Will go away (Good News Translation “will be sent off”) is perhaps best interpreted to mean “God will send them away.”

Eternal punishment can be expressed by “where they will be punished forever” or “punishment that never stops.”

The righteous: see verse 37 and 1.19.

Eternal life: see comment at 19.16.

In Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch this verse is translated “Eternal punishment awaits these people. But the others, who have done God’s will, will receive eternal life.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .