Leviticus 20:3-6

20:3 I myself will set my face ¹  against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, ²  because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. ³  20:4 If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes ⁴  to that man ⁵  when he gives some of his children to Molech so that they do not put him to death, 20:5 I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. I will cut off from the midst of their people both him and all who follow after him in spiritual prostitution, ⁶  to commit prostitution by worshiping Molech. ⁷ 

Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums ⁸ 

20:6 “‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits ⁹  to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face ¹⁰  against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.

Leviticus 26:17

26:17 I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you.

Psalms 34:16

34:16 But the Lord opposes evildoers

and wipes out all memory of them from the earth. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 21:10

21:10 For I, the Lord, say that ¹²  I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it. ¹³  It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.’” ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 44:11

44:11 “Because of this, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘I am determined to bring disaster on you, ¹⁵  even to the point of destroying all the Judeans here. ¹⁶ 

Ezekiel 14:8

14:8 I will set my face against that person and will make him an object lesson and a byword ¹⁷  and will cut him off from among my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 15:7

15:7 I will set ¹⁸  my face against them – although they have escaped from the fire, ¹⁹  the fire will still consume them! Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them.

¹ tn Heb “And I, I shall give my faces.”

² sn On the “cut off” penalty see the notes on Lev 7:20 and 17:4.

³ tn Heb “for the sake of defiling my sanctuary and to profane my holy name.”

⁴ tn Heb “And if shutting [infinitive absolute] they shut [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.

⁵ tn Heb “from that man” (so ASV); NASB “disregard that man.”

⁷ tn The adjective “spiritual” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that this is not a reference to literal prostitution, but figuratively compares idolatry to prostitution.

⁸ tn Heb “to commit harlotry after Molech.” The translation employs “worshiping” here for clarity (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.

¹⁰ sn For structure and coherence in Lev 20:6-27 see the note on v. 27 below.

¹¹ tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirits” in Lev 19:31 above.

¹² tn Heb “I will give my faces.”

¹³ tn Heb “the face of the Lord [is] against the doers of evil to cut off from the earth memory of them.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “I have set my face against this city for evil [i.e., disaster] and not for good [i.e., well-being].” For the use of the idiom “set one’s face against/toward” see, e.g., usage in 1 Kgs 2:15; 2 Kgs 2:17; Jer 42:15, 17 and note the interesting interplay of usage in Jer 44:11-12.

¹⁸ tn Heb “he will burn it with fire.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “Behold I am setting my face against you for evil/disaster.” For the meaning of the idiom “to set the face to/against” see the translator’s note on 42:15 and compare the references listed there.

²⁰ tn Heb “and to destroy all Judah.” However, this statement must be understood within the rhetoric of the passage (see vv. 7-8 and the study note on v. 8) and within the broader context of the Lord’s promises to restore the remnant who are in Babylon and those scattered in other lands (23:3; 24:5-6; 29:14; 30:3; 32:27). In this context “all Judah” must refer to all the Judeans living in Egypt whom Jeremiah is now addressing. This involves the figure of synecdoche where all does not extend to all individuals but to all that are further specified or implied (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 616-18, and the comments in H. Freedman, Jeremiah [SoBB], 285). The “and” in front of “to destroy” is to be understood as an example of the epexegetical use of the conjunction ו (vav; see BDB 252 s.v. וַ 1.b and compare the translation of J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 260).

²² tn Heb “proverbs.”

²⁵ tn The word translated “set” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in the previous verse.

²⁶ sn This escape refers to the exile of Ezekiel and others in 597 b.c. (Ezek 1:2; 2 Kgs 24:10-16).