Jeremiah 13:14

13:14 And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike. ¹  I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,’ ²  says the Lord.”

Deuteronomy 28:50

28:50 a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young.

Deuteronomy 28:2

28:2 All these blessings will come to you in abundance ³  if you obey the Lord your God:

Deuteronomy 1:17

1:17 They ⁴  must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly ⁵  and the great alike. Nor should they be intimidated by human beings, for judgment belongs to God. If the matter being adjudicated is too difficult for them, they should bring it before me for a hearing.

Isaiah 13:17-18

13:17 Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; ⁶ 

they are not concerned about silver,

nor are they interested in gold. ⁷ 

13:18 Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; ⁸ 

they have no compassion on a person’s offspring, ⁹ 

they will not ¹⁰  look with pity on children.

Isaiah 27:11

27:11 When its branches get brittle, ¹¹  they break;

women come and use them for kindling. ¹² 

For these people lack understanding, ¹³ 

therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them;

the one who formed them has no mercy on them.

Isaiah 47:6

47:6 I was angry at my people;

I defiled my special possession

and handed them over to you.

You showed them no mercy; ¹⁴ 

you even placed a very heavy burden on old people. ¹⁵ 

Ezekiel 7:9

7:9 My eye will not pity you; I will not spare ¹⁶  you. For your behavior I will hold you accountable, ¹⁷  and you will suffer the consequences of your abominable practices. Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, who is striking you. ¹⁸ 

Ezekiel 8:18

8:18 Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare ¹⁹  them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them.”

Ezekiel 9:5-6

9:5 While I listened, he said to the others, ²⁰  “Go through the city after him and strike people down; do no let your eye pity nor spare ²¹  anyone! 9:6 Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women – wipe them out! But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary!” So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple.

Ezekiel 9:10

9:10 But as for me, my eye will not pity them nor will I spare ²²  them; I hereby repay them for what they have done.” ²³ 

Habakkuk 1:6-10

1:6 Look, I am about to empower ²⁴  the Babylonians,

that ruthless ²⁵  and greedy ²⁶  nation.

They sweep across the surface ²⁷  of the earth,

seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.

1:7 They are frightening and terrifying;

they decide for themselves what is right. ²⁸ 

1:8 Their horses are faster than leopards

and more alert ²⁹  than wolves in the desert. ³⁰ 

Their horses ³¹  gallop, ³² 

their horses come a great distance;

like a vulture ³³  they swoop down quickly to devour their prey. ³⁴ 

1:9 All of them intend ³⁵  to do violence;

every face is determined. ³⁶ 

They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand. ³⁷ 

1:10 They mock kings

and laugh at rulers.

They laugh at every fortified city;

they build siege ramps ³⁸  and capture them.

[13:14]  ¹ tn Or “children along with their parents”; Heb “fathers and children together.”

[13:14]  ² tn Heb “I will not show…so as not to destroy them.”

[28:2]  ³ tn Heb “come upon you and overtake you” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “come upon you and accompany you.”

[1:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[1:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.

[13:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “against them”; NLT “against Babylon.”

[13:17]  ⁷ sn They cannot be bought off, for they have a lust for bloodshed.

[13:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “and bows cut to bits young men.” “Bows” stands by metonymy for arrows.

[13:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “the fruit of the womb.”

[13:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their eye does not.” Here “eye” is a metonymy for the whole person.

[27:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[27:11]  ¹² tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried up branches that is only good for firewood.

[27:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”

[47:6]  ¹⁴ tn Or “compassion.”

[47:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “on the old you made very heavy your yoke.”

[7:9]  ¹⁶ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[7:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “According to your behavior I will place on you.”

[7:9]  ¹⁸ tn The MT lacks “you.” It has been added for clarification.

[8:18]  ¹⁹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[9:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to these he said in my ears.”

[9:5]  ²¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[9:10]  ²² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[9:10]  ²³ tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.” The same expression occurs in 1 Kgs 8:32; Ezek 11:21; 16:43; 22:31.

[1:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “raise up” (so KJV, ASV).

[1:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “bitter.” Other translation options for this word in this context include “fierce” (NASB, NRSV); “savage” (NEB); or “grim.”

[1:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “hasty, quick.” Some translate here “impetuous” (so NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “rash,” but in this context greed may very well be the idea. The Babylonians move quickly and recklessly ahead in their greedy quest to expand their empire.

[1:6]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the open spaces.”

[1:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “from him his justice, even his lifting up, goes out.” In this context שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et) probably has the nuance “authority.” See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 150.

[1:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “sharper,” in the sense of “keener” or “more alert.” Some translate “quicker” on the basis of the parallelism with the first line (see HALOT 291 s.v. חדד).

[1:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The present translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). On this phrase see also Zeph 3:3.

[1:8]  ³¹ tn Or “horsemen,” “cavalry.”

[1:8]  ³² tn The precise nuance of the rare verb פָּוַשׁ (parash) is unclear here. Elsewhere it is used of animals jumping or leaping (see Jer 50:11; Mal 4:2).

[1:8]  ³³ tn Or “eagle” (so NASB, NRSV). The term can refer to either eagles or vultures, but in this context of gruesome destruction and death “vulture” is preferred.

[1:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “they fly like a vulture/an eagle quickly to devour.” The direct object “their prey” is not included in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ³⁵ tn Heb “come.”

[1:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “The totality of their faces is to the east” (or “is forward”). The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מְגַמַּת (megammat) is unclear. For a discussion of options see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 93. NEB has “a sea of faces rolls on”; NIV “their hordes advance like a desert wind”; NRSV “with faces pressing forward.”

[1:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and he gathers like sand, prisoners.”

[1:10]  ³⁸ tn Heb “they heap up dirt.” This is a reference to the piling up of earthen ramps in the process of laying siege to a fortified city.