Jeremiah 7:3-7

7:3 The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right. ²  If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land. ³  7:4 Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, ⁴  “We are safe! ⁵  The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!” ⁶  7:5 You must change ⁷  the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. ⁸  7:6 Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. ⁹  Stop killing innocent people ¹⁰  in this land. Stop paying allegiance to ¹¹  other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. ¹²  7:7 If you stop doing these things, ¹³  I will allow you to continue to live in this land ¹⁴  which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 35:15

35:15 I sent all my servants the prophets to warn you over and over again. They said, “Every one of you, stop doing the evil things you have been doing and do what is right. ¹⁶  Do not pay allegiance to other gods ¹⁷  and worship them. Then you can continue to live in this land that I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you did not pay any attention or listen to me.

Jeremiah 36:3

36:3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the disaster I intend to bring on them, they will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. ¹⁸  If they do, I will forgive their sins and the wicked things they have done.” ¹⁹ 

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. ²⁰  Then all will go well with you and your life will be spared. ²¹ 

Isaiah 1:19

1:19 If you have a willing attitude and obey, ²² 

then you will again eat the good crops of the land.

Isaiah 55:7

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ²³ 

and sinful people their plans. ²⁴ 

They should return ²⁵  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ²⁶ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ²⁷ 

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 ²⁸  and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! ²⁹  Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

Hosea 14:1-4

Prophetic Call to Genuine Repentance

14:1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,

for your sin has been your downfall! ³⁰ 

14:2 Return to the Lord and repent! ³¹ 

Say to him: “Completely ³²  forgive our iniquity;

accept ³³  our penitential prayer, ³⁴ 

that we may offer the praise of our lips as sacrificial bulls. ³⁵ 

14:3 Assyria cannot save us;

we will not ride warhorses.

We will never again say, ‘Our gods’

to what our own hands have made.

For only you will show compassion to Orphan Israel!” ³⁶ 

Divine Promise to Relent from Judgment and to Restore Blessings

14:4 “I will heal their waywardness ³⁷ 

and love them freely, ³⁸ 

for my anger will turn ³⁹  away from them.

Hebrews 5:9

5:9 And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God Israel.”

² tn Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” J. Bright’s translation (“Reform the whole pattern of your conduct”; Jeremiah [AB], 52) is excellent.

³ tn Heb “place” but this might be misunderstood to refer to the temple.

⁴ tn Heb “Stop trusting in lying words which say.”

⁵ tn The words “We are safe!” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these (i.e., these buildings).” Elsewhere triple repetition seems to mark a kind of emphasis (cf. Isa 6:3; Jer 22:29; Ezek 21:27 [32 HT]). The triple repetition that follows seems to be Jeremiah’s way of mocking the (false) sense of security that people had in the invincibility of Jerusalem because God dwelt in the temple. They appeared to be treating the temple as some kind of magical charm. A similar feeling had grown up around the ark in the time of the judges (cf. 1 Sam 3:3) and the temple and city of Jerusalem in Micah’s day (cf. Mic 3:11). It is reflected also in some of the Psalms (cf., e.g., Ps 46, especially v. 5).

⁷ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

⁸ tn Heb “you must do justice between a person and his fellow/neighbor.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

⁹ tn Heb “Stop oppressing foreigner, orphan, and widow.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “Stop shedding innocent blood.”

¹¹ tn Heb “going/following after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

¹² tn Heb “going after other gods to your ruin.”

¹³ tn The translation uses imperatives in vv. 5-6 followed by the phrase, “If you do all this,” to avoid the long and complex sentence structure of the Hebrew sentence which has a series of conditional clauses in vv. 5-6 followed by a main clause in v. 7.

¹⁴ tn Heb “live in this place, in this land.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “gave to your fathers [with reference to] from ancient times even unto forever.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “Turn, each of you, from his [= your] wicked way and make good your deeds.” Compare 18:11 where the same idiom occurs with the added term of “make good your ways.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “Don’t go after/follow other gods.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom and see 11:10; 13:10; 25:6 for the same idiom.

¹⁸ tn Heb “will turn each one from his wicked way.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “their iniquity and their sin.”

²⁰ 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.

²¹ tn Heb “your life [or you yourself] will live.” Compare v. 17 and the translator’s note there for the idiom.

²² tn Heb “listen”; KJV “obedient”; NASB “If you consent and obey.”

²³ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

²⁴ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

²⁵ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

²⁶ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

²⁷ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

²⁸ tn Heb “turn from his way.”

²⁹ tn Heb “ways.” This same word is translated “behavior” earlier in the verse.

³⁰ tn Heb “For you have stumbled in your iniquity”; NASB, NRSV “because of your iniquity.”

³¹ tn Heb “Take words with you and return to the Lord” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

³² tn The word order כָּל־תִּשָּׂא עָוֹן (kol-tisa’ ’avon) is syntactically awkward. The BHS editors suggest rearranging the word order: תִּשָּׂא כָּל־עוֹן (“Forgive all [our] iniquity!”). However, Gesenius suggests that כָּל (“all”) does not function as the construct in the genitive phrase כָּל־עוֹן (“all [our] iniquity”); it functions adverbially modifying the verb תִּשָּׂא (“Completely forgive!”; see GKC 415 §128.e).

³³ sn The repetition of the root לָקַח (laqakh) creates a striking wordplay in 14:2. If Israel will bring (לָקַח) its confession to God, he will accept (לָקַח) repentant Israel and completely forgive its sin.

³⁴ tn Heb “and accept [our] speech.” The word טוֹב (tov) is often confused with the common homonymic root I טוֹב (tov, “good”; BDB 373 s.v. I טוֹב). However, this is probably IV טוֹב (tov, “word, speech”; HALOT 372 s.v. IV טוֹב), a hapax legomenon that is related to the verb טבב (“to speak”; HALOT 367 s.v. טבב) and the noun טִבָּה (tibbah, “rumor”; HALOT 367 s.v. טִבָּה). The term טוֹב (“word; speech”) refers to the repentant prayer mentioned in 14:1-3. Most translations relate it to I טוֹב and treat it as (1) accusative direct object: “accept that which is good” (RSV, NJPS), “Accept our good sacrifices” (CEV), or (2) adverbial accusative of manner: “receive [us] graciously” (KJV, NASB, NIV). Note TEV, however, which follows the suggestion made here: “accept our prayer.”

³⁵ tc The MT reads פָרִים (farim, “bulls”), but the LXX reflects פְּרִי (pÿri, “fruit”), a reading followed by NASB, NIV, NRSV: “that we may offer the fruit of [our] lips [as sacrifices to you].” Although the Greek expression in Heb 13:15 (καρπὸν χειλέων, karpon xeilewn, “the fruit of lips”) reflects this LXX phrase, the MT makes good sense as it stands; NT usage of the LXX should not be considered decisive in resolving OT textual problems. The noun פָרִים (parim, “bulls”) functions as an adverbial accusative of state.

³⁶ tn Heb “For the orphan is shown compassion by you.” The present translation takes “orphan” as a figurative reference to Israel, which is specified in the translation for clarity.

³⁷ sn The noun מְשׁוּבָתָה (mÿshuvatah, “waywardness”; cf. KJV “backsliding”) is from the same root as שׁוּבָה (shuvah, “return!”) in 14:1[2]. This repetition of שׁוּב (shuv) creates a wordplay which emphasizes reciprocity: if Israel will return (שׁוּבָה, shuvah) to the Lord, he will cure her of the tendency to turn away (מְשׁוּבָתָה) from him.

³⁸ tn The noun נְדָבָה (nÿdavah, “voluntariness; free-will offering”) is an adverbial accusative of manner: “freely, voluntarily” (BDB 621 s.v. נְדָבָה 1). Cf. CEV “without limit”; TEV “with all my heart”; NLT “my love will know no bounds.”

³⁹ sn The verb שָׁב, shav, “will turn” (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular from שׁוּב, shuv, “to turn”) continues the wordplay on שׁוּב in 14:1-4[2-5]. If Israel will “return” (שׁוּב) to the Lord, he will heal Israel’s tendency to “turn away” (מְשׁוּבָתָה, mÿshuvatah) and “turn” (שָׁב) from his anger.