48:1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, 1
you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’
and are descended from Judah, 2
who take oaths in the name of the Lord,
and invoke 3 the God of Israel –
but not in an honest and just manner. 4
4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright
when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ 5
If you do, 6 the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are
and will make him the object of their boasting.” 7
4:15 Although you, O Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty!
Do not journey to Gilgal!
Do not go up to Beth Aven! 8
Do not swear, “As surely as the Lord lives!”
1 tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”
2 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and from the waters of Judah came out.” מִמֵּי (mimme) could be a corruption of מִמְּעֵי (mimmÿ’e, “from the inner parts of”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT, NRSV) as suggested in the above translation. Some translations (ESV, NKJV) retain the MT reading because the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.
3 tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”
4 tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”
5 tn Heb “If you [= you must, see the translator’s note on the word “do” later in this verse] swear/take an oath, ‘As the
6 tn 4:1-2a consists of a number of “if” clauses, two of which are formally introduced by the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) while the others are introduced by the conjunction “and,” followed by a conjunction (“and” = “then”) with a perfect in 4:2b which introduces the consequence. The translation “You must…. If you do,” was chosen to avoid a long and complicated sentence.
7 tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”
8 sn Beth Aven means “house of wickedness” in Hebrew; it is a polemic reference to “Bethel,” which means “house of God.” Cf. CEV “at sinful Bethel.”