Isaiah 44:20

44:20 He feeds on ashes; ¹ 

his deceived mind misleads him.

He cannot rescue himself,

nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ ² 

Isaiah 55:2

55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? ³ 

Why spend ⁴  your hard-earned money ⁵  on something that will not satisfy?

Listen carefully ⁶  to me and eat what is nourishing! ⁷ 

Enjoy fine food! ⁸ 

Lamentations 4:5

ה (He)

4:5 Those who once feasted on delicacies ⁹ 

are now starving to death ¹⁰  in the streets.

Those who grew up ¹¹  wearing expensive clothes ¹² 

are now dying ¹³  amid garbage. ¹⁴ 

Hosea 12:1

12:1 Ephraim continually feeds on the wind;

he chases the east wind all day;

he multiplies lies and violence.

They make treaties ¹⁵  with Assyria,

and send olive oil as tribute ¹⁶  to Egypt.

Romans 6:19-21

6:19 (I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) ¹⁷  For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness.

6:21 So what benefit ¹⁸  did you then reap ¹⁹  from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.

¹ tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”

² tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”

³ tn Heb “for what is not food.”

⁴ tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

⁵ tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.

⁶ tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.

⁷ tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

⁸ tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”

⁹ tn Heb “eaters of delicacies.” An alternate English gloss would be “connoisseurs of fine foods.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “are desolate.”

¹¹ tn Heb “were reared.”

¹² tn Heb “in purple.” The term תוֹלָע (tola’, “purple”) is a figurative description of expensive clothing: it is a metonymy of association: the color of the dyed clothes (= purple) stands for the clothes themselves.

¹³ tn Heb “embrace garbage.” One may also translate “rummage through” (cf. NCV “pick through trash piles”; TEV “pawing through refuse”; NLT “search the garbage pits.”

¹⁴ tn The Hebrew word אַשְׁפַּתּוֹת (’ashpatot) can also mean “ash heaps.” Though not used as a combination elsewhere, to “embrace ash heaps” might also envision a state of mourning or even dead bodies lying on the ash heaps.

¹⁵ tn Heb “a treaty” (so NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “a covenant”; NAB “comes to terms.”

¹⁶ tn The phrase “as tribute” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. NCV “send a gift of olive oil.”

¹⁷ tn Or “because of your natural limitations” (NRSV).

¹⁸ tn Grk “fruit.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “have,” in a tense emphasizing their customary condition in the past.