Matius 6:24

6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate ¹  the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise ²  the other. You cannot serve God and money. ³ 

Matius 16:26

16:26 For what does it benefit a person ⁴  if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?

Mazmur 17:14

17:14 Lord, use your power to deliver me from these murderers, ⁵ 

from the murderers of this world! ⁶ 

They enjoy prosperity; ⁷ 

you overwhelm them with the riches they desire. ⁸ 

They have many children,

and leave their wealth to their offspring. ⁹ 

Yehezkiel 33:31

33:31 They come to you in crowds, ¹⁰  and they sit in front of you as ¹¹  my people. They hear your words, but do not obey ¹²  them. For they talk lustfully, ¹³  and their heart is set on ¹⁴  their own advantage. ¹⁵ 

Efesus 5:5

5:5 For you can be confident of this one thing: ¹⁶  that no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Kolose 3:5

3:5 So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: ¹⁷  sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, ¹⁸  evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.

[6:24]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Or “and treat [the other] with contempt.”

[6:24]  ³ tn Grk “God and mammon.”

[6:24]  sn The term money is used to translate mammon, the Aramaic term for wealth or possessions. The point is not that money is inherently evil, but that it is often misused so that it is a means of evil; see 1 Tim 6:6-10, 17-19. God must be first, not money or possessions.

[16:26]  ⁴ tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[17:14]  ⁵ tc Heb “from men [by] your hand, Lord.” The translation assumes an emendation (both here and in the following line) of מִמְתִים (mimtim, “from men”) to מִמְמִתִים (mimmitim, “from those who kill”). For other uses of the plural form of the Hiphil participle of מוּת (mut, “die”), see 2 Kgs 17:26 (used with lions as subject), Job 33:22 (apparently referring to the agents of death), and Jer 26:15 (used of those seeking Jeremiah’s life).

[17:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “from men, from [the] world.” On the emendation of “men” to “murderers,” see the preceding note on the word “murderers.”

[17:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “their portion, in life.”

[17:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “and [with] your treasures you fill their belly.”

[17:14]  sn You overwhelm them with the riches they desire. The psalmist is not accusing God of being unjust; he is simply observing that the wicked often prosper and that God is the ultimate source of all blessings that human beings enjoy (see Matt 5:45). When the wicked are ungrateful for God’s blessings, they become even more culpable and deserving of judgment. So this description of the wicked actually supports the psalmist’s appeal for deliverance. God should rescue him because he is innocent (see vv. 3-5) and because the wicked, though blessed abundantly by God, still have the audacity to attack God’s people.

[17:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] sons and leave their abundance to their children.”

[33:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “as people come.” Apparently this is an idiom indicating that they come in crowds. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:264.

[33:31]  ¹¹ tn The word “as” is supplied in the translation.

[33:31]  ¹² tn Heb “do.”

[33:31]  ¹³ tn Heb “They do lust with their mouths.”

[33:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “goes after.”

[33:31]  ¹⁵ tn The present translation understands the term often used for “unjust gain” in a wider sense, following M. Greenberg, who also notes that the LXX uses a term which can describe either sexual or ritual pollution. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:687.

[5:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “be knowing this.” See also 2 Pet 1:20 for a similar phrase: τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες (touto prwton ginwskonte").

[3:5]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the members which are on the earth.” See BDAG 628 s.v. μέλος 1, “put to death whatever in you is worldly.”

[3:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “lust.”