7:2

7:2 For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive. ¹⁵ 

Revelation 16:5-7

16:5 Now ¹⁶  I heard the angel of the waters saying:

“You are just ¹⁷  – the one who is and who was,

the Holy One – because you have passed these judgments, ¹⁸ 

16:6 because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets,

so ¹⁹  you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!” ²⁰ 

16:7 Then ²¹  I heard the altar reply, ²²  “Yes, Lord God, the All-Powerful, ²³  your judgments are true and just!”

Revelation 18:6

18:6 Repay her the same way she repaid others; ²⁴  pay her back double ²⁵  corresponding to her deeds. In the cup she mixed, mix double the amount for her.

Revelation 18:24

18:24 The ²⁶  blood of the saints and prophets was found in her, ²⁷ 

along with the blood ²⁸  of all those who had been killed on the earth.”

Revelation 19:2-3

19:2 because his judgments are true and just. ²⁹ 

For he has judged ³⁰  the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,

and has avenged the blood of his servants ³¹  poured out by her own hands!” ³² 

19:3 Then ³³  a second time the crowd shouted, “Hallelujah!” The smoke rises from her forever and ever. ³⁴ 

[109:16]  ¹ tn Heb “he did not remember to do loyal love.”

[109:16]  ² tn Heb “and he chased an oppressed and needy man, and one timid of heart to put [him] to death.”

[63:2]  ³ tn Heb “and your garments like one who treads in a vat?”

[63:3]  ⁴ sn Nations, headed by Edom, are the object of the Lord’s anger (see v. 6). He compares military slaughter to stomping on grapes in a vat.

[63:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I stained.” For discussion of the difficult verb form, see HALOT 170 s.v. II גאל. Perhaps the form is mixed, combining the first person forms of the imperfect (note the alef prefix) and perfect (note the תי- ending).

[63:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my revenge came.” The term גְּאוּלַי (gÿ’ulai) is sometimes translated here “my redemption,” for the verbal root גאל often means “deliver, buy back.” A גֹּאֵל (go’el, “kinsman-redeemer”) was responsible for protecting the extended family’s interests, often by redeeming property that had been sold outside the family. However, the responsibilities of a גֹּאֵל extended beyond financial concerns. He was also responsible for avenging the shed blood of a family member (see Num 35:19-27; Deut 19:6-12). In Isa 63:4, where vengeance is a prominent theme (note the previous line), it is probably this function of the family protector that is in view. The Lord pictures himself as a blood avenger who waits for the day of vengeance to arrive and then springs into action.

[63:5]  ⁷ sn See Isa 59:16 for similar language.

[63:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and my anger, it supported me”; NIV “my own wrath sustained me.”

[63:6]  ⁹ sn See Isa 49:26 and 51:23 for similar imagery.

[63:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and I brought down to the ground their juice.” “Juice” refers to their blood (see v. 3).

[1:15]  ¹¹ sn The term יוֹם (yom, “day”) is repeated ten times in vv. 11-14 referring to the time period when Judah/Jerusalem suffered calamity which Edom exploited for its own sinful gain. In each of those cases יוֹם was qualified by a following genitive to describe Judah’s plight, e.g., “in the day of your brother’s calamity” (v. 12). Here it appears again but now followed by the divine name to describe the time of God’s judgment against Edom for its crimes against humanity: “the day of the Lord.” In the present translation, the expression בְּיוֹם (bÿyom; literally, “In the day of”) was rendered “When…” in vv. 11-14. However, here it is translated more literally because the expression “the day of the Lord” is a well-known technical expression for a time of divine intervention in judgment. While this expression sometimes refers to the final eschatological day of God’s judgment, it may also refer occasionally to historical acts of judgment.

[1:15]  ¹² tn Heb “near” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “is coming soon.”

[1:15]  ¹³ sn God’s judgment would not be confined to Edom. Edom would certainly be punished in just measure for its wrongdoing, but “the day of the Lord” would also encompass judgment of the nations (v. 15).

[1:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your deed will return on your own head.” Verses 15 and 16 provide an example of ironic reversal, whereby the tables are turned and poetic justice is served. This is a motif that is common in prophetic oracles against foreign nations.

[7:2]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “by [the measure] with which you measure it will be measured to you.”

[16:5]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the somewhat parenthetical nature of the remarks that follow.

[16:5]  ¹⁷ tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.

[16:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “because you have judged these things.” The pronoun ταῦτα (tauta) is neuter gender.

[16:6]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that this judgment is the result of what these wicked people did to the saints and prophets.

[16:6]  ²⁰ tn Grk “They are worthy”; i.e., of this kind of punishment. By extension, “they got what they deserve.”

[16:7]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[16:7]  ²² tn Grk “the altar saying.”

[16:7]  ²³ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

[18:6]  ²⁴ tn The word “others” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[18:6]  ²⁵ tn On this term BDAG 252 s.v. διπλόω states, “to double τὰ διπλᾶ pay back double Rv 18:6.”

[18:24]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:24]  ²⁷ tn The shift in pronouns from second to third person corresponds to the Greek text.

[18:24]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and of all.” The phrase “along with the blood” has been repeated from the previous clause for stylistic reasons.

[19:2]  ²⁹ tn Compare the similar phrase in Rev 16:7.

[19:2]  ³⁰ tn Or “has punished.” See BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α, describing the OT background which involves both the vindication of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty.

[19:2]  ³¹ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[19:2]  ³² tn Grk “from her hand” (referring to her responsibility in causing the blood of God’s followers to be shed).

[19:3]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:3]  ³⁴ tn Or “her smoke ascends forever and ever.”