Romans 1:23

1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings ¹  or birds or four-footed animals ²  or reptiles.

Matthew 6:24

6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate ³  the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise ⁴  the other. You cannot serve God and money. ⁵ 

Matthew 10:37

10:37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Matthew 10:2

10:2 Now these are the names of the twelve apostles: ⁶  first, Simon ⁷  (called Peter), and Andrew his brother; James son of Zebedee and John his brother;

Matthew 3:4

3:4 Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. ⁸ 

Matthew 3:1

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3:1 In those days John the Baptist came into the wilderness ⁹  of Judea proclaiming,

Matthew 2:15-16

2:15 He stayed there until Herod ¹⁰  died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” ¹¹ 

2:16 When Herod ¹²  saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men ¹³  to kill all the children in Bethlehem ¹⁴  and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men.

[1:23]  ¹ tn Grk “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God in likeness of an image of corruptible man.” Here there is a wordplay on the Greek terms ἄφθαρτος (afqarto", “immortal, imperishable, incorruptible”) and φθαρτός (fqarto", “mortal, corruptible, subject to decay”).

[1:23]  ² sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 106:19-20.

[6:24]  ³ sn The contrast between hate and love here is rhetorical. The point is that one will choose the favorite if a choice has to be made.

[6:24]  ⁴ tn Or “and treat [the other] with contempt.”

[6:24]  ⁵ tn Grk “God and mammon.”

[10:2]  ⁶ sn The term apostles is rare in the gospels, found only here, Mark 3:14, and six more times in Luke (6:13; 9:10; 11:49; 17:5; 22:14; 24:10).

[10:2]  ⁷ sn In the various lists of the twelve, Simon (that is, Peter) is always mentioned first (see also Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; Acts 1:13) and the first four are always the same, though not in the same order after Peter.

[3:4]  ⁸ sn John’s lifestyle was in stark contrast to many of the religious leaders of Jerusalem who lived in relative ease and luxury. While his clothing and diet were indicative of someone who lived in the desert, they also depicted him in his role as God’s prophet (cf. Zech 13:4); his appearance is similar to the Prophet Elijah (2 Kgs 1:8). Locusts and wild honey were a common diet in desert regions, and locusts (dried insects) are listed in Lev 11:22 among the “clean” foods.

[3:1]  ⁹ tn Or “desert.”

[2:15]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[2:15]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Hos 11:1.

[2:16]  ¹² sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Note the fulfillment of the prophecy given by the angel in 2:13.

[2:16]  ¹³ tn Or “soldiers.”

[2:16]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.