Jeremiah 2:30

2:30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.

They did not respond to such correction.

You slaughtered your prophets

like a voracious lion.” ¹ 

Jeremiah 2:34

2:34 Even your clothes are stained with

the lifeblood of the poor who had not done anything wrong;

you did not catch them breaking into your homes. ² 

Yet, in spite of all these things you have done, ³ 

Jeremiah 22:17

22:17 But you are always thinking and looking

for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.

Your eyes and your heart are set

on killing some innocent person

and committing fraud and oppression. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 26:15

26:15 But you should take careful note of this: If you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves and this city and those who live in it the guilt of murdering an innocent man. For the Lord has sent me to speak all this where you can hear it. That is the truth!” ⁵ 

Jeremiah 26:23

26:23 and they brought Uriah back from there. ⁶  They took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him executed and had his body thrown into the burial place of the common people. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 26:2

26:2 The Lord said, “Go stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. ⁸  Speak out to all the people who are coming from the towns of Judah to worship in the Lord’s temple. Tell them everything I command you to tell them. Do not leave out a single word!

Jeremiah 21:6

21:6 I will kill everything living in Jerusalem, ⁹  people and animals alike! They will die from terrible diseases.

Jeremiah 24:4

24:4 The Lord said to me, ¹⁰ 

Psalms 106:38

106:38 They shed innocent blood –

the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.

The land was polluted by bloodshed. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 59:7

59:7 They are eager to do evil, ¹² 

quick to shed innocent blood. ¹³ 

Their thoughts are sinful;

they crush and destroy. ¹⁴ 

Lamentations 4:13

מ (Mem)

4:13 But it happened ¹⁵  due to the sins of her prophets ¹⁶ 

and the iniquities of her priests,

who poured out in her midst

the blood of the righteous.

Ezekiel 22:3-6

22:3 Then say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom), ¹⁷  and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity), 22:4 you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made. You have hastened the day of your doom; ¹⁸  the end of your years has come. ¹⁹  Therefore I will make ²⁰  you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands. 22:5 Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation, ²¹  full of turmoil.

22:6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. ²² 

Matthew 23:35-37

23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, ²³  whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 23:36 I tell you the truth, ²⁴  this generation will be held responsible for all these things! ²⁵ 

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ²⁶  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ²⁷  How often I have longed ²⁸  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ²⁹  you would have none of it! ³⁰ 

Matthew 27:4

27:4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!”

Matthew 27:25

27:25 In ³¹  reply all the people said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

[2:30]  ¹ tn Heb “Your sword devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.” However, the reference to the sword in this and many similar idioms is merely idiomatic for death by violent means.

[2:34]  ² tn The words “for example” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarification. This is only one example of why their death was not legitimate.

[2:34]  ³ tn KJV and ASV read this line with 2:34. The ASV makes little sense and the KJV again erroneously reads the archaic second person feminine singular perfect as first person common singular. All the modern English versions and commentaries take this line with 2:35.

[22:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “Your eyes and your heart do not exist except for dishonest gain and for innocent blood to shed [it] and for fraud and for oppression to do [them].” The sentence has been broken up to conform more to English style and the significance of “eyes” and “heart” explained before they are introduced into the translation.

[26:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “For in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak in your ears all these words/things.”

[26:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “from Egypt.”

[26:23]  ⁷ sn The burial place of the common people was the public burial grounds, distinct from the family tombs, where poor people without any distinction were buried. It was in the Kidron Valley east of Jerusalem (2 Kgs 23:6). The intent of reporting this is to show the ruthlessness of Jehoiakim.

[26:2]  ⁸ sn It is generally agreed that the incident recorded in this chapter relates to the temple message that Jeremiah gave in 7:1-15. The message there is summarized here in vv. 3-6. The primary interest here is in the response to that message.

[21:6]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[24:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “The word of the Lord came to me.”

[106:38]  ¹¹ sn Num 35:33-34 explains that bloodshed defiles a land.

[59:7]  ¹² tn Heb “their feet run to evil.”

[59:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “they quickly pour out innocent blood.”

[59:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “their thoughts are thoughts of sin, destruction and crushing [are] in their roadways.”

[4:13]  ¹⁵ tn These words do not appear in the Hebrew, but are supplied to make sense of the line. The introductory causal preposition מִן (min) (“because”) indicates that this phrase – or something like it – is implied through elision.

[4:13]  ¹⁶ tn There is no main verb in the verse; it is an extended prepositional phrase. One must either assume a verbal idea such as “But it happened due to…” or connect it to the following verses, which themselves are quite difficult. The former option was employed in the present translation.

[22:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “her time”; this refers to the time of impending judgment (see the note on “doom” in v. 4).

[22:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “you have brought near your days.” The expression “bring near your days” appears to be an adaptation of the idiom “days draw near,” which is used to indicate that an event, such as death, is imminent (see Gen 27:41; 47:29; Deut 31:14; 1 Kgs 2:1; Ezek 12:23). Here “your days” probably refers to the days of the personified city’s life, which was about to come to an end through God’s judgment.

[22:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and you have come to your years.” This appears to mean that she has arrived at the time when her years (i.e., life) would end, though it may mean that her years of punishment will begin. Because “day” and “time” are so closely associated in the immediate context (see 21:25, 29) some prefer to emend the text and read “you have brought near your time.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:31, as well as the translator’s note on verse 3.

[22:4]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew verb is a prophetic perfect, emphasizing that the action is as good as done from the speaker’s perspective.

[22:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “unclean of name.”

[22:6]  ²² tn Heb “Look! The princes of Israel, each according to his arm, were in you in order to shed blood.”

[23:35]  ²³ sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).

[23:36]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[23:36]  ²⁵ tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”

[23:37]  ²⁶ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ²⁷ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[23:37]  ²⁸ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[23:37]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ³⁰ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[27:25]  ³¹ tn Grk “answering, all the people said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.