Psalms 119:126

119:126 It is time for the Lord to act –

they break your law!

Psalms 119:139

119:139 My zeal ¹  consumes ²  me,

for my enemies forget your instructions. ³ 

Jeremiah 8:8

8:8 How can you say, “We are wise!

We have the law of the Lord”?

The truth is, ⁴  those who teach it ⁵  have used their writings

to make it say what it does not really mean. ⁶ 

Hosea 4:6

4:6 You have destroyed ⁷  my people

by failing to acknowledge me!

Because you refuse to acknowledge me, ⁸ 

I will reject you as my priests.

Because you reject ⁹  the law of your God,

I will reject ¹⁰  your descendants.

Malachi 2:7-9

2:7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him ¹¹  because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all. 2:8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; ¹²  you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” ¹³  says the Lord who rules over all. 2:9 “Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your ¹⁴  instruction.”

Mark 7:13

7:13 Thus you nullify ¹⁵  the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

Romans 3:31

3:31 Do we then nullify ¹⁶  the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead ¹⁷  we uphold the law.

¹ tn or “zeal.”

² tn Heb “destroys,” in a hyperbolic sense.

³ tn Heb “your words.”

⁴ tn Heb “Surely, behold!”

⁵ tn Heb “the scribes.”

⁶ tn Heb “The lying pen of the scribes have made [it] into a lie.” The translation is an attempt to make the most common interpretation of this passage understandable for the average reader. This is, however, a difficult passage whose interpretation is greatly debated and whose syntax is capable of other interpretations. The interpretation of the NJPS, “Assuredly, for naught has the pen labored, for naught the scribes,” surely deserves consideration within the context; i.e. it hasn’t done any good for the scribes to produce a reliable copy of the law, which the people have refused to follow. That interpretation has the advantage of explaining the absence of an object for the verb “make” or “labored” but creates a very unbalanced poetic couplet.

⁷ tn Heb “they have destroyed” or “my people are destroyed” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

⁸ tn Heb “Because you reject knowledge”; NLT “because they don’t know me.”

⁹ tn Heb “have forgotten”; NAB, NIV “have ignored.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “forget” (so KJV, NRSV); NLT “forget to bless.”

¹¹ tn Heb “from his mouth” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

¹² tn The definite article embedded within בַּתּוֹרָה (battorah) may suggest that the Torah is in mind and not just “ordinary” priestly instruction, though it might refer to the instruction previously mentioned (v. 7).

¹³ tn Or “the Levitical covenant.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “in the instruction” (so NASB). The Hebrew article is used here as a possessive pronoun (cf. NRSV, NLT).

¹⁵ tn Grk “nullifying.” This participle shows the results of the Pharisees’ command.

¹⁶ tn Grk “render inoperative.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “but” (Greek ἀλλά, alla).