Isaiah 29:10

29:10 For the Lord has poured out on you

a strong urge to sleep deeply. ¹ 

He has shut your eyes (the prophets),

and covered your heads (the seers).

Hosea 4:12

4:12 They consult their wooden idols,

and their diviner’s staff answers with an oracle.

The wind of prostitution blows them astray;

they commit spiritual adultery ²  against their God.

Micah 2:11

2:11 If a lying windbag should come and say, ³ 

‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ ⁴ 

he would be just the right preacher for these people! ⁵ 

Romans 11:8

11:8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,

to this very day.” ⁶ 

Romans 11:2

11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

Romans 2:9-11

2:9 There will be ⁷  affliction and distress on everyone ⁸  who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek, ⁹  2:10 but ¹⁰  glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek. 2:11 For there is no partiality with God.

¹ tn Heb “a disposition [or “spirit”] of deep sleep.” Through this mixed metaphor (sleep is likened to a liquid which one pours and in turn symbolizes spiritual dullness) the prophet emphasizes that God himself has given the people over to their spiritual insensitivity as a form of judgment.

² tn Heb “adultery.” The adjective “spiritual” is supplied in the translation to clarify that apostasy is meant here.

³ tn Heb “if a man, coming [as] wind and falsehood, should lie”; NASB “walking after wind and falsehood”; NIV “a liar and a deceiver.”

⁴ tn Heb “I will foam at the mouth concerning wine and beer.”

⁵ tn Heb “he would be the foamer at the mouth for this people.”

⁶ sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.

⁷ tn No verb is expressed in this verse, but the verb “to be” is implied by the Greek construction. Literally “suffering and distress on everyone…”

⁸ tn Grk “every soul of man.”

⁹ sn Paul uses the term Greek here and in v. 10 to refer to non-Jews, i.e., Gentiles.

¹⁰ tn Grk “but even,” to emphasize the contrast. The second word has been omitted since it is somewhat redundant in English idiom.