Genesis 18:1-33

Three Special Visitors

18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham ¹  by the oaks ²  of Mamre while ³  he was sitting at the entrance ⁴  to his tent during the hottest time of the day. 18:2 Abraham ⁵  looked up ⁶  and saw ⁷  three men standing across ⁸  from him. When he saw them ⁹  he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low ¹⁰  to the ground. ¹¹ 

18:3 He said, “My lord, ¹²  if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant. ¹³  18:4 Let a little water be brought so that ¹⁴  you may all ¹⁵  wash your feet and rest under the tree. 18:5 And let me get ¹⁶  a bit of food ¹⁷  so that you may refresh yourselves ¹⁸  since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” ¹⁹  “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”

18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Take ²⁰  three measures ²¹  of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.” ²²  18:7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, ²³  who quickly prepared it. ²⁴  18:8 Abraham ²⁵  then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food ²⁶  before them. They ate while ²⁷  he was standing near them under a tree.

18:9 Then they asked him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He replied, “There, ²⁸  in the tent.” 18:10 One of them ²⁹  said, “I will surely return ³⁰  to you when the season comes round again, ³¹  and your wife Sarah will have a son!” ³²  (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. ³³  18:11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; ³⁴  Sarah had long since passed menopause.) ³⁵  18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, ³⁶  “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, ³⁷  especially when my husband is old too?” ³⁸ 

18:13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why ³⁹  did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really ⁴⁰  have a child when I am old?’ 18:14 Is anything impossible ⁴¹  for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” ⁴²  18:15 Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But the Lord said, “No! You did laugh.” ⁴³ 

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

18:16 When the men got up to leave, ⁴⁴  they looked out over ⁴⁵  Sodom. (Now ⁴⁶  Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.) ⁴⁷  18:17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ⁴⁸  18:18 After all, Abraham ⁴⁹  will surely become ⁵⁰  a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ⁵¹  using his name. 18:19 I have chosen him ⁵²  so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep ⁵³  the way of the Lord by doing ⁵⁴  what is right and just. Then the Lord will give ⁵⁵  to Abraham what he promised ⁵⁶  him.”

18:20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against ⁵⁷  Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant ⁵⁸  18:21 that I must go down ⁵⁹  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ⁶⁰  If not, ⁶¹  I want to know.”

18:22 The two men turned ⁶²  and headed ⁶³  toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord. ⁶⁴  18:23 Abraham approached and said, “Will you sweep away the godly along with the wicked? 18:24 What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare ⁶⁵  the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it? 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge ⁶⁶  of the whole earth do what is right?” ⁶⁷ 

18:26 So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord ⁶⁸  (although I am but dust and ashes), ⁶⁹  18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy ⁷⁰  the whole city because five are lacking?” ⁷¹  He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

18:29 Abraham ⁷²  spoke to him again, ⁷³  “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

18:30 Then Abraham ⁷⁴  said, “May the Lord not be angry ⁷⁵  so that I may speak! ⁷⁶  What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

18:31 Abraham ⁷⁷  said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

18:32 Finally Abraham ⁷⁸  said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

18:33 The Lord went on his way ⁷⁹  when he had finished speaking ⁸⁰  to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home. ⁸¹ 

Genesis 3:1

The Temptation and the Fall

3:1 Now ⁸²  the serpent ⁸³  was more shrewd ⁸⁴ 

than any of the wild animals ⁸⁵  that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that ⁸⁶  God ⁸⁷  said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” ⁸⁸ 

Leviticus 26:15-46

26:15 if you reject my statutes and abhor my regulations so that you do not keep ⁸⁹  all my commandments and you break my covenant – 26:16 I for my part ⁹⁰  will do this to you: I will inflict horror on you, consumption and fever, which diminish eyesight and drain away the vitality of life. ⁹¹  You will sow your seed in vain because ⁹²  your enemies will eat it. ⁹³  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.

26:18 “‘If, in spite of all these things, ⁹⁴  you do not obey me, I will discipline you seven times more on account of your sins. ⁹⁵  26:19 I will break your strong pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze. 26:20 Your strength will be used up in vain, your land will not give its yield, and the trees of the land ⁹⁶  will not produce their fruit.

26:21 “‘If you walk in hostility against me ⁹⁷  and are not willing to obey me, I will increase your affliction ⁹⁸  seven times according to your sins. 26:22 I will send the wild animals ⁹⁹  against you and they will bereave you of your children, ¹⁰⁰  annihilate your cattle, and diminish your population ¹⁰¹  so that your roads will become deserted.

26:23 “‘If in spite of these things ¹⁰²  you do not allow yourselves to be disciplined and you walk in hostility against me, ¹⁰³  26:24 I myself will also walk in hostility against you and strike you ¹⁰⁴  seven times on account of your sins. 26:25 I will bring on you an avenging sword, a covenant vengeance. ¹⁰⁵  Although ¹⁰⁶  you will gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you and you will be given into enemy hands. ¹⁰⁷  26:26 When I break off your supply of bread, ¹⁰⁸  ten women will bake your bread in one oven; they will ration your bread by weight, ¹⁰⁹  and you will eat and not be satisfied.

26:27 “‘If in spite of this ¹¹⁰  you do not obey me but walk in hostility against me, ¹¹¹  26:28 I will walk in hostile rage against you ¹¹²  and I myself will also discipline you seven times on account of your sins. 26:29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. ¹¹³  26:30 I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars, ¹¹⁴  and I will stack your dead bodies on top of the lifeless bodies of your idols. ¹¹⁵  I will abhor you. ¹¹⁶  26:31 I will lay your cities waste ¹¹⁷  and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will refuse to smell your soothing aromas. 26:32 I myself will make the land desolate and your enemies who live in it will be appalled. 26:33 I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword ¹¹⁸  after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.

26:34 “‘Then the land will make up for ¹¹⁹  its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land will rest and make up its Sabbaths. 26:35 All the days of the desolation it will have the rest it did not have ¹²⁰  on your Sabbaths when you lived on it.

26:36 “‘As for ¹²¹  the ones who remain among you, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a blowing leaf will pursue them, and they will flee as one who flees the sword and fall down even though there is no pursuer. 26:37 They will stumble over each other as those who flee before a sword, though ¹²²  there is no pursuer, and there will be no one to take a stand ¹²³  for you before your enemies. 26:38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will consume you.

Restoration through Confession and Repentance

26:39 “‘As for the ones who remain among you, they will rot away because of ¹²⁴  their iniquity in the lands of your enemies, and they will also rot away because of their ancestors’ ¹²⁵  iniquities which are with them. 26:40 However, when ¹²⁶  they confess their iniquity and their ancestors’ iniquity which they committed by trespassing against me, ¹²⁷  by which they also walked ¹²⁸  in hostility against me ¹²⁹  26:41 (and I myself will walk in hostility against them and bring them into the land of their enemies), and ¹³⁰  then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled and they make up for ¹³¹  their iniquity, 26:42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, ¹³²  and I will remember the land. 26:43 The land will be abandoned by them ¹³³  in order that it may make up for ¹³⁴  its Sabbaths while it is made desolate ¹³⁵  without them, ¹³⁶  and they will make up for their iniquity because ¹³⁷  they have rejected my regulations and have abhorred ¹³⁸  my statutes. 26:44 In spite of this, however, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them and abhor them to make a complete end of them, to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. 26:45 I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors ¹³⁹  whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

Summary Colophon

26:46 These are the statutes, regulations, and instructions which the Lord established ¹⁴⁰  between himself and the Israelites at Mount Sinai through ¹⁴¹  Moses.

Deuteronomy 4:25-27

Threat and Blessing following Covenant Disobedience

4:25 After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, ¹⁴²  if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind ¹⁴³  and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, ¹⁴⁴  4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you ¹⁴⁵  today that you will surely and swiftly be removed ¹⁴⁶  from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be ¹⁴⁷  annihilated. 4:27 Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you ¹⁴⁸  among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

Deuteronomy 28:15-68

Curses as Reversal of Blessings

28:15 “But if you ignore ¹⁴⁹  the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: ¹⁵⁰  28:16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. 28:17 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed. 28:18 Your children ¹⁵¹  will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. ¹⁵² 

Curses by Disease and Drought

28:20 “The Lord will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you ¹⁵³  in everything you undertake ¹⁵⁴  until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me. ¹⁵⁵  28:21 The Lord will plague you with deadly diseases ¹⁵⁶  until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess. 28:22 He ¹⁵⁷  will afflict you with weakness, ¹⁵⁸  fever, inflammation, infection, ¹⁵⁹  sword, ¹⁶⁰  blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish. 28:23 The ¹⁶¹  sky ¹⁶²  above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron. 28:24 The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed.

Curses by Defeat and Deportation

28:25 “The Lord will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror ¹⁶³  to all the kingdoms of the earth. 28:26 Your carcasses will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to chase them off. 28:27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, eczema, and scabies, all of which cannot be healed. 28:28 The Lord will also subject you to madness, blindness, and confusion of mind. ¹⁶⁴  28:29 You will feel your way along at noon like the blind person does in darkness and you will not succeed in anything you do; ¹⁶⁵  you will be constantly oppressed and continually robbed, with no one to save you. 28:30 You will be engaged to a woman and another man will rape ¹⁶⁶  her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not even begin to use it. 28:31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your very eyes but you will not eat of it. Your donkey will be stolen from you as you watch and will not be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be given to your enemies and there will be no one to save you. 28:32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you look on in vain all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it. ¹⁶⁷  28:33 As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives. 28:34 You will go insane from seeing all this. 28:35 The Lord will afflict you in your knees and on your legs with painful, incurable boils – from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. 28:36 The Lord will force you and your king ¹⁶⁸  whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there. 28:37 You will become an occasion of horror, a proverb, and an object of ridicule to all the peoples to whom the Lord will drive you.

The Curse of Reversed Status

28:38 “You will take much seed to the field but gather little harvest, because locusts will consume it. 28:39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink wine or gather in grapes, because worms will eat them. 28:40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with olive oil, because the olives will drop off the trees while still unripe. ¹⁶⁹  28:41 You will bear sons and daughters but not keep them, because they will be taken into captivity. 28:42 Whirring locusts ¹⁷⁰  will take over every tree and all the produce of your soil. 28:43 The foreigners ¹⁷¹  who reside among you will become higher and higher over you and you will become lower and lower. 28:44 They will lend to you but you will not lend to them; they will become the head and you will become the tail!

28:45 All these curses will fall on you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes that he has given ¹⁷²  you. 28:46 These curses ¹⁷³  will be a perpetual sign and wonder with reference to you and your descendants. ¹⁷⁴ 

The Curse of Military Siege

28:47 “Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, 28:48 instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty ¹⁷⁵  you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. They ¹⁷⁶  will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. 28:49 The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth ¹⁷⁷  as the eagle flies, ¹⁷⁸  a nation whose language you will not understand, 28:50 a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young. 28:51 They ¹⁷⁹  will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed. They will not leave you with any grain, new wine, olive oil, calves of your herds, ¹⁸⁰  or lambs of your flocks ¹⁸¹  until they have destroyed you. 28:52 They will besiege all of your villages ¹⁸²  until all of your high and fortified walls collapse – those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will besiege all your villages throughout the land the Lord your God has given you. 28:53 You will then eat your own offspring, ¹⁸³  the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege ¹⁸⁴  by which your enemies will constrict you. 28:54 The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will turn against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children. 28:55 He will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict ¹⁸⁵  you in your villages. 28:56 Likewise, the most ¹⁸⁶  tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, ¹⁸⁷  will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters, 28:57 and will secretly eat her afterbirth ¹⁸⁸  and her newborn children ¹⁸⁹  (since she has nothing else), ¹⁹⁰  because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages.

The Curse of Covenant Termination

28:58 “If you refuse to obey ¹⁹¹  all the words of this law, the things written in this scroll, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, 28:59 then the Lord will increase your punishments and those of your descendants – great and long-lasting afflictions and severe, enduring illnesses. 28:60 He will infect you with all the diseases of Egypt ¹⁹²  that you dreaded, and they will persistently afflict you. ¹⁹³  28:61 Moreover, the Lord will bring upon you every kind of sickness and plague not mentioned in this scroll of commandments, ¹⁹⁴  until you have perished. 28:62 There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, ¹⁹⁵  because you will have disobeyed ¹⁹⁶  the Lord your God. 28:63 This is what will happen: Just as the Lord delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he ¹⁹⁷  will take delight in destroying and decimating you. You will be uprooted from the land you are about to possess. 28:64 The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. 28:65 Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair. 28:66 Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be terrified by night and day and will have no certainty of surviving from one day to the next. ¹⁹⁸  28:67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’ because of the things you will fear and the things you will see. 28:68 Then the Lord will make you return to Egypt by ship, over a route I said to you that you would never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

Deuteronomy 29:18-28

29:18 Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit. ¹⁹⁹  29:19 When such a person ²⁰⁰  hears the words of this oath he secretly ²⁰¹  blesses himself ²⁰²  and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.” ²⁰³  This will destroy ²⁰⁴  the watered ground with the parched. ²⁰⁵  29:20 The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger ²⁰⁶  will rage ²⁰⁷  against that man; all the curses ²⁰⁸  written in this scroll will fall upon him ²⁰⁹  and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory. ²¹⁰  29:21 The Lord will single him out ²¹¹  for judgment ²¹²  from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law. 29:22 The generation to come – your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places – will see ²¹³  the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the Lord has brought on it. 29:23 The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger. ²¹⁴  29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger ²¹⁵  all about?” 29:25 Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 29:26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship. ²¹⁶  29:27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses ²¹⁷  written in this scroll. 29:28 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.”

Deuteronomy 31:16-18

31:16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, ²¹⁸  and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they ²¹⁹  are going. They ²²⁰  will reject ²²¹  me and break my covenant that I have made with them. ²²²  31:17 At that time ²²³  my anger will erupt against them ²²⁴  and I will abandon them and hide my face from them until they are devoured. Many disasters and distresses will overcome ²²⁵  them ²²⁶  so that they ²²⁷  will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters ²²⁸  overcome us ²²⁹  because our ²³⁰  God is not among us ²³¹ ?’ 31:18 But I will certainly ²³²  hide myself at that time because of all the wickedness they ²³³  will have done by turning to other gods.

Deuteronomy 31:29

31:29 For I know that after I die you will totally ²³⁴  corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly ²³⁵  before the Lord, inciting him to anger because of your actions.” ²³⁶ 

Deuteronomy 32:15-27

Israel’s Rebellion

32:15 But Jeshurun ²³⁷  became fat and kicked,

you ²³⁸  got fat, thick, and stuffed!

Then he deserted the God who made him,

and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.

32:16 They made him jealous with other gods, ²³⁹ 

they enraged him with abhorrent idols. ²⁴⁰ 

32:17 They sacrificed to demons, not God,

to gods they had not known;

to new gods who had recently come along,

gods your ancestors ²⁴¹  had not known about.

32:18 You have forgotten ²⁴²  the Rock who fathered you,

and put out of mind the God who gave you birth.

A Word of Judgment

32:19 But the Lord took note and despised them

because his sons and daughters enraged him.

32:20 He said, “I will reject them, ²⁴³ 

I will see what will happen to them;

for they are a perverse generation,

children ²⁴⁴  who show no loyalty.

32:21 They have made me jealous ²⁴⁵  with false gods, ²⁴⁶ 

enraging me with their worthless gods; ²⁴⁷ 

so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, ²⁴⁸ 

with a nation slow to learn ²⁴⁹  I will enrage them.

32:22 For a fire has been kindled by my anger,

and it burns to lowest Sheol; ²⁵⁰ 

it consumes the earth and its produce,

and ignites the foundations of the mountains.

32:23 I will increase their ²⁵¹  disasters,

I will use up my arrows on them.

32:24 They will be starved by famine,

eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; ²⁵² 

I will send the teeth of wild animals against them,

along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust.

32:25 The sword will make people childless outside,

and terror will do so inside;

they will destroy ²⁵³  both the young man and the virgin,

the infant and the gray-haired man.

The Weakness of Other Gods

32:26 “I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. ²⁵⁴ 

I want to make people forget they ever existed.

32:27 But I fear the reaction ²⁵⁵  of their enemies,

for ²⁵⁶  their adversaries would misunderstand

and say, “Our power is great, ²⁵⁷ 

and the Lord has not done all this!”’

Deuteronomy 32:2

32:2 My teaching will drop like the rain,

my sayings will drip like the dew, ²⁵⁸ 

as rain drops upon the grass,

and showers upon new growth.

Deuteronomy 1:14-16

1:14 You replied to me that what I had said to you was good. 1:15 So I chose ²⁵⁹  as your tribal leaders wise and well-known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials. 1:16 I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they ²⁶⁰  should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens ²⁶¹  and judge fairly, ²⁶²  whether between one citizen and another ²⁶³  or a citizen and a resident foreigner. ²⁶⁴ 

Nehemiah 9:33-34

9:33 You are righteous with regard to all that has happened to us, for you have acted faithfully. ²⁶⁵  It is we who have been in the wrong! 9:34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law. They have not paid attention to your commandments or your testimonies by which you have solemnly admonished them.

Psalms 90:7-8

90:7 Yes, ²⁶⁶  we are consumed by your anger;

we are terrified by your wrath.

90:8 You are aware of our sins; ²⁶⁷ 

you even know about our hidden sins. ²⁶⁸ 

Jeremiah 5:3-9

5:3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness. ²⁶⁹ 

But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. ²⁷⁰ 

Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.

They have become as hardheaded as a rock. ²⁷¹ 

They refuse to change their ways. ²⁷² 

5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. ²⁷³ 

They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. ²⁷⁴ 

They do not know what their God requires of them. ²⁷⁵ 

5:5 I will go to the leaders ²⁷⁶ 

and speak with them.

Surely they know what the Lord demands. ²⁷⁷ 

Surely they know what their God requires of them.” ²⁷⁸ 

Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority

and refuse to submit to him. ²⁷⁹ 

5:6 So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them.

Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them.

Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities

and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. ²⁸⁰ 

For they have rebelled so much

and done so many unfaithful things. ²⁸¹ 

5:7 The Lord asked, ²⁸² 

“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? ²⁸³ 

Your people ²⁸⁴  have rejected me

and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. ²⁸⁵ 

Even though I supplied all their needs, ²⁸⁶  they were like an unfaithful wife to me. ²⁸⁷ 

They went flocking ²⁸⁸  to the houses of prostitutes. ²⁸⁹ 

5:8 They are like lusty, well-fed ²⁹⁰  stallions.

Each of them lusts after ²⁹¹  his neighbor’s wife.

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!” ²⁹² 

Jeremiah 5:29

5:29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.

“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this! ²⁹³ 

Jeremiah 23:14

23:14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem ²⁹⁴ 

doing something just as shocking.

They are unfaithful to me

and continually prophesy lies. ²⁹⁵ 

So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil,

with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. ²⁹⁶ 

I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom,

and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah. ²⁹⁷ 

Jeremiah 30:14-15

30:14 All your allies have abandoned you. ²⁹⁸ 

They no longer have any concern for you.

For I have attacked you like an enemy would.

I have chastened you cruelly.

For your wickedness is so great

and your sin is so much. ²⁹⁹ 

30:15 Why do you complain about your injuries,

that your pain is incurable?

I have done all this to you

because your wickedness is so great

and your sin is so much.

Jeremiah 44:21-22

44:21 “The Lord did indeed remember and call to mind what you did! He remembered the sacrifices you and your ancestors, your kings, your leaders, and all the rest of the people of the land offered to other gods ³⁰⁰  in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. ³⁰¹  44:22 Finally the Lord could no longer endure your wicked deeds and the disgusting things you did. That is why your land has become the desolate, uninhabited ruin that it is today. That is why it has become a proverbial example used in curses. ³⁰² 

Ezekiel 8:17-18

8:17 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man? Is it a trivial thing that the house of Judah commits these abominations they are practicing here? For they have filled the land with violence and provoked me to anger still further. Look, they are putting the branch to their nose! ³⁰³  8:18 Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare ³⁰⁴  them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them.”

Ezekiel 9:9

9:9 He said to me, “The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption, ³⁰⁵  for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’ ³⁰⁶ 

Ezekiel 22:24-31

22:24 “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that receives no rain ³⁰⁷  or showers in the day of my anger.’ ³⁰⁸  22:25 Her princes ³⁰⁹  within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows ³¹⁰  within it. 22:26 Her priests abuse my law and have desecrated my holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the profane, ³¹¹  or recognize any distinction between the unclean and the clean. They ignore ³¹²  my Sabbaths and I am profaned in their midst. 22:27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit. 22:28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. ³¹³  They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 22:29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice. ³¹⁴ 

22:30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. ³¹⁵  22:31 So I have poured my anger on them, and destroyed them with the fire of my fury. I hereby repay them for what they have done, ³¹⁶  declares the sovereign Lord.”

Daniel 9:7-16

9:7 “You are righteous, ³¹⁷  O Lord, but we are humiliated this day ³¹⁸  – the people ³¹⁹  of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you. 9:8 O LORD, we have been humiliated ³²⁰  – our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors – because we have sinned against you. 9:9 Yet the Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving, ³²¹  even though we have rebelled against him. 9:10 We have not obeyed ³²²  the LORD our God by living according to ³²³  his laws ³²⁴  that he set before us through his servants the prophets.

9:11 “All Israel has broken ³²⁵  your law and turned away by not obeying you. ³²⁶  Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened ³²⁷  in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you. ³²⁸  9:12 He has carried out his threats ³²⁹  against us and our rulers ³³⁰  who were over ³³¹  us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven! 9:13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to pacify ³³²  the LORD our God by turning back from our sin and by seeking wisdom ³³³  from your reliable moral standards. ³³⁴  9:14 The LORD was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the LORD our God is just ³³⁵  in all he has done, ³³⁶  and we have not obeyed him. ³³⁷ 

9:15 “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with great power ³³⁸  and made a name for yourself that is remembered to this day – we have sinned and behaved wickedly. 9:16 O Lord, according to all your justice, ³³⁹  please turn your raging anger ³⁴⁰  away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. For due to our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people are mocked by all our neighbors.

Micah 3:9-12

3:9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family ³⁴¹  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ³⁴²  of Israel!

You ³⁴³  hate justice

and pervert all that is right.

3:10 You ³⁴⁴  build Zion through bloody crimes, ³⁴⁵ 

Jerusalem ³⁴⁶  through unjust violence.

3:11 Her ³⁴⁷  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ³⁴⁸ 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ³⁴⁹  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ³⁵⁰ 

Disaster will not overtake ³⁵¹  us!”

3:12 Therefore, because of you, ³⁵²  Zion will be plowed up like ³⁵³  a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount ³⁵⁴  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ³⁵⁵ 

Zephaniah 3:1-8

Jerusalem is Corrupt

3:1 The filthy, ³⁵⁶  stained city is as good as dead;

the city filled with oppressors is finished! ³⁵⁷ 

3:2 She is disobedient; ³⁵⁸ 

she refuses correction. ³⁵⁹ 

She does not trust the Lord;

she does not seek the advice of ³⁶⁰  her God.

3:3 Her princes ³⁶¹  are as fierce as roaring lions; ³⁶² 

her rulers ³⁶³  are as hungry as wolves in the desert, ³⁶⁴ 

who completely devour their prey by morning. ³⁶⁵ 

3:4 Her prophets are proud; ³⁶⁶ 

they are deceitful men.

Her priests defile what is holy; ³⁶⁷ 

they break God’s laws. ³⁶⁸ 

3:5 The just Lord resides ³⁶⁹  within her;

he commits no unjust acts. ³⁷⁰ 

Every morning he reveals ³⁷¹  his justice.

At dawn he appears without fail. ³⁷² 

Yet the unjust know no shame.

The Lord’s Judgment will Purify

3:6 “I destroyed ³⁷³  nations;

their walled cities ³⁷⁴  are in ruins.

I turned their streets into ruins;

no one passes through them.

Their cities are desolate; ³⁷⁵ 

no one lives there. ³⁷⁶ 

3:7 I thought, ³⁷⁷  ‘Certainly you will respect ³⁷⁸  me!

Now you will accept correction!’

If she had done so, her home ³⁷⁹  would not be destroyed ³⁸⁰ 

by all the punishments I have threatened. ³⁸¹ 

But they eagerly sinned

in everything they did. ³⁸² 

3:8 Therefore you must wait patiently ³⁸³  for me,” says the Lord,

“for the day when I attack and take plunder. ³⁸⁴ 

I have decided ³⁸⁵  to gather nations together

and assemble kingdoms,

so I can pour out my fury on them –

all my raging anger.

For ³⁸⁶  the whole earth will be consumed

by my fiery anger.

[18:1]  ¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ² tn Or “terebinths.”

[18:1]  ³ tn The disjunctive clause here is circumstantial to the main clause.

[18:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew noun translated “entrance” is an adverbial accusative of place.

[18:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

[18:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.

[18:2]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.

[18:2]  ⁹ tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:2]  ¹⁰ tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).

[18:2]  ¹¹ sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the Lord and two angels (see Gen 19:1). It is not certain how soon Abraham recognized the true identity of the visitors. His actions suggest he suspected this was something out of the ordinary, though it is possible that his lavish treatment of the visitors was done quite unwittingly. Bowing down to the ground would be reserved for obeisance of kings or worship of the Lord. Whether he was aware of it or not, Abraham’s action was most appropriate.

[18:3]  ¹² tc The MT has the form אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Master”) which is reserved for God. This may reflect later scribal activity. The scribes, knowing it was the Lord, may have put the proper pointing with the word instead of the more common אֲדֹנִי (’adoni, “my master”).

[18:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “do not pass by from upon your servant.”

[18:4]  ¹⁴ tn The imperative after the jussive indicates purpose here.

[18:4]  ¹⁵ tn The word “all” has been supplied in the translation because the Hebrew verb translated “wash” and the pronominal suffix on the word “feet” are plural, referring to all three of the visitors.

[18:5]  ¹⁶ tn The Qal cohortative here probably has the nuance of polite request.

[18:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a piece of bread.” The Hebrew word לֶחֶם (lekhem) can refer either to bread specifically or to food in general. Based on Abraham’s directions to Sarah in v. 6, bread was certainly involved, but v. 7 indicates that Abraham had a more elaborate meal in mind.

[18:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “strengthen your heart.” The imperative after the cohortative indicates purpose here.

[18:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “so that you may refresh yourselves, after [which] you may be on your way – for therefore you passed by near your servant.”

[18:6]  ²⁰ tn The word “take” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the sentence lacks a verb other than the imperative “hurry.” The elliptical structure of the language reflects Abraham’s haste to get things ready quickly.

[18:6]  ²¹ sn Three measures (Heb “three seahs”) was equivalent to about twenty quarts (twenty-two liters) of flour, which would make a lot of bread. The animal prepared for the meal was far more than the three visitors needed. This was a banquet for royalty. Either it had been a lonely time for Abraham and the presence of visitors made him very happy, or he sensed this was a momentous visit.

[18:6]  ²² sn The bread was the simple, round bread made by bedouins that is normally prepared quickly for visitors.

[18:7]  ²³ tn Heb “the young man.”

[18:7]  ²⁴ tn The construction uses the Piel preterite, “he hurried,” followed by the infinitive construct; the two probably form a verbal hendiadys: “he quickly prepared.”

[18:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:8]  ²⁶ tn The words “the food” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:8]  ²⁷ tn The disjunctive clause is a temporal circumstantial clause subordinate to the main verb.

[18:9]  ²⁸ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) often accompanies a gesture of pointing or a focused gaze.

[18:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (one of the three men introduced in v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some English translations have specified the referent as the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV) based on vv. 1, 13, but the Hebrew text merely has “he said” at this point, referring to one of the three visitors. Aside from the introductory statement in v. 1, the incident is narrated from Abraham’s point of view, and the suspense is built up for the reader as Abraham’s elaborate banquet preparations in the preceding verses suggest he suspects these are important guests. But not until the promise of a son later in this verse does it become clear who is speaking. In v. 13 the Hebrew text explicitly mentions the Lord.

[18:10]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense.

[18:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “as/when the time lives” or “revives,” possibly referring to the springtime.

[18:10]  ³² tn Heb “and there will be (הִנֵּה, hinneh) a son for Sarah.”

[18:10]  ³³ tn This is the first of two disjunctive parenthetical clauses preparing the reader for Sarah’s response (see v. 12).

[18:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “days.”

[18:11]  ³⁵ tn Heb “it had ceased to be for Sarah [after] a way like women.”

[18:12]  ³⁶ tn Heb “saying.”

[18:12]  ³⁷ tn It has been suggested that this word should be translated “conception,” not “pleasure.” See A. A. McIntosh, “A Third Root ‘adah in Biblical Hebrew,” VT 24 (1974): 454-73.

[18:12]  ³⁸ tn The word “too” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[18:13]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Why, this?” The demonstrative pronoun following the interrogative pronoun is enclitic, emphasizing the Lord’s amazement: “Why on earth did Sarah laugh?”

[18:13]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew construction uses both הַאַף (ha’af) and אֻמְנָם (’umnam): “Indeed, truly, will I have a child?”

[18:14]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew verb פָּלָא (pala’) means “to be wonderful, to be extraordinary, to be surpassing, to be amazing.”

[18:14]  ⁴² sn Sarah will have a son. The passage brings God’s promise into clear focus. As long as it was a promise for the future, it really could be believed without much involvement. But now, when it seemed so impossible from the human standpoint, when the Lord fixed an exact date for the birth of the child, the promise became rather overwhelming to Abraham and Sarah. But then this was the Lord of creation, the one they had come to trust. The point of these narratives is that the creation of Abraham’s offspring, which eventually became Israel, is no less a miraculous work of creation than the creation of the world itself.

[18:15]  ⁴³ tn Heb “And he said, ‘No, but you did laugh.’” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:16]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “And the men arose from there.”

[18:16]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “toward the face of.”

[18:16]  ⁴⁶ tn The disjunctive parenthetical clause sets the stage for the following speech.

[18:16]  ⁴⁷ tn The Piel of שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to lead out, to send out, to expel”; here it is used in the friendly sense of seeing the visitors on their way.

[18:17]  ⁴⁸ tn The active participle here refers to an action that is imminent.

[18:18]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “And Abraham.” The disjunctive clause is probably causal, giving a reason why God should not hide his intentions from Abraham. One could translate, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation?”

[18:18]  ⁵⁰ tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the finite verb that follows.

[18:18]  ⁵¹ tn Theoretically the Niphal can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Abram were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in later formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless [i.e., “pronounce blessings upon”] themselves [or “one another”].” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 18:18 (like 12:2) predicts that Abraham will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.

[18:19]  ⁵² tn Heb “For I have known him.” The verb יָדַע (yada’) here means “to recognize and treat in a special manner, to choose” (see Amos 3:2). It indicates that Abraham stood in a special covenantal relationship with the Lord.

[18:19]  ⁵³ tn Heb “and they will keep.” The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the subjective nuance of the preceding imperfect verbal form (translated “so that he may command”).

[18:19]  ⁵⁴ tn The infinitive construct here indicates manner, explaining how Abraham’s children and his household will keep the way of the Lord.

[18:19]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “bring on.” The infinitive after לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) indicates result here.

[18:19]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “spoke to.”

[18:20]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “the outcry of Sodom,” which apparently refers to the outcry for divine justice from those (unidentified persons) who observe its sinful ways.

[18:20]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “heavy.”

[18:21]  ⁵⁹ tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.

[18:21]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the Lord, who is well aware of the human capacity to sin, finds it hard to believe that anyone could be as bad as the “outcry” against Sodom and Gomorrah suggests.

[18:21]  ⁶¹ sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.

[18:22]  ⁶² tn Heb “And the men turned from there.” The word “two” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied here for clarity. Gen 19:1 mentions only two individuals (described as “angels”), while Abraham had entertained three visitors (18:2). The implication is that the Lord was the third visitor, who remained behind with Abraham here. The words “from there” are not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[18:22]  ⁶³ tn Heb “went.”

[18:22]  ⁶⁴ tc An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition reads “but the Lord remained standing before Abraham.” This reading is problematic because the phrase “standing before” typically indicates intercession, but the Lord would certainly not be interceding before Abraham.

[18:24]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “lift up,” perhaps in the sense of “bear with” (cf. NRSV “forgive”).

[18:25]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “ruler.”

[18:25]  ⁶⁷ sn Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? For discussion of this text see J. L. Crenshaw, “Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel,” ZAW 82 (1970): 380-95, and C. S. Rodd, “Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do What Is Just?” ExpTim 83 (1972): 137-39.

[18:27]  ⁶⁸ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[18:27]  ⁶⁹ tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the Lord.

[18:28]  ⁷⁰ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.

[18:28]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “because of five.”

[18:29]  ⁷² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:29]  ⁷³ tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys – the preterite (“he added”) is combined with an adverb “yet” and an infinitive “to speak.”

[18:30]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:30]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “let it not be hot to the Lord.” This is an idiom which means “may the Lord not be angry.”

[18:30]  ⁷⁶ tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.

[18:31]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:32]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:33]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “And the Lord went.”

[18:33]  ⁸⁰ tn The infinitive construct (“speaking”) serves as the direct object of the verb “finished.”

[18:33]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “to his place.”

[3:1]  ⁸² tn The chapter begins with a disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate) that introduces a new character and a new scene in the story.

[3:1]  ⁸³ sn Many theologians identify or associate the serpent with Satan. In this view Satan comes in the disguise of a serpent or speaks through a serpent. This explains the serpent’s capacity to speak. While later passages in the Bible may indicate there was a satanic presence behind the serpent (see, for example, Rev 12:9), the immediate context pictures the serpent as simply one of the animals of the field created by God (see vv. 1, 14). An ancient Jewish interpretation explains the reference to the serpent in a literal manner, attributing the capacity to speak to all the animals in the orchard. This text (Jub. 3:28) states, “On that day [the day the man and woman were expelled from the orchard] the mouth of all the beasts and cattle and birds and whatever walked or moved was stopped from speaking because all of them used to speak to one another with one speech and one language [presumed to be Hebrew, see 12:26].” Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.41) attributes the serpent’s actions to jealousy. He writes that “the serpent, living in the company of Adam and his wife, grew jealous of the blessings which he supposed were destined for them if they obeyed God’s behests, and, believing that disobedience would bring trouble on them, he maliciously persuaded the woman to taste of the tree of wisdom.”

[3:1]  ⁸⁴ tn The Hebrew word עָרוּם (’arum) basically means “clever.” This idea then polarizes into the nuances “cunning” (in a negative sense, see Job 5:12; 15:5), and “prudent” in a positive sense (Prov 12:16, 23; 13:16; 14:8, 15, 18; 22:3; 27:12). This same polarization of meaning can be detected in related words derived from the same root (see Exod 21:14; Josh 9:4; 1 Sam 23:22; Job 5:13; Ps 83:3). The negative nuance obviously applies in Gen 3, where the snake attempts to talk the woman into disobeying God by using half-truths and lies.

[3:1]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “animals of the field.”

[3:1]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “Indeed that God said.” The beginning of the quotation is elliptical and therefore difficult to translate. One must supply a phrase like “is it true”: “Indeed, [is it true] that God said.”

[3:1]  ⁸⁷ sn God. The serpent does not use the expression “Yahweh God” [Lord God] because there is no covenant relationship involved between God and the serpent. He only speaks of “God.” In the process the serpent draws the woman into his manner of speech so that she too only speaks of “God.”

[3:1]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “you must not eat from all the tree[s] of the orchard.” After the negated prohibitive verb, מִכֹּל (mikkol, “from all”) has the meaning “from any.” Note the construction in Lev 18:26, where the statement “you must not do from all these abominable things” means “you must not do any of these abominable things.” See Lev 22:25 and Deut 28:14 as well.

[26:15]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “to not do.”

[26:16]  ⁹⁰ tn Or “I also” (see HALOT 76 s.v. אַף 6.b).

[26:16]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “soul.” These expressions may refer either to the physical effects of consumption and fever as the rendering in the text suggests (e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452, 454, “diminishing eyesight and loss of appetite”), or perhaps the more psychological effects, “which exhausts the eyes” because of anxious hope “and causes depression” (Heb “causes soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] to pine away”), e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 185.

[26:16]  ⁹² tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have causal force here.

[26:16]  ⁹³ tn That is, “your enemies will eat” the produce that grows from the sown seed.

[26:18]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “And if until these.”

[26:18]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “I will add to discipline you seven [times] on your sins.”

[26:20]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “the tree of the land will not give its fruit.” The collective singular has been translated as a plural. Tg. Onq., some medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, LXX, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “the field” as in v. 4, rather than “the land.”

[26:21]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “hostile with me,” but see the added preposition בְּ (bet) on the phrase “in hostility” in v. 24 and 27.

[26:21]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “your blow, stroke”; cf. TEV “punishment”; NLT “I will inflict you with seven more disasters.”

[26:22]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “the animal of the field.” This collective singular has been translated as a plural. The expression “animal of the field” refers to a wild (i.e., nondomesticated) animal.

[26:22]  ¹⁰⁰ tn The words “of your children” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[26:22]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “and diminish you.”

[26:23]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “And if in these.”

[26:23]  ¹⁰³ tn Heb “with me,” but see the added preposition בְּ (bet) on the phrase “in hostility” in vv. 24 and 27.

[26:24]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “and I myself will also strike you.”

[26:25]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Heb “vengeance of covenant”; cf. NAB “the avenger of my covenant.”

[26:25]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has a concessive force in this context.

[26:25]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “in hand of enemy,” but Tg. Ps.-J. and Tg. Neof. have “in the hands of your enemies” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 454).

[26:26]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Heb “When I break to you staff of bread” (KJV, ASV, and NASB all similar).

[26:26]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “they will return your bread in weight.”

[26:27]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “And if in this.”

[26:27]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “with me.”

[26:28]  ¹¹² tn Heb “in rage of hostility with you”; NASB “with wrathful hostility”; NRSV “I will continue hostile to you in fury”; CEV “I’ll get really furious.”

[26:29]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “and the flesh of your daughters you will eat.” The phrase “you will eat” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[26:30]  ¹¹⁴ sn Regarding these cultic installations, see the remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 188, and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:903. The term rendered “incense altars” might better be rendered “sanctuaries [of foreign deities]” or “stelae.”

[26:30]  ¹¹⁵ tn The translation reflects the Hebrew wordplay “your corpses…the corpses of your idols.” Since idols, being lifeless, do not really have “corpses,” the translation uses “dead bodies” for people and “lifeless bodies” for the idols.

[26:30]  ¹¹⁶ tn Heb “and my soul will abhor you.”

[26:31]  ¹¹⁷ tn Heb “And I will give your cities a waste”; NLT “make your cities desolate.”

[26:33]  ¹¹⁸ tn Heb “and I will empty sword” (see HALOT 1228 s.v. ריק 3).

[26:34]  ¹¹⁹ tn There are two Hebrew roots רָצָה (ratsah), one meaning “to be pleased with; to take pleasure” (HALOT 1280-81 s.v. רצה; cf. “enjoy” in NASB, NIV, NRSV, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452), and the other meaning “to restore” (HALOT 1281-82 s.v. II רצה; cf. NAB “retrieve” and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 189).

[26:35]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “it shall rest which it did not rest.”

[26:36]  ¹²¹ tn Heb “And.”

[26:37]  ¹²² tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) is used in a concessive sense here.

[26:37]  ¹²³ tn The term rendered “to stand up” is a noun, not an infinitive. It occurs only here and appears to designate someone who would take a powerful stand for them against their enemies.

[26:39]  ¹²⁴ tn Heb “in” (so KJV, ASV; also later in this verse).

[26:39]  ¹²⁵ tn Heb “fathers’” (also in the following verse).

[26:40]  ¹²⁶ tn Heb “And.” Many English versions take this to be a conditional clause (“if…”) though there is no conditional particle (see, e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV; but see the very different rendering in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 190). The temporal translation offered here (“when”) takes into account the particle אָז (’az, “then”), which occurs twice in v. 41. The obvious contextual contrast between vv. 39 and 40 is expressed by “however” in the translation.

[26:40]  ¹²⁷ tn Heb “in their trespassing which they trespassed in me.” See the note on Lev 5:15, although the term is used in a more technical sense there in relation to the “guilt offering.”

[26:40]  ¹²⁸ tn Heb “and also which they walked.”

[26:40]  ¹²⁹ tn Heb “with me.”

[26:41]  ¹³⁰ tn Heb “or then,” although the LXX has “then” and the Syriac “and then.”

[26:41]  ¹³¹ tn Heb “and then they make up for.” On the verb “make up for” see the note on v. 34 above.

[26:42]  ¹³² tn Heb “my covenant with Abraham I will remember.” The phrase “I will remember” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[26:43]  ¹³³ tn Heb “from them.” The preposition “from” refers here to the agent of the action (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 455).

[26:43]  ¹³⁴ tn The jussive form of the verb with the simple vav (ו) here calls for a translation that expresses purpose.

[26:43]  ¹³⁵ tn The verb is the Hophal infinitive construct with the third feminine singular suffix (GKC 182 §67.y; cf. v. 34).

[26:43]  ¹³⁶ tn Heb “from them.”

[26:43]  ¹³⁷ tn Heb “because and in because,” a double expression, which is used only here and in Ezek 13:10 (without the vav) for emphasis (GKC 492 §158.b).

[26:43]  ¹³⁸ tn Heb “and their soul has abhorred.”

[26:45]  ¹³⁹ tn Heb “covenant of former ones.”

[26:46]  ¹⁴⁰ tn Heb “gave” (so NLT); KJV, ASV, NCV “made.”

[26:46]  ¹⁴¹ tn Heb “by the hand of” (so KJV).

[4:25]  ¹⁴² tn Heb “have grown old in the land,” i.e., been there for a long time.

[4:25]  ¹⁴³ tn Heb “a form of anything.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV “an idol.”

[4:25]  ¹⁴⁴ tn The infinitive construct is understood here as indicating the result, not the intention, of their actions.

[4:26]  ¹⁴⁵ sn I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you. This stock formula introduces what is known form-critically as a רִיב (riv) or controversy pattern. It is commonly used in the ancient Near Eastern world in legal contexts and in the OT as a forensic or judicial device to draw attention to Israel’s violation of the Lord’s covenant with them (see Deut 30:19; Isa 1:2; 3:13; Jer 2:9). Since court proceedings required the testimony of witnesses, the Lord here summons heaven and earth (that is, all creation) to testify to his faithfulness, Israel’s disobedience, and the threat of judgment.

[4:26]  ¹⁴⁶ tn Or “be destroyed”; KJV “utterly perish”; NLT “will quickly disappear”; CEV “you won’t have long to live.”

[4:26]  ¹⁴⁷ tn Or “be completely” (so NCV, TEV). It is not certain here if the infinitive absolute indicates the certainty of the following action (cf. NIV) or its degree.

[4:27]  ¹⁴⁸ tn Heb “you will be left men (i.e., few) of number.”

[28:15]  ¹⁴⁹ tn Heb “do not hear the voice of.”

[28:15]  ¹⁵⁰ tn Heb “and overtake you” (so NIV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “and overwhelm you.”

[28:18]  ¹⁵¹ tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[28:19]  ¹⁵² sn See note on the similar expression in v. 6.

[28:20]  ¹⁵³ tn Heb “the curse, the confusion, and the rebuke” (NASB and NIV similar); NRSV “disaster, panic, and frustration.”

[28:20]  ¹⁵⁴ tn Heb “in all the stretching out of your hand.”

[28:20]  ¹⁵⁵ tc For the MT first person common singular suffix (“me”), the LXX reads either “Lord” (Lucian) or third person masculine singular suffix (“him”; various codices). The MT’s more difficult reading probably represents the original text.

[28:21]  ¹⁵⁶ tn Heb “will cause pestilence to cling to you.”

[28:22]  ¹⁵⁷ tn Heb “The Lord.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

[28:22]  ¹⁵⁸ tn Or perhaps “consumption” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The term is from a verbal root that indicates a weakening of one’s physical strength (cf. NAB “wasting”; NIV, NLT “wasting disease”).

[28:22]  ¹⁵⁹ tn Heb “hot fever”; NIV “scorching heat.”

[28:22]  ¹⁶⁰ tn Or “drought” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[28:23]  ¹⁶¹ tc The MT reads “Your.” The LXX reads “Heaven will be to you.”

[28:23]  ¹⁶² tn Or “heavens” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[28:25]  ¹⁶³ tc The meaningless MT reading זַעֲוָה (za’avah) is clearly a transposition of the more commonly attested Hebrew noun זְוָעָה (zÿva’ah, “terror”).

[28:28]  ¹⁶⁴ tn Heb “heart” (so KJV, NASB).

[28:29]  ¹⁶⁵ tn Heb “you will not cause your ways to prosper.”

[28:30]  ¹⁶⁶ tc For MT reading שָׁגַל (shagal, “ravish; violate”), the Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate presume the less violent שָׁכַב (shakhav, “lie with”). The unexpected counterpart to betrothal here favors the originality of the MT.

[28:32]  ¹⁶⁷ tn Heb “and there will be no power in your hand”; NCV “there will be nothing you can do.”

[28:36]  ¹⁶⁸ tc The LXX reads the plural “kings.”

[28:40]  ¹⁶⁹ tn Heb “your olives will drop off” (נָשַׁל, nashal), referring to the olives dropping off before they ripen.

[28:42]  ¹⁷⁰ tn The Hebrew term denotes some sort of buzzing or whirring insect; some have understood this to be a type of locust (KJV, NIV, CEV), but other insects have also been suggested: “buzzing insects” (NAB); “the cricket” (NASB); “the cicada” (NRSV).

[28:43]  ¹⁷¹ tn Heb “the foreigner.” This is a collective singular and has therefore been translated as plural; this includes the pronouns in the following verse, which are also singular in the Hebrew text.

[28:45]  ¹⁷² tn Heb “commanded”; NAB, NIV, TEV “he gave you.”

[28:46]  ¹⁷³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the curses mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:46]  ¹⁷⁴ tn Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).

[28:48]  ¹⁷⁵ tn Heb “lack of everything.”

[28:48]  ¹⁷⁶ tn Heb “he” (also later in this verse). The pronoun is a collective singular referring to the enemies (cf. CEV, NLT). Many translations understand the singular pronoun to refer to the Lord (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV).

[28:49]  ¹⁷⁷ tn Heb “from the end of the earth.”

[28:49]  ¹⁷⁸ tn Some translations understand this to mean “like an eagle swoops down” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), comparing the swift attack of an eagle to the attack of the Israelites’ enemies.

[28:51]  ¹⁷⁹ tn Heb “it” (so NRSV), a collective singular referring to the invading nation (several times in this verse and v. 52).

[28:51]  ¹⁸⁰ tn Heb “increase of herds.”

[28:51]  ¹⁸¹ tn Heb “growth of flocks.”

[28:52]  ¹⁸² tn Heb “gates,” also in vv. 55, 57.

[28:53]  ¹⁸³ tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NRSV); NASB “the offspring of your own body.”

[28:53]  ¹⁸⁴ tn Heb “siege and stress.”

[28:55]  ¹⁸⁵ tn Heb “besiege,” redundant with the noun “siege.”

[28:56]  ¹⁸⁶ tc The LXX adds σφόδρα (sfodra, “very”) to bring the description into line with v. 54.

[28:56]  ¹⁸⁷ tn Heb “delicateness and tenderness.”

[28:57]  ¹⁸⁸ tn Heb includes “that which comes out from between her feet.”

[28:57]  ¹⁸⁹ tn Heb “her sons that she will bear.”

[28:57]  ¹⁹⁰ tn Heb includes “in her need for everything.”

[28:58]  ¹⁹¹ tn Heb “If you are not careful to do.”

[28:60]  ¹⁹² sn These are the plagues the Lord inflicted on the Egyptians prior to the exodus which, though they did not fall upon the Israelites, must have caused great terror (cf. Exod 15:26).

[28:60]  ¹⁹³ tn Heb “will cling to you” (so NIV); NLT “will claim you.”

[28:61]  ¹⁹⁴ tn The Hebrew term תּוֹרָה (torah) can refer either (1) to the whole Pentateuch or, more likely, (2) to the book of Deuteronomy or even (3) only to this curse section of the covenant text. “Scroll” better reflects the actual document, since “book” conveys the notion of a bound book with pages to the modern English reader. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the book of this law”; NIV, NLT “this Book of the Law”; TEV “this book of God’s laws and teachings.”

[28:62]  ¹⁹⁵ tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[28:62]  ¹⁹⁶ tn Heb “have not listened to the voice of.”

[28:63]  ¹⁹⁷ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

[28:66]  ¹⁹⁸ tn Heb “you will not be confident in your life.” The phrase “from one day to the next” is implied by the following verse.

[29:18]  ¹⁹⁹ tn Heb “yielding fruit poisonous and wormwood.” The Hebrew noun לַעֲנָה (la’anah) literally means “wormwood” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB), but is used figuratively for anything extremely bitter, thus here “fruit poisonous and bitter.”

[29:19]  ²⁰⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the subject of the warning in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:19]  ²⁰¹ tn Heb “in his heart.”

[29:19]  ²⁰² tn Or “invokes a blessing on himself.” A formalized word of blessing is in view, the content of which appears later in the verse.

[29:19]  ²⁰³ tn Heb “heart.”

[29:19]  ²⁰⁴ tn Heb “thus destroying.” For stylistic reasons the translation begins a new sentence here.

[29:19]  ²⁰⁵ tn Heb “the watered with the parched.” The word “ground” is implied. The exact meaning of the phrase is uncertain although it appears to be figurative. This appears to be a proverbial observation employing a figure of speech (a merism) suggesting totality. That is, the Israelite who violates the letter and even spirit of the covenant will harm not only himself but everything he touches – “the watered and the parched.” Cf. CEV “you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you.”

[29:20]  ²⁰⁶ tn Heb “the wrath of the Lord and his zeal.” The expression is a hendiadys, a figure in which the second noun becomes adjectival to the first.

[29:20]  ²⁰⁷ tn Heb “smoke,” or “smolder.”

[29:20]  ²⁰⁸ tn Heb “the entire oath.”

[29:20]  ²⁰⁹ tn Or “will lie in wait against him.”

[29:20]  ²¹⁰ tn Heb “blot out his name from under the sky.”

[29:21]  ²¹¹ tn Heb “set him apart.”

[29:21]  ²¹² tn Heb “for evil”; NAB “for doom”; NASB “for adversity”; NIV “for disaster”; NRSV “for calamity.”

[29:22]  ²¹³ tn Heb “will say and see.” One expects a quotation to appear, but it seems to be omitted. To avoid confusion in the translation, the verb “will say” is omitted.

[29:23]  ²¹⁴ tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” This construction is a hendiadys intended to intensify the emotion.

[29:24]  ²¹⁵ tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”

[29:26]  ²¹⁶ tn Heb “did not assign to them”; NASB, NRSV “had not allotted to them.”

[29:27]  ²¹⁷ tn Heb “the entire curse.”

[31:16]  ²¹⁸ tn Heb “lie down with your fathers” (so NASB); NRSV “ancestors.”

[31:16]  ²¹⁹ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style. The third person singular also occurs in the Hebrew text twice more in this verse, three times in v. 17, once in v. 18, five times in v. 20, and four times in v. 21. Each time it is translated as third person plural for stylistic reasons.

[31:16]  ²²⁰ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:16]  ²²¹ tn Or “abandon” (TEV, NLT).

[31:16]  ²²² tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:17]  ²²³ tn Heb “on that day.” This same expression also appears later in the verse and in v. 18.

[31:17]  ²²⁴ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:17]  ²²⁵ tn Heb “find,” “encounter.”

[31:17]  ²²⁶ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:17]  ²²⁷ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:17]  ²²⁸ tn Heb “evils.”

[31:17]  ²²⁹ tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.

[31:17]  ²³⁰ tn Heb “my.”

[31:17]  ²³¹ tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.

[31:18]  ²³² tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “certainly.”

[31:18]  ²³³ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:29]  ²³⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “totally.”

[31:29]  ²³⁵ tn Heb “do the evil.”

[31:29]  ²³⁶ tn Heb “the work of your hands.”

[32:15]  ²³⁷ tn To make the continuity of the referent clear, some English versions substitute “Jacob” here (NAB, NRSV) while others replace “Jeshurun” with “Israel” (NCV, CEV, NLT) or “the Lord’s people” (TEV).

[32:15]  ²³⁸ tc The LXX reads the third person masculine singular (“he”) for the MT second person masculine singular (“you”), but such alterations are unnecessary in Hebrew poetic texts where subjects fluctuate frequently and without warning.

[32:16]  ²³⁹ tc Heb “with strange (things).” The Vulgate actually supplies diis (“gods”).

[32:16]  ²⁴⁰ tn Heb “abhorrent (things)” (cf. NRSV). A number of English versions understand this as referring to “idols” (NAB, NIV, NCV, CEV), while NLT supplies “acts.”

[32:17]  ²⁴¹ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[32:18]  ²⁴² tc The Hebrew text is corrupt here; the translation follows the suggestion offered in HALOT 1477 s.v. שׁיה. Cf. NASB, NLT “You neglected”; NIV “You deserted”; NRSV “You were unmindful of.”

[32:20]  ²⁴³ tn Heb “I will hide my face from them.”

[32:20]  ²⁴⁴ tn Heb “sons” (so NAB, NASB); TEV “unfaithful people.”

[32:21]  ²⁴⁵ sn They have made me jealous. The “jealousy” of God is not a spirit of pettiness prompted by his insecurity, but righteous indignation caused by the disloyalty of his people to his covenant grace (see note on the word “God” in Deut 4:24). The jealousy of Israel, however (see next line), will be envy because of God’s lavish attention to another nation. This is an ironic wordplay. See H. Peels, NIDOTTE 3:938-39.

[32:21]  ²⁴⁶ tn Heb “what is not a god,” or a “nondeity.”

[32:21]  ²⁴⁷ tn Heb “their empty (things).” The Hebrew term used here to refer pejoratively to the false gods is הֶבֶל (hevel, “futile” or “futility”), used frequently in Ecclesiastes (e.g., Eccl 1:1, “Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher, “Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”).

[32:21]  ²⁴⁸ tn Heb “what is not a people,” or a “nonpeople.” The “nonpeople” (לֹא־עָם, lo’-’am) referred to here are Gentiles who someday would become God’s people in the fullest sense (cf. Hos 1:9; 2:23).

[32:21]  ²⁴⁹ tn Heb “a foolish nation” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV); NIV “a nation that has no understanding”; NLT “I will provoke their fury by blessing the foolish Gentiles.”

[32:22]  ²⁵⁰ tn Or “to the lowest depths of the earth”; cf. NAB “to the depths of the nether world”; NIV “to the realm of death below”; NLT “to the depths of the grave.”

[32:23]  ²⁵¹ tn Heb “upon them.”

[32:24]  ²⁵² tn The Hebrew term קֶטֶב (qetev) is probably metaphorical here for the sting of a disease (HALOT 1091-92 s.v.).

[32:25]  ²⁵³ tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.

[32:26]  ²⁵⁴ tc The LXX reads “I said I would scatter them.” This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT, CEV).

[32:27]  ²⁵⁵ tn Heb “anger.”

[32:27]  ²⁵⁶ tn Heb “lest.”

[32:27]  ²⁵⁷ tn Heb “Our hand is high.” Cf. NAB “Our own hand won the victory.”

[32:2]  ²⁵⁸ tn Or “mist,” “light drizzle.” In some contexts the term appears to refer to light rain, rather than dew.

[1:15]  ²⁵⁹ tn Or “selected”; Heb “took.”

[1:16]  ²⁶⁰ tn Or “you.” A number of English versions treat the remainder of this verse and v. 17 as direct discourse rather than indirect discourse (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[1:16]  ²⁶¹ tn Heb “brothers.” The term “brothers” could, in English, be understood to refer to siblings, so “fellow citizens” has been used in the translation.

[1:16]  ²⁶² tn The Hebrew word צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “fairly”) carries the basic idea of conformity to a norm of expected behavior or character, one established by God himself. Fair judgment adheres strictly to that norm or standard (see D. Reimer, NIDOTTE 3:750).

[1:16]  ²⁶³ tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”

[1:16]  ²⁶⁴ tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”

[9:33]  ²⁶⁵ tn Heb “you have done truth.”

[90:7]  ²⁶⁶ tn Or “for.”

[90:8]  ²⁶⁷ tn Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”

[90:8]  ²⁶⁸ 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.

[5:3]  ²⁶⁹ tn Heb “O Lord, are your eyes not to faithfulness?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[5:3]  ²⁷⁰ tn Commentaries and lexicons debate the meaning of the verb here. The MT is pointed as though from a verb meaning “to writhe in anguish or contrition” (חוּל [khul]; see, e.g., BDB 297 s.v. חוּל 2.c), but some commentaries and lexicons repoint the text as though from a verb meaning “to be sick,” thus “to feel pain” (חָלָה [khalah]; see, e.g., HALOT 304 s.v. חָלָה 3). The former appears more appropriate to the context.

[5:3]  ²⁷¹ tn Heb “They made their faces as hard as a rock.”

[5:3]  ²⁷² tn Or “to repent”; Heb “to turn back.”

[5:4]  ²⁷³ 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.

[5:4]  ²⁷⁴ tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

[5:4]  ²⁷⁵ tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

[5:5]  ²⁷⁶ tn Or “people in power”; Heb “the great ones.”

[5:5]  ²⁷⁷ tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

[5:5]  ²⁷⁸ tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

[5:5]  ²⁷⁹ tn Heb “have broken the yoke and torn off the yoke ropes.” Compare Jer 2:20 and the note there.

[5:6]  ²⁸⁰ tn Heb “So a lion from the thicket will kill them. A wolf from the desert will destroy them. A leopard will watch outside their cities. Anyone who goes out from them will be torn in pieces.” However, it is unlikely that, in the context of judgment that Jeremiah has previously been describing, literal lions are meant. The animals are metaphorical for their enemies. Compare Jer 4:7.

[5:6]  ²⁸¹ tn Heb “their rebellions are so many and their unfaithful acts so numerous.”

[5:7]  ²⁸² tn These words are not in the text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking.

[5:7]  ²⁸³ tn Heb “How can I forgive [or pardon] you.” The pronoun “you” is second feminine singular, referring to the city. See v. 1.

[5:7]  ²⁸⁴ tn Heb “your children.”

[5:7]  ²⁸⁵ tn Heb “and they have sworn [oaths] by not-gods.”

[5:7]  ²⁸⁶ tn Heb “I satisfied them to the full.”

[5:7]  ²⁸⁷ tn Heb “they committed adultery.” It is difficult to decide whether literal adultery with other women or spiritual adultery with other gods is meant. The word for adultery is used for both in the book of Jeremiah. For examples of its use for spiritual adultery see 3:8, 9; 9:2. For examples of its use for literal adultery see 7:9; 23:14. The context here could argue for either. The swearing by other gods and the implicit contradiction in their actions in contrast to the expected gratitude for supplying their needs argues for spiritual adultery. However, the reference to prostitution in the next line and the reference to chasing after their neighbor’s wives argues for literal adultery. The translation opts for spiritual adultery because of the contrast implicit in the concessive clause.

[5:7]  ²⁸⁸ tn There is a great deal of debate about the meaning of this word. Most of the modern English versions follow the lead of lexicographers who relate this word to a noun meaning “troop” and understand it to mean “they trooped together” (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.2 and compare the usage in Mic 5:1 [4:14 HT]). A few of the modern English versions and commentaries follow the reading of the Greek and read a word meaning “they lodged” (reading ִיתְגּוֹרְרוּ [yitggorÿru] from I גּוּר [gur; cf. HALOT 177 s.v. Hithpo. and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 17:20] instead of יִתְגֹּדָדוּ [yitggodadu]). W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:180) sees a reference here to the cultic practice of cutting oneself in supplication to pagan gods (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.1 and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 18:28). The houses of prostitutes would then be a reference to ritual prostitutes at the pagan shrines. The translation follows BDB and the majority of modern English versions.

[5:7]  ²⁸⁹ tn Heb “to a house of a prostitute.”

[5:8]  ²⁹⁰ tn The meanings of these two adjectives are uncertain. The translation of the first adjective is based on assuming that the word is a defectively written participle related to the noun “testicle” (a Hiphil participle מַאֲשִׁכִים [ma’ashikhim] from a verb related to אֶשֶׁךְ [’eshekh, “testicle”]; cf. Lev 21:20) and hence “having testicles” (cf. HALOT 1379 s.v. שָׁכָה) instead of the Masoretic form מַשְׁכִּים (mashkim) from a root שָׁכָה (shakhah), which is otherwise unattested in either verbal or nominal forms. The second adjective is best derived from a verb root meaning “to feed” (a Hophal participle מוּזָנִים [muzanim, the Kethib] from a root זוּן [zun; cf. BDB 266 s.v. זוּן] for which there is the cognate noun מָזוֹן [mazon; cf. 2 Chr 11:23]). This is more likely than the derivation from a root יָזַן ([yazan]reading מְיֻזָּנִים [mÿyuzzanim], a Pual participle with the Qere) which is otherwise unattested in verbal or nominal forms and whose meaning is dependent only on a supposed Arabic cognate (cf. HALOT 387 s.v. יָזַן).

[5:8]  ²⁹¹ tn Heb “neighs after.”

[5:9]  ²⁹² tn Heb “Should I not punish them…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions have the force of strong declarations.

[5:29]  ²⁹³ tn Heb “Should I not punish…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions function as emphatic declarations.

[23:14]  ²⁹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[23:14]  ²⁹⁵ tn Or “they commit adultery and deal falsely.” The word “shocking” only occurs here and in 5:30 where it is found in the context of prophesying lies. This almost assures that the reference to “walking in lies” (Heb “in the lie”) is referring to false prophesy. Moreover the references to the prophets in 5:13 and in 14:13-15 are all in the context of false prophesy as are the following references in this chapter in 23:24, 26, 32 and in 28:15. This appears to be the theme of this section. This also makes it likely that the reference to adultery is not literal adultery, though two of the false prophets in Babylon were guilty of this (29:23). The reference to “encouraging those who do evil” that follows also makes more sense if they were preaching messages of comfort rather than messages of doom. The verbs here are infinitive absolutes in place of the finite verb, probably used to place greater emphasis on the action (cf. Hos 4:2 in a comparable judgment speech.)

[23:14]  ²⁹⁶ tn Heb “So they strengthen the hands of those doing evil so that they do not turn back from their evil.” For the use of the figure “strengthen the hands” meaning “encourage” see Judg 9:24; Ezek 13:22 (and cf. BDB 304 s.v. חָזַק Piel.2). The vav consecutive on the front of the form gives the logical consequence equivalent to “so” in the translation.

[23:14]  ²⁹⁷ tn Heb “All of them are to me like Sodom and its [Jerusalem’s] inhabitants like Gomorrah.”

[30:14]  ²⁹⁸ tn Heb “forgotten you.”

[30:14]  ²⁹⁹ tn Heb “attacked you like…with the chastening of a cruel one because of the greatness of your iniquity [and because] your sins are many.” The sentence has been broken down to conform to contemporary English style and better poetic scansion.

[44:21]  ³⁰⁰ tn The words “to other gods” are not in the text but are implicit from the context (cf. v. 17). They are supplied in the translation for clarity. It was not the act of sacrifice that was wrong but the recipient.

[44:21]  ³⁰¹ tn Heb “The sacrifices which you sacrificed in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your leaders and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them and [did they not] come into his mind?” The question is again rhetorical and expects a positive answer. So it is rendered here as an affirmative statement for the sake of clarity and simplicity. An attempt has been made to shorten the long Hebrew sentence to better conform with contemporary English style.

[44:22]  ³⁰² tn Heb “And/Then the Lord could no longer endure because of the evil of your deeds [and] because of the detestable things that you did and [or so] your land became a desolation and a waste and an occasion of a curse without inhabitant as this day.” The sentence has been broken up and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style, but an attempt has been made to preserve the causal and consequential connections.

[8:17]  ³⁰³ tn It is not clear what the practice of “holding a branch to the nose” indicates. A possible parallel is the Syrian relief of a king holding a flower to his nose as he worships the stars (ANEP 281). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:145-46. The LXX glosses the expression as “Behold, they are like mockers.”

[8:18]  ³⁰⁴ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[9:9]  ³⁰⁵ tn Or “lawlessness” (NAB); “perversity” (NRSV). The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT, and its meaning is uncertain. The similar phrase in 7:23 has a common word for “violence.”

[9:9]  ³⁰⁶ sn The saying is virtually identical to that of the elders in Ezek 8:12.

[22:24]  ³⁰⁷ tc The MT reads “that is not cleansed”; the LXX reads “that is not drenched,” which assumes a different vowel pointing as well as the loss of a מ (mem) due to haplography. In light of the following reference to showers, the reading of the LXX certainly fits the context well. For a defense of the emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:32. Yet the MT is not an unreasonable reading since uncleanness in the land also fits the context, and a poetic connection between rain and the land being uncleansed may be feasible since washing with water is elsewhere associated with cleansing (Num 8:7; 31:23; Ps 51:7).

[22:24]  ³⁰⁸ tn Heb “in a day of anger.”

[22:25]  ³⁰⁹ tn Heb “a conspiracy of her prophets is in her midst.” The LXX reads “whose princes” rather than “a conspiracy of prophets.” The prophets are mentioned later in the paragraph (v. 28). If one follows the LXX in verse 25, then five distinct groups are mentioned in vv. 25-29: princes, priests, officials, prophets, and the people of the land. For a defense of the Septuagintal reading, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:32, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:720, n. 4.

[22:25]  ³¹⁰ tn Heb “her widows they have multiplied.” The statement alludes to their murderous acts.

[22:26]  ³¹¹ tn Or “between the consecrated and the common.”

[22:26]  ³¹² tn Heb “hide their eyes from.” The idiom means to disregard or ignore something or someone (see Lev 20:4; 1 Sam 12:3; Prov 28:27; Isa 1:15).

[22:28]  ³¹³ tn Heb “her prophets coat for themselves with whitewash.” The expression may be based on Ezek 13:10-15.

[22:29]  ³¹⁴ tn Heb “and the foreigner they have oppressed without justice.”

[22:30]  ³¹⁵ tn Heb “I did not find.”

[22:31]  ³¹⁶ tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.”

[9:7]  ³¹⁷ tn Heb “to you (belongs) righteousness.”

[9:7]  ³¹⁸ tn Heb “and to us (belongs) shame of face like this day.”

[9:7]  ³¹⁹ tn Heb “men.”

[9:8]  ³²⁰ tn Heb “to us (belongs) shame of face.”

[9:9]  ³²¹ tn Heb “to the Lord our God (belong) compassion and forgiveness.”

[9:10]  ³²² tn Heb “paid attention to the voice of,” which is an idiomatic expression for obedience (cf. NASB “nor have we obeyed the voice of”).

[9:10]  ³²³ tn Heb “to walk in.”

[9:10]  ³²⁴ tc The LXX and Vulgate have the singular.

[9:11]  ³²⁵ tn Or “transgressed.” The Hebrew verb has the primary sense of crossing a boundary, in this case, God’s law.

[9:11]  ³²⁶ tn Heb “by not paying attention to your voice.”

[9:11]  ³²⁷ tn Heb “the curse and the oath which is written.” The term “curse” refers here to the judgments threatened in the Mosaic law (see Deut 28) for rebellion. The expression “the curse and the oath” is probably a hendiadys (cf. Num 5:21; Neh 10:29) referring to the fact that the covenant with its threatened judgments was ratified by solemn oath and made legally binding upon the covenant community.

[9:11]  ³²⁸ tn Heb “him.”

[9:12]  ³²⁹ tn Heb “he has fulfilled his word(s) which he spoke.”

[9:12]  ³³⁰ tn Heb “our judges.”

[9:12]  ³³¹ tn Heb “who judged.”

[9:13]  ³³² tn Heb “we have not pacified the face of.”

[9:13]  ³³³ tn Or “by gaining insight.”

[9:13]  ³³⁴ tn Heb “by your truth.” The Hebrew term does not refer here to abstract truth, however, but to the reliable moral guidance found in the covenant law. See vv 10-11.

[9:14]  ³³⁵ tn Or “righteous.”

[9:14]  ³³⁶ tn Heb “in all his deeds which he has done.”

[9:14]  ³³⁷ tn Heb “we have not listened to his voice.”

[9:15]  ³³⁸ tn Heb “with a powerful hand.”

[9:16]  ³³⁹ tn Or “righteousness.”

[9:16]  ³⁴⁰ tn Heb “your anger and your rage.” The synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of God’s anger. This is best expressed in English by making one of the terms adjectival (cf. NLT “your furious anger”; CEV “terribly angry”).

[3:9]  ³⁴¹ tn Heb “house.”

[3:9]  ³⁴² tn Heb “house.”

[3:9]  ³⁴³ tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10).

[3:10]  ³⁴⁴ tn Heb “who.”

[3:10]  ³⁴⁵ tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”

[3:10]  ³⁴⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:11]  ³⁴⁷ sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11]  ³⁴⁸ tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11]  ³⁴⁹ tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11]  ³⁵⁰ tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

[3:11]  ³⁵¹ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

[3:12]  ³⁵² tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.

[3:12]  ³⁵³ tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).

[3:12]  ³⁵⁴ tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[3:12]  ³⁵⁵ tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”

[3:1]  ³⁵⁶ tn The present translation assumes מֹרְאָה (mor’ah) is derived from רֹאִי (ro’i,“excrement”; see Jastrow 1436 s.v. רֳאִי). The following participle, “stained,” supports this interpretation (cf. NEB “filthy and foul”; NRSV “soiled, defiled”). Another option is to derive the form from מָרָה (marah, “to rebel”); in this case the term should be translated “rebellious” (cf. NASB, NIV “rebellious and defiled”). This idea is supported by v. 2. For discussion of the two options, see HALOT 630 s.v. I מרא and J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 206.

[3:1]  ³⁵⁷ tn Heb “Woe, soiled and stained one, oppressive city.” The verb “is finished” is supplied in the second line. On the Hebrew word הוֹי (hoy, “ah, woe”), see the note on the word “dead” in 2:5.

[3:2]  ³⁵⁸ tn Heb “she does not hear a voice” Refusing to listen is equated with disobedience.

[3:2]  ³⁵⁹ tn Heb “she does not receive correction.” The Hebrew phrase, when negated, refers elsewhere to rejecting verbal advice (Jer 17:23; 32:33; 35:13) and refusing to learn from experience (Jer 2:30; 5:3).

[3:2]  ³⁶⁰ tn Heb “draw near to.” The present translation assumes that the expression “draw near to” refers to seeking God’s will (see 1 Sam 14:36).

[3:3]  ³⁶¹ tn Or “officials.”

[3:3]  ³⁶² tn Heb “her princes in her midst are roaring lions.” The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as fierce as”) for clarity.

[3:3]  ³⁶³ tn Traditionally “judges.”

[3:3]  ³⁶⁴ tn Heb “her judges [are] wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 128. The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as hungry as”) for clarity.

[3:3]  ³⁶⁵ tn Heb “they do not gnaw [a bone] at morning.” The precise meaning of the line is unclear. The statement may mean these wolves devour their prey so completely that not even a bone is left to gnaw by the time morning arrives. For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 129.

[3:4]  ³⁶⁶ sn Applied to prophets, the word פֹּחֲזִים (pokhazim, “proud”) probably refers to their audacity in passing off their own words as genuine prophecies from the Lord (see Jer 23:32).

[3:4]  ³⁶⁷ tn Or “defile the temple.”

[3:4]  ³⁶⁸ tn Heb “they treat violently [the] law.”

[3:5]  ³⁶⁹ tn The word “resides” is supplied for clarification.

[3:5]  ³⁷⁰ tn Or “he does no injustice.”

[3:5]  ³⁷¹ tn Heb “gives”; or “dispenses.”

[3:5]  ³⁷² tn Heb “at the light he is not missing.” Note that NASB (which capitalizes pronouns referring to Deity) has divided the lines differently: “Every morning He brings His justice to light; // He does not fail.”

[3:6]  ³⁷³ tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:6]  ³⁷⁴ tn Heb “corner towers”; NEB, NRSV “battlements.”

[3:6]  ³⁷⁵ tn This Hebrew verb (צָדָה, tsadah) occurs only here in the OT, but its meaning is established from the context and from an Aramaic cognate.

[3:6]  ³⁷⁶ tn Heb “so that there is no man, without inhabitant.”

[3:7]  ³⁷⁷ tn Heb “said.”

[3:7]  ³⁷⁸ tn Or “fear.” The second person verb form (“you will respect”) is feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed.

[3:7]  ³⁷⁹ tn Or “dwelling place.”

[3:7]  ³⁸⁰ tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:7]  ³⁸¹ tn Heb “all which I have punished her.” The precise meaning of this statement and its relationship to what precedes are unclear.

[3:7]  ³⁸² tn Heb “But they got up early, they made corrupt all their actions.” The phrase “they got up early” probably refers to their eagerness to engage in sinful activities.

[3:8]  ³⁸³ tn The second person verb form (“you must wait patiently”) is masculine plural, indicating that a group is being addressed. Perhaps the humble individuals addressed earlier (see 2:3) are in view. Because of Jerusalem’s sin, they must patiently wait for judgment to pass before their vindication arrives.

[3:8]  ³⁸⁴ tn Heb “when I arise for plunder.” The present translation takes עַד (’ad) as “plunder.” Some, following the LXX, repoint the term עֵד (’ed) and translate, “as a witness” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV). In this case the Lord uses a legal metaphor to picture himself as testifying against his enemies. Adele Berlin takes לְעַד (lÿ’ad) in a temporal sense (“forever”) and translates “once and for all” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 133).

[3:8]  ³⁸⁵ tn Heb “for my decision is.”

[3:8]  ³⁸⁶ tn Or “certainly.”