5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. 1
They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. 2
They do not know what their God requires of them. 3
5:5 I will go to the leaders 4
and speak with them.
Surely they know what the Lord demands. 5
Surely they know what their God requires of them.” 6
Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority
and refuse to submit to him. 7
5:9 I will surely punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!” 8
1 tn Heb “Surely they are poor.” The translation is intended to make clear the explicit contrasts and qualifications drawn in this verse and the next.
2 tn Heb “the way of the
3 tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”
4 tn Or “people in power”; Heb “the great ones.”
5 tn Heb “the way of the
6 tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”
7 tn Heb “have broken the yoke and torn off the yoke ropes.” Compare Jer 2:20 and the note there.
8 tn Heb “Should I not punish them…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions have the force of strong declarations.