54:8 In a burst 1 of anger I rejected you 2 momentarily,
but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”
says your protector, 3 the Lord.
59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;
your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers. 4
64:7 No one invokes 5 your name,
or makes an effort 6 to take hold of you.
For you have rejected us 7
and handed us over to our own sins. 8
32:20 He said, “I will reject them, 20
I will see what will happen to them;
for they are a perverse generation,
children 21 who show no loyalty.
3:4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help, 23
but he will not answer them.
He will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have done such wicked deeds.”
1 tn According to BDB 1009 s.v. שֶׁטֶף the noun שֶׁצֶף here is an alternate form of שֶׁטֶף (shetef, “flood”). Some relate the word to an alleged Akkadian cognate meaning “strength.”
2 tn Heb “I hid my face from you.”
3 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
4 tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”
5 tn Or “calls out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “calls on.”
6 tn Or “rouses himself”; NASB “arouses himself.”
7 tn Heb “for you have hidden your face from us.”
8 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and you caused us to melt in the hand of our sin.” The verb וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ (vattÿmugenu) is a Qal preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the root מוּג (mug, “melt”). However, elsewhere the Qal of this verb is intransitive. If the verbal root מוּג (mug) is retained here, the form should be emended to a Polel pattern (וַתְּמֹגְגֵנוּ, vattÿmogÿgenu). The translation assumes an emendation to וַתְּמַגְּנֵנוּ (vattÿmaggÿnenu, “and you handed us over”). This form is a Piel preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the verbal root מִגֵּן (miggen, “hand over, surrender”; see HALOT 545 s.v. מגן and BDB 171 s.v. מָגָן). The point is that God has abandoned them to their sinful ways and no longer seeks reconciliation.
9 tn Heb “on that day.” This same expression also appears later in the verse and in v. 18.
10 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
11 tn Heb “find,” “encounter.”
12 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
13 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
14 tn Heb “evils.”
15 tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.
16 tn Heb “my.”
17 tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.
18 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “certainly.”
19 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
20 tn Heb “I will hide my face from them.”
21 tn Heb “sons” (so NAB, NASB); TEV “unfaithful people.”
22 tn Or “in their punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.
23 tn Heb “then they will cry out to the