Jeremiah 38:20

38:20 Then Jeremiah answered, “You will not be handed over to them. Please obey the Lord by doing what I have been telling you. ¹  Then all will go well with you and your life will be spared. ² 

Proverbs 8:36

8:36 But the one who does not find me ³  brings harm ⁴  to himself; ⁵ 

all who hate me ⁶  love death.”

Ezekiel 18:24

18:24 “But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die. ⁷ 

Ezekiel 18:31

18:31 Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! ⁸  Why should you die, O house of Israel?

Ezekiel 33:11

33:11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior ⁹  and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! ¹⁰  Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

¹ tn Heb “Please listen to the voice of the Lord with regard to what I have been telling you.” For the idiom “listen to the voice” = “obey” see BDB 1034 s.v. שָׁמַע 1.m. Obedience here is expressed by following the advice in the qualifying clause, i.e., what I have been telling you.

² tn Heb “your life [or you yourself] will live.” Compare v. 17 and the translator’s note there for the idiom.

³ tn Heb “the one sinning [against] me.” The verb חָטָא (khata’, “to sin”) forms a contrast with “find” in the previous verse, and so has its basic meaning of “failing to find, miss.” So it is talking about the one who misses wisdom, as opposed to the one who finds it.

⁴ tn The Qal active participle functions verbally here. The word stresses both social and physical harm and violence.

⁵ tn Heb “his soul.”

⁶ tn The basic idea of the verb שָׂנֵא (sane’, “to hate”) is that of rejection. Its antonym is also used in the line, “love,” which has the idea of choosing. So not choosing (i.e., hating) wisdom amounts to choosing (i.e., loving) death.

⁷ tn Heb “because of them he will die.”

⁸ sn In Ezek 11:19, 36:26 the new heart and new spirit are promised as future blessings.

⁹ tn Heb “turn from his way.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “ways.” This same word is translated “behavior” earlier in the verse.