Ezekiel 3:7

3:7 But the house of Israel is unwilling to listen to you, ¹  because they are not willing to listen to me, ²  for the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. ³ 

Deuteronomy 10:16

10:16 Therefore, cleanse ⁴  your heart and stop being so stubborn! ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 31:27

31:27 for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness. ⁶  Indeed, even while I have been living among you to this very day, you have rebelled against the Lord; you will be even more rebellious after my death! ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 31:2

31:2 He said to them, “Today I am a hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to get about, ⁸  and the Lord has said to me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan.’

Deuteronomy 30:8

30:8 You will return and obey the Lord, keeping all his commandments I am giving ⁹  you today.

Deuteronomy 1:13

1:13 Select wise and practical ¹⁰  men, those known among your tribes, whom I may appoint as your leaders.”

Psalms 95:8

95:8 He says, ¹¹  “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah, ¹² 

like they were that day at Massah ¹³  in the wilderness, ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 48:4

48:4 I did this ¹⁵  because I know how stubborn you are.

Your neck muscles are like iron

and your forehead like bronze. ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 3:3

3:3 That is why the rains have been withheld,

and the spring rains have not come.

Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute. ¹⁷ 

You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.

Jeremiah 5:3

5:3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness. ¹⁸ 

But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. ¹⁹ 

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

They have become as hardheaded as a rock. ²⁰ 

They refuse to change their ways. ²¹ 

Jeremiah 6:15

6:15 Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things?

No, they are not at all ashamed.

They do not even know how to blush!

So they will die, just like others have died. ²² 

They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,”

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 8:12

8:12 Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things?

No, they are not at all ashamed!

They do not even know how to blush!

So they will die just like others have died. ²³ 

They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,

says the Lord.

Matthew 10:16

Persecution of Disciples

10:16 “I ²⁴  am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, ²⁵  so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

[3:7]  ¹ sn Moses (Exod 3:19) and Isaiah (Isa 6:9-10) were also told that their messages would not be received.

[3:7]  ² sn A similar description of Israel’s disobedience is given in 1 Sam 8:7.

[3:7]  ³ tn Heb “hard of forehead and stiff of heart.”

[10:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “circumcise the foreskin of” (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV). Reference to the Abrahamic covenant prompts Moses to recall the sign of that covenant, namely, physical circumcision (Gen 17:9-14). Just as that act signified total covenant obedience, so spiritual circumcision (cleansing of the heart) signifies more internally a commitment to be pliable and obedient to the will of God (cf. Deut 30:6; Jer 4:4; 9:26).

[10:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “your neck do not harden again.” See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.

[31:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “stiffness of neck” (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV). See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.

[31:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “How much more after my death?” The Hebrew text has a sarcastic rhetorical question here; the translation seeks to bring out the force of the question.

[31:2]  ⁸ tn Or “am no longer able to lead you” (NIV, NLT); Heb “am no longer able to go out and come in.”

[30:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I now enjoin on you.”

[1:13]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew verb נְבֹנִים (nÿvonim, from בִּין [bin]) is a Niphal referring to skill or intelligence (see T. Fretheim, NIDOTTE 1:652-53).

[95:8]  ¹¹ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the following words are spoken by the Lord (see vv. 9-11).

[95:8]  ¹² sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13, see also Pss 81:7; 106:32). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.

[95:8]  ¹³ sn The name Massah means “testing.” This was another name (along with Meribah) given to the place where Israel complained following the Red Sea Crossing (see Exod 17:1-7, as well as Deut 6:16; 9:22; 33:8).

[95:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “do not harden your heart[s] as [at] Meribah, as [in] the day of Massah in the wilderness.”

[48:4]  ¹⁵ tn The words “I did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 4 is subordinated to v. 3.

[48:4]  ¹⁶ sn The image is that of a person who has tensed the muscles of the face and neck as a sign of resolute refusal.

[3:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you have the forehead of a prostitute.”

[5:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “O Lord, are your eyes not to faithfulness?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[5:3]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “They made their faces as hard as a rock.”

[5:3]  ²¹ tn Or “to repent”; Heb “to turn back.”

[6:15]  ²² tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”

[8:12]  ²³ tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”

[10:16]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Behold I.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[10:16]  ²⁵ sn This imagery of wolves is found in intertestamental Judaism; see Pss. Sol. 8:23, 30.