Zechariah 13:8-9

13:8 It will happen in all the land, says the Lord,

that two-thirds of the people ¹  in it will be cut off and die,

but one-third will be left in it. ² 

13:9 Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire;

I will refine them like silver is refined

and will test them like gold is tested.

They will call on my name and I will answer;

I will say, ‘These are my people,’

and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” ³ 

Isaiah 65:6-9

65:6 Look, I have decreed: ⁴ 

I will not keep silent, but will pay them back;

I will pay them back exactly what they deserve, ⁵ 

65:7 for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,” ⁶  says the Lord.

“Because they burned incense on the mountains

and offended ⁷  me on the hills,

I will punish them in full measure.” ⁸ 

65:8 This is what the Lord says:

“When ⁹  juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,

someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ ¹⁰ 

So I will do for the sake of my servants –

I will not destroy everyone. ¹¹ 

65:9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains.

My chosen ones will take possession of the land; ¹² 

my servants will live there.

Isaiah 65:18

65:18 But be happy and rejoice forevermore

over what I am about to create!

For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem ¹³  to be a source of joy, ¹⁴ 

and her people to be a source of happiness. ¹⁵ 

Matthew 24:22

24:22 And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

Romans 9:27-29

9:27 And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, “Though the number of the children ¹⁶  of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved, 9:28 for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth completely and quickly.” ¹⁷  9:29 Just ¹⁸  as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of armies ¹⁹  had not left us descendants,

we would have become like Sodom,

and we would have resembled Gomorrah.” ²⁰ 

Galatians 4:26-27

4:26 But the Jerusalem above is free, ²¹  and she is our mother. 4:27 For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; ²² 

break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains,

because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous

than those of the woman who has a husband.” ²³ 

[13:8]  ¹ tn The words “of the people” are supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).

[13:8]  ² sn The fractions mentioned here call to mind the affliction of God’s people described by Ezekiel, though Ezekiel referred to his own times whereas Zechariah is looking forward to a future eschatological age. Ezekiel spoke of cutting his hair at God’s command (Ezek 5:1-4) and then of burning a third of it, striking a third with a sword, and scattering the rest. From this last third a few hairs would survive to become the nucleus of a new Israel. It is this “third” Zechariah speaks of (v. 9), the remnant who will be purified and reclaimed as God’s covenant people.

[13:9]  ³ sn The expression I will say ‘It is my people,’ and they will say ‘the Lord is my God’ is reminiscent of the restoration of Israel predicted by Hosea, who said that those who had been rejected as God’s people would be reclaimed and once more become his sons and daughters (Hos 2:23).

[65:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “Look, it is written before me.”

[65:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will pay back into their lap.”

[65:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “the iniquities of your fathers.”

[65:7]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps, “taunted”; KJV “blasphemed”; NAB “disgraced”; NASB “scorned”; NIV “defied”; NRSV “reviled.”

[65:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will measure out their pay [from the] beginning into their lap,” i.e., he will give them everything they have earned.

[65:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “just as.” In the Hebrew text the statement is one long sentence, “Just as…, so I will do….”

[65:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for a blessing is in it.”

[65:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “by not destroying everyone.”

[65:9]  ¹² tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to the land which contains the aforementioned mountains.

[65:18]  ¹³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[65:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Jerusalem, joy.” The next verse suggests the meaning: The Lord will create Jerusalem to be a source of joy to himself.

[65:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “her people, happiness.” See the preceding note.

[9:27]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “sons.”

[9:28]  ¹⁷ tc In light of the interpretive difficulty of this verse, a longer reading seems to have been added to clarify the meaning. The addition, in the middle of the sentence, makes the whole verse read as follows: “For he will execute his sentence completely and quickly in righteousness, because the Lord will do it quickly on the earth.” The shorter reading is found largely in Alexandrian mss (Ì⁴⁶ א* A B 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), while the longer reading is found principally in Western and Byzantine mss (א² D F G Ψ 33 Ï lat). The longer reading follows Isa 10:22-23 (LXX) verbatim, while Paul in the previous verse quoted the LXX loosely. This suggests the addition was made by a copyist trying to make sense out of a difficult passage rather than by the author himself.

[9:29]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:29]  ¹⁹ tn Traditionally, “Lord of hosts”; Grk “Lord Sabaoth,” which means “Lord of the [heavenly] armies,” sometimes translated more generally as “Lord Almighty.”

[9:29]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 1:9.

[4:26]  ²¹ sn The meaning of the statement the Jerusalem above is free is that the other woman represents the second covenant (cf. v. 24); she corresponds to the Jerusalem above that is free. Paul’s argument is very condensed at this point.

[4:27]  ²² tn The direct object “children” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for clarity. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[4:27]  ²³ tn Grk “because more are the children of the barren one than of the one having a husband.”