Psalms 51:9

51:9 Hide your face ¹  from my sins!

Wipe away ²  all my guilt!

Psalms 90:8

90:8 You are aware of our sins; ³ 

you even know about our hidden sins. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 32:34

32:34 “Is this not stored up with me?” says the Lord, ⁵ 

“Is it not sealed up in my storehouses?

Jeremiah 2:22

2:22 You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent.

You can use as much soap as you want.

But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,” ⁶ 

says the Lord God. ⁷ 

Hosea 7:2

7:2 They do not realize ⁸ 

that I remember all of their wicked deeds.

Their evil deeds have now surrounded them;

their sinful deeds are always before me. ⁹ 

Amos 8:7

8:7 The Lord confirms this oath ¹⁰  by the arrogance of Jacob: ¹¹ 

“I swear ¹²  I will never forget all you have done! ¹³ 

¹ sn In this context Hide your face from my sins means “Do not hold me accountable for my sins.”

² tn See the note on the similar expression “wipe away my rebellious acts” in v. 1.

³ tn Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”

⁴ tn Heb “what we have hidden to the light of your face.” God’s face is compared to a light or lamp that exposes the darkness around it.

⁵ tn Verses 34-35 appear to be a quotation of the Lord and so the introductory phrase “says the Lord” is supplied in the translation.

⁶ tn Heb “Even if you wash with natron/lye, and use much soap, your sin is a stain before me.”

⁷ tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” For an explanation of this title see the study notes on 1:6.

⁸ tn Heb “and they do not say in their heart”; TEV “It never enters their heads.”

⁹ tn Heb “they [the sinful deeds] are before my face” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NCV “they are right in front of me.”

¹⁰ tn Or “swears.”

¹¹ sn In an oath one appeals to something permanent to emphasize one’s commitment to the promise. Here the Lord sarcastically swears by the arrogance of Jacob, which he earlier had condemned (6:8), something just as enduring as the Lord’s own life (see 6:8) or unchanging character (see 4:2). Other suggestions include that the Lord is swearing by the land, his most valuable possession (cf. Isa 4:2; Ps 47:4 [47:5 HT]); that this is a divine epithet analogous to “the Glory of Israel” (1 Sam 15:29); or that an ellipsis should be understood here, in which case the meaning is the same as that of 6:8 (“The Lord has sworn [by himself] against the arrogance of Jacob”).

¹² tn The words “I swear” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation because a self-imprecation is assumed in oaths of this type.

¹³ tn Or “I will never forget all your deeds.”