² tn Traditionally, “toil.” Although it might be argued that “work hard” would be a more precise translation of κοπιάω (kopiaō) here, the line in English scans better in terms of cadence with a single syllable.

³ tn Or “from.” The account suggests God’s planned direction in these events, so “by” is better than “from,” as six months into Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God acts again.

⁴ tn Or “have been accomplished.” Given Luke’s emphasis on divine design (e.g., Luke 24:43-47) a stronger sense (“fulfilled”) is better than a mere reference to something having taken place (“accomplished”).

² tn Or, traditionally, “toil.” Although it might be argued that “work hard” would be a more precise translation of κοπιάω (kopiaō) here, the line in English reads better in terms of cadence with a single syllable.

² tc The MT has אָמוּר (ʾamur), an otherwise unattested passive participle, which is better emended to אָמוֹר (ʾamor), an infinitive absolute functioning as a finite verb (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמַר).

⁵ tn The Hebrew preposition לְ (l^e) is better translated here as “concerning” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV, NLT) or “about” (so NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV) Edom than as “to” Edom, although much of the book does speak directly to Edom.

² tn Heb “when (they) did,” but the verb makes no sense here and is better emended to “when (they) fondled,” a verb used in vv. 3 and 8. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.

¹ tn Heb “took of the seed of the land.” For the vine imagery, “seedling” is a better translation, though in its subsequent interpretation the “seed” refers to Zedekiah through its common application to offspring.

¹ tc The Heb לוֹא אֲלֵיכֶם (loʾ ʾalekhem, “not to you”) is often considered awkward and difficult, but there is no textual evidence yet adduced to suggest a better original reading.

² tn Heb “in order to give us into the hands of the Chaldeans.” The substitution “he wants to” as the equivalent of the purpose clause has been chosen to shorten the sentence to better conform with contemporary English style.

² tn Heb “And according to all that the Lord our God says, thus declare to us, and we will act.” The restructuring of the sentence is intended to better reflect contemporary English style.

² tn Heb “So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah…and lived with him among the people who had been left in the land.” The long Hebrew sentence has been divided in two to better conform with contemporary English style.

¹ tn Heb “Jeremiah remained/stayed in the courtyard of the guardhouse.” The translation is meant to better reflect the situation; i.e., Jeremiah was released from the cistern but still had to stay in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

¹ tn Heb “Have you not seen what this people have said, saying.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. The sentence has been broken in two to better conform with contemporary English style.

¹ tn Heb “the priests and prophets said to the leaders and the people….” The long sentence has been broken up to conform better with contemporary English style, and the situational context is reflected in “laid their charges.”

³ sn What is being referred to here is the feeling, encouraged by the false prophets, that the ill fortunes of the nation were just temporary setbacks and everything would soon get better (cf. 6:14; 8:11).

² tn Heb “Would the land not be utterly defiled?” The stative is here rendered actively to connect better with the preceding. The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

² sn The verse is saying that in God’s justice wealth amassed unjustly will eventually go to the poor. God will take the wealth away from them and give it to people who will distribute it better to the poor.

³ sn The consequence is given in the first line and the cause in the second. It would be better not to send a message at all than to use a fool as messenger.

¹ tn The word “wicked” could be taken as a vocative (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, “O wicked man”), but since the next line refers to the wicked this is unlikely. It serves better as an adverbial accusative (“like the wicked”).