Ezekiel 21:14-17

21:14 “And you, son of man, prophesy,

and clap your hands together.

Let the sword strike twice, even three times!

It is a sword for slaughter,

a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.

21:15 So hearts melt with fear and many stumble.

At all their gates I have stationed the sword for slaughter.

Ah! It is made to flash, it is drawn for slaughter!

21:16 Cut sharply on the right!

Swing to ¹  the left,

wherever your edge ²  is appointed to strike.

21:17 I too will clap my hands together,

I will exhaust my rage;

I the Lord have spoken.”

Numbers 24:10

24:10 Then Balak became very angry at Balaam, and he struck his hands together. ³  Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless ⁴  them these three times!

Isaiah 58:1

The Lord Desires Genuine Devotion

58:1 “Shout loudly! Don’t be quiet!

Yell as loud as a trumpet!

Confront my people with their rebellious deeds; ⁵ 

confront Jacob’s family with their sin! ⁶ 

Jeremiah 9:1

9:1 (8:23) ⁷  I wish that my head were a well full of water ⁸ 

and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!

If they were, I could cry day and night

for those of my dear people ⁹  who have been killed.

Jeremiah 9:10

The Coming Destruction Calls For Mourning

9:10 I said, ¹⁰ 

“I will weep and mourn ¹¹  for the grasslands on the mountains, ¹² 

I will sing a mournful song for the pastures in the wilderness

because they are so scorched no one travels through them.

The sound of livestock is no longer heard there.

Even the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the fields

have fled and are gone.”

[21:16]  ¹ tn Heb “Put to.”

[21:16]  ² tn Heb “face.”

[24:10]  ³ sn This is apparently a sign of contempt or derision (see Job 27:23; and Lam 2:15).

[24:10]  ⁴ tn The construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense for “bless.”

[58:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “declare to my people their rebellion.”

[58:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “and to the house of Jacob their sin.” The verb “declare” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[9:1]  ⁷ sn Beginning with 9:1, the verse numbers through 9:26 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:1 ET = 8:23 HT, 9:2 ET = 9:1 HT, 9:3 ET = 9:2 HT, etc., through 9:26 ET = 9:25 HT. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[9:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “I wish that my head were water.”

[9:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[9:10]  ¹⁰ tn The words “I said” are not in the text, but there is general agreement that Jeremiah is the speaker. Cf. the lament in 8:18-9:1. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity. Some English versions follow the Greek text which reads a plural imperative here. Since this reading would make the transition between 9:10 and 9:11 easier it is probably not original but a translator’s way of smoothing over a difficulty.

[9:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will lift up weeping and mourning.”

[9:10]  ¹² tn Heb “for the mountains.” However, the context makes clear that it is the grasslands or pastures on the mountains that are meant. The words “for the grasslands” are supplied in the translation for clarity.