4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil 1
so that you may yet be delivered.
How long will you continue to harbor up
wicked schemes within you?
13:27 People of Jerusalem, 2 I have seen your adulterous worship,
your shameless prostitution to, and your lustful pursuit of, other gods. 3
I have seen your disgusting acts of worship 4
on the hills throughout the countryside.
You are doomed to destruction! 5
How long will you continue to be unclean?’”
4:2 You men, 6 how long will you try to turn my honor into shame? 7
How long 8 will you love what is worthless 9
and search for what is deceptive? 10 (Selah)
8:5 O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol!
My anger burns against them!
They will not survive much longer without being punished, 11
even though they are Israelites!
1 tn Heb “Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”
2 tn Heb “Jerusalem.” This word has been pulled up from the end of the verse to help make the transition. The words “people of” have been supplied in the translation here to ease the difficulty mentioned earlier of sustaining the personification throughout.
3 tn Heb “[I have seen] your adulteries, your neighings, and your shameless prostitution.” The meanings of the metaphorical references have been incorporated in the translation for the sake of clarity for readers of all backgrounds.
4 tn Heb “your disgusting acts.” This word is almost always used of idolatry or of the idols themselves. See BDB 1055 s.v. שִׁקֻּוּץ and Deut 29:17 and Jer 4:1; 7:30.
5 tn Heb “Woe to you!”
6 tn Heb “sons of man.”
7 tn Heb “how long my honor to shame?”
8 tn The interrogative construction עַד־מֶה (’ad-meh, “how long?”), is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
9 tn Heb “emptiness.”
10 tn Heb “a lie.” Some see the metonymic language of v. 2b (“emptiness, lie”) as referring to idols or false gods. However, there is no solid immediate contextual evidence for such an interpretation. It is more likely that the psalmist addresses those who threaten him (see v. 1) and refers in a general way to their sinful lifestyle. (See R. Mosis, TDOT 7:121.) The two terms allude to the fact that sinful behavior is ultimately fruitless and self-destructive.
11 tn Heb “How long will they be able to be free from punishment?” This rhetorical question affirms that Israel will not survive much longer until God punishes it.
12 tn Or “unscrupulousness.”
13 sn “You who…paths of the Lord?” This rebuke is like ones from the OT prophets: Jer 5:27; Gen 32:11; Prov 10:7; Hos 14:9. Five separate remarks indicate the magician’s failings. The closing rhetorical question of v. 10 (“will you not stop…?”) shows how opposed he is to the way of God.