Daniel 3:25-27

3:25 He answered, “But I see four men, untied and walking around in the midst of the fire! No harm has come to them! And the appearance of the fourth is like that of a god!” ¹  3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire. He called out, ²  “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come out! Come here!”

Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerged from the fire. ³  3:27 Once the satraps, prefects, governors, and ministers of the king had gathered around, they saw that those men were physically ⁴  unharmed by the fire. ⁵  The hair of their heads was not singed, nor were their trousers damaged. Not even the smell of fire was to be found on them!

Zakharia 13:9

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.’” ⁶ 

Maleakhi 3:2-3

3:2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, ⁷  like a launderer’s soap. 3:3 He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering.

Maleakhi 4:1

4:1 (3:19) ⁸  “For indeed the day ⁹  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 ¹⁰  will not leave even a root or branch.

Lukas 21:12-18

21:12 But before all this, ¹¹  they will seize ¹²  you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues ¹³  and prisons. You ¹⁴  will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 21:13 This will be a time for you to serve as witnesses. ¹⁵  21:14 Therefore be resolved ¹⁶  not to rehearse ¹⁷  ahead of time how to make your defense. 21:15 For I will give you the words ¹⁸  along with the wisdom ¹⁹  that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 21:16 You will be betrayed even by parents, ²⁰  brothers, relatives, ²¹  and friends, and they will have some of you put to death. 21:17 You will be hated by everyone because of my name. ²²  21:18 Yet ²³  not a hair of your head will perish. ²⁴ 

Lukas 21:1

The Widow’s Offering

21:1 Jesus ²⁵  looked up ²⁶  and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. ²⁷ 

Kolose 3:13-15

3:13 bearing with one another and forgiving ²⁸  one another, if someone happens to have ²⁹  a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others. ³⁰  3:14 And to all these ³¹  virtues ³²  add ³³  love, which is the perfect bond. ³⁴  3:15 Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body ³⁵  to this peace), and be thankful.

Ibrani 11:33-38

11:33 Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, ³⁶  gained what was promised, ³⁷  shut the mouths of lions, 11:34 quenched raging fire, ³⁸  escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, ³⁹  became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight, 11:35 and women received back their dead raised to life. ⁴⁰  But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life. ⁴¹  11:36 And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 11:37 They were stoned, sawed apart, ⁴²  murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 11:38 (the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth.

Ibrani 11:1

People Commended for Their Faith

11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.

Pengkhotbah 4:12-13

4:12 Although an assailant may overpower ⁴³  one person,

two can withstand him.

Moreover, a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken.

Labor Motivated by Prestige-Seeking

4:13 A poor but wise youth is better than an old and foolish king

who no longer knows how to receive advice.

[3:25]  ¹ sn The phrase like that of a god is in Aramaic “like that of a son of the gods.” Many patristic writers understood this phrase in a christological sense (i.e., “the Son of God”). But it should be remembered that these are words spoken by a pagan who is seeking to explain things from his own polytheistic frame of reference; for him the phrase “like a son of the gods” is equivalent to “like a divine being.”

[3:26]  ² tn Aram “answered and said.”

[3:26]  ³ tn Aram “from the midst of the fire.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.

[3:27]  ⁴ tn Aram “in their bodies.”

[3:27]  ⁵ tn Aram “the fire did not have power.”

[13:9]  ⁶ 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).

[3:2]  ⁷ sn The refiner’s fire was used to purify metal and refine it by melting it and allowing the dross, which floated to the top, to be scooped off.

[4:1]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[21:12]  ¹¹ sn But before all this. Another note of timing is present, this one especially important in understanding the sequence in the discourse. Before the things noted in vv. 8-11 are the events of vv. 12-19.

[21:12]  ¹² tn Grk “will lay their hands on you.”

[21:12]  ¹³ sn Some of the persecution is of Jewish origin (the synagogues). Some fulfillment of this can be seen in Acts. See the note on synagogues in 4:15.

[21:12]  ¹⁴ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[21:13]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “This will turn out to you for [a] testimony.”

[21:14]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “determine in your hearts.”

[21:14]  ¹⁷ tn This term could refer to rehearsing a speech or a dance. On its syntax, see BDF §392.2.

[21:15]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “a mouth.” It is a metonymy and refers to the reply the Lord will give to them.

[21:15]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “and wisdom.”

[21:16]  ²⁰ sn To confess Christ might well mean rejection by one’s own family, even by parents.

[21:16]  ²¹ tn Grk “and brothers and relatives,” but καί (kai) has not been translated twice here since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[21:17]  ²² sn See Luke 6:22, 27; 1 Cor 1:25-31.

[21:18]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[21:18]  ²⁴ sn Given v. 16, the expression not a hair of your head will perish must be taken figuratively and refer to living ultimately in the presence of God.

[21:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “He”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[21:1]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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.

[21:1]  sn The offering box probably refers to the receptacles in the temple forecourt by the Court of Women used to collect freewill offerings. These are mentioned by Josephus, J. W. 5.5.2 (5.200), 6.5.2 (6.282); Ant. 19.6.1 (19.294); and in 1 Macc 14:49 and 2 Macc 3:6, 24, 28, 40 (see also Mark 12:41; John 8:20).

[3:13]  ²⁸ tn For the translation of χαριζόμενοι (carizomenoi) as “forgiving,” see BDAG 1078 s.v. χαρίζομαι 3. The two participles “bearing” (ἀνεχόμενοι, anecomenoi) and “forgiving” (χαριζόμενοι) express the means by which the action of the finite verb “clothe yourselves” is to be carried out.

[3:13]  ²⁹ tn Grk “if someone has”; the term “happens,” though not in the Greek text, is inserted to bring out the force of the third class condition.

[3:13]  ³⁰ tn The expression “forgive others” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. It is included in the translation to make the sentence complete and more comprehensible to the English reader.

[3:14]  ³¹ tn BDAG 365 s.v. ἐπί 7 suggests “to all these” as a translation for ἐπὶ πᾶσιν δὲ τούτοις (epi pasin de toutoi").

[3:14]  ³² tn The term “virtues” is not in the Greek text, but is included in the translation to specify the antecedent and to make clear the sense of the pronoun “these.”

[3:14]  ³³ tn The verb “add,” though not in the Greek text, is implied, picking up the initial imperative “clothe yourselves.”

[3:14]  ³⁴ tn The genitive τῆς τελειότητος (th" teleiothto") has been translated as an attributive genitive, “the perfect bond.”

[3:15]  ³⁵ tn Grk “in one body.” This phrase emphasizes the manner in which the believers were called, not the goal of their calling, and focuses upon their unity.

[11:33]  ³⁶ tn This probably refers to the righteous rule of David and others. But it could be more general and mean “did what was righteous.”

[11:33]  ³⁷ tn Grk “obtained promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves.

[11:33]  sn Gained what was promised. They saw some of God’s promises fulfilled, even though the central promise remained unfulfilled until Christ came (cf. vv. 39-40).

[11:34]  ³⁸ tn Grk “quenched the power of fire.”

[11:34]  ³⁹ tn Or “recovered from sickness.”

[11:35]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “received back their dead from resurrection.”

[11:35]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “to obtain a better resurrection.”

[11:37]  ⁴² tc The reading ἐπρίσθησαν (ejprisqhsan, “they were sawed apart”) is found in some important witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ [D* twice reads ἐπίρσθησαν, “they were burned”?] pc sy^p sa Or^pt Eus). Other mss have ἐπειράσθησαν (ejpeirasqhsan, “they were tempted”), either before “sawed apart” ([א] L P [048] 33 81 326 1505 pc sy^h), after “sawed apart” (Ì^13vid A D¹ Ψ 1739 1881 Ï lat bo Or^pt), or altogether in place of “sawed apart” (0150 vg^mss Cl). Since the two words ἐπρίσθησαν and ἐπειράσθησαν are so much alike in sight and sound, and since the position of “they were tempted” varies in the mss, it seems best to say that ἐπειράσθησαν is an accidental corruption of ἐπρίσθησαν or an intentional change to a more common word (the root of ἐπρίσθησαν [πρίζω, prizw] occurs only here in the NT, while the root of ἐπειράσθησαν [πειράζω, peirazw] occurs 38 times). The best reading here seems to be “sawed apart” without any addition before or after. (See TCGNT 603-4, for a discussion of emendations that scholars have proposed for this difficult problem.)

[4:12]  ⁴³ tn The verbal root תקף means “to overpower; to prevail over” e.g., Job 14:20; 15:24; Eccl 4:12; 6:10 (HALOT 1786 s.v. תקף).