Yehezkiel 18:24

18:24 “But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die. ¹ 

Yehezkiel 18:26

18:26 When a righteous person turns back from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing, he will die for it; ²  because of the wrongdoing he has done, he will die.

Yehezkiel 33:12-13

33:12 “And you, son of man, say to your people, ³  ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him if he rebels. ⁴  As for the wicked, his wickedness will not make him stumble if he turns from it. ⁵  The righteous will not be able to live by his righteousness ⁶  if he sins.’ ⁷  33:13 Suppose I tell the righteous that he will certainly live, but he becomes confident in his righteousness and commits iniquity. None of his righteous deeds will be remembered; because of the iniquity he has committed he will die.

Matius 12:43-45

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

12:43 “When ⁸  an unclean spirit ⁹  goes out of a person, ¹⁰  it passes through waterless places ¹¹  looking for rest but ¹²  does not find it. 12:44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ ¹³  When it returns, ¹⁴  it finds the house ¹⁵  empty, swept clean, and put in order. ¹⁶  12:45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ¹⁷  the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!”

Lukas 8:15

8:15 But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing ¹⁸  the word, cling to it ¹⁹  with an honest and good ²⁰  heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance. ²¹ 

Roma 2:7-8

2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 2:8 but ²²  wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition ²³  and do not obey the truth but follow ²⁴  unrighteousness.

Ibrani 10:38

10:38 But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, I ²⁵  take no pleasure in him. ²⁶ 

Ibrani 10:2

10:2 For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have ²⁷  no further consciousness of sin?

Pengkhotbah 2:21

2:21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill;

however, he must hand over ²⁸  the fruit of his labor ²⁹  as an inheritance ³⁰ 

to someone else who did not work for it.

This also is futile, and an awful injustice! ³¹ 

[18:24]  ¹ tn Heb “because of them he will die.”

[18:26]  ² tn Heb “for them” or “because of them.”

[33:12]  ³ tn Heb “the sons of your people.”

[33:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the day of his rebellion.” The statement envisions a godly person rejecting what is good and becoming sinful. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:247-48.

[33:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble in it in the day of his turning from his wickedness.”

[33:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “by it.”

[33:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the day of his sin.”

[12:43]  ⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:43]  ⁹ sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.

[12:43]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females. This same use occurs in v. 45.

[12:43]  ¹¹ sn The background for the reference to waterless places is not entirely clear, though some Jewish texts suggest spirits must have a place to dwell, but not with water (Luke 8:29-31; Tob 8:3). Some suggest that the image of the desert or deserted cities as the places demons dwell is where this idea started (Isa 13:21; 34:14).

[12:43]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[12:44]  ¹³ tn Grk “I will return to my house from which I came.”

[12:44]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “comes.”

[12:44]  ¹⁵ tn The words “the house” are not in Greek but are implied.

[12:44]  ¹⁶ sn The image of the house empty, swept clean, and put in order refers to the life of the person from whom the demon departed. The key to the example appears to be that no one else has been invited in to dwell. If an exorcism occurs and there is no response to God, then the way is free for the demon to return. Some see the reference to exorcism as more symbolic; thus the story’s only point is about responding to Jesus. This is possible and certainly is an application of the passage.

[12:45]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.

[8:15]  ¹⁸ tn The aorist participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally, reflecting action antecedent (prior to) that of the main verb.

[8:15]  ¹⁹ sn There is a tenacity that is a part of spiritual fruitfulness.

[8:15]  ²⁰ sn In an ancient context, the qualifier good described the ethical person who possessed integrity. Here it is integrity concerning God’s revelation through Jesus.

[8:15]  ²¹ sn Given the pressures noted in the previous soils, bearing fruit takes time (steadfast endurance), just as it does for the farmer. See Jas 1:2-4.

[2:8]  ²² tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:8]  ²³ tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”

[2:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”

[10:38]  ²⁵ tn Grk “my soul.”

[10:38]  ²⁶ sn A quotation from Hab 2:4.

[10:2]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the worshipers, having been purified once for all, would have.”

[2:21]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he must give.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix on יִתְּנֶנּוּ (yittÿnennu, Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from נָתַן, natan, “to give” + 3rd person masculine singular suffix) refers back to עֲמָלוֹ (’amalo, “his labor”) which is treated in this line as a metonymy of cause for effect, that is, “he must give it” = “he must give his labor” = “he must give the fruit of his labor.”

[2:21]  sn As in 2:18-19, Qoheleth laments the injustice that a person who works diligently in wisdom must one day hand over the fruit of his labor (i.e., his fortune and the care of his achievements) to his successor. There is no guarantee that one’s heir will be wise and be a good steward of this wealth, or be foolish and squander it – in which case, the former man’s entire life’s work would be in vain.

[2:21]  ²⁹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (“the fruit of his labor”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:21]  ³⁰ tn Or “he must turn over an inheritance”; or “he must turn it over, namely, an inheritance.” There are two approaches to the syntax of חֶלְקוֹ (khelqo, “his inheritance”): (1) The 3rd person masculine singular suffix is a subjective genitive: “his inheritance” = the inheritance which he must give to his heir. The referent of the 3rd person masculine singular suffix is Qoheleth in 2:21a who worked hard to amass the fortune. The noun חֵלֶק (kheleq, “inheritance”) functions as an adverbial accusative of state (GKC 372 §118.a) or a predicate accusative (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12-13, §57): “He must give it [i.e., his fortune] as an inheritance.” (2) The 3rd person masculine singular suffix is an objective genitive: “his inheritance” = the inheritance which the heir will receive from Qoheleth. The referent of the 3rd person masculine singular suffix is the heir in 2:21b. The noun חֵלֶק (“inheritance”) functions as the accusative direct object in apposition (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 15-16, §71) to the 3rd person masculine singular suffix on יִתְּנֶנּוּ (yittÿnennu, “he must give it”; Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from נָתַן, natan, + 3rd person masculine singular suffix): “He must give it, namely, his inheritance, to one who did not work for it.”

[2:21]  ³¹ tn The noun רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) probably means “misfortune” (HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 4) or “injustice; wrong” (HALOT 1262 s.v. רָעָה 2.b). The phrase רָעָה רַבָּה (ra’ah rabbah) connotes “grave injustice” or “great misfortune” (e.g., Eccl 2:17; 5:12, 15; 6:1; 10:5). It is expressed well as: “This too is…a great misfortune” (NAB, NIV, MLB) and “utterly wrong!” (NEB).

[2:21]  sn Verses 18-21 are arranged into two sub-units (2:18-19 and 2:20-21). Each contains a parallel structure: (1) Introductory lament: “I hated all my toil” and “I began to despair about all my toil.” (2) Reason for the lament: “I must turn over the fruit of my labor to the hands of my successor” and “he must hand over the fruit of his work as an inheritance.” (3) Description of successor: “who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?” and “he did not work for it.” (4) Concluding statement: “This also is fruitless!” and “This also is profitless and an awful injustice!”