Ezekiel 7:23

7:23 (Make the chain, ¹  because the land is full of murder ²  and the city is full of violence.)

Ezekiel 22:2-12

22:2 “As for you, son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment, ³  are you willing to pronounce judgment on the bloody city? ⁴  Then confront her with all her abominable deeds! 22:3 Then say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom), ⁵  and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity), 22:4 you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made. You have hastened the day of your doom; ⁶  the end of your years has come. ⁷  Therefore I will make ⁸  you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands. 22:5 Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation, ⁹  full of turmoil.

22:6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. ¹⁰  22:7 They have treated father and mother with contempt ¹¹  within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow ¹²  within you. 22:8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths! 22:9 Slanderous men shed blood within you. ¹³  Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; ¹⁴  they commit obscene acts among you. ¹⁵  22:10 They have sex with their father’s wife within you; ¹⁶  they violate women during their menstrual period within you. ¹⁷  22:11 One ¹⁸  commits an abominable act with his neighbor’s wife; another obscenely defiles his daughter-in-law; another violates ¹⁹  his sister – his father’s daughter ²⁰  – within you. 22:12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; ²¹  you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, ²²  declares the sovereign Lord. ²³ 

Ezekiel 22:25-31

22:25 Her princes ²⁴  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 ²⁵  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, ²⁶  or recognize any distinction between the unclean and the clean. They ignore ²⁷  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. ²⁸  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. ²⁹ 

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. ³⁰  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, ³¹  declares the sovereign Lord.”

Deuteronomy 31:29

31:29 For I know that after I die you will totally ³²  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 ³³  before the Lord, inciting him to anger because of your actions.” ³⁴ 

Deuteronomy 32:5

32:5 His people have been unfaithful ³⁵  to him;

they have not acted like his children ³⁶  – this is their sin. ³⁷ 

They are a perverse ³⁸  and deceitful generation.

Deuteronomy 32:15-22

Israel’s Rebellion

32:15 But Jeshurun ³⁹  became fat and kicked,

you ⁴⁰  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, ⁴¹ 

they enraged him with abhorrent idols. ⁴² 

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 ⁴³  had not known about.

32:18 You have forgotten ⁴⁴  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, ⁴⁵ 

I will see what will happen to them;

for they are a perverse generation,

children ⁴⁶  who show no loyalty.

32:21 They have made me jealous ⁴⁷  with false gods, ⁴⁸ 

enraging me with their worthless gods; ⁴⁹ 

so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, ⁵⁰ 

with a nation slow to learn ⁵¹  I will enrage them.

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

and it burns to lowest Sheol; ⁵² 

it consumes the earth and its produce,

and ignites the foundations of the mountains.

Deuteronomy 32:2

32:2 My teaching will drop like the rain,

my sayings will drip like the dew, ⁵³ 

as rain drops upon the grass,

and showers upon new growth.

Deuteronomy 17:7

17:7 The witnesses ⁵⁴  must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people ⁵⁵  are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 17:2

17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages ⁵⁶  that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God ⁵⁷  and breaks his covenant

Deuteronomy 1:14-16

1:14 You replied to me that what I had said to you was good. 1:15 So I chose ⁵⁸  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 ⁵⁹  should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens ⁶⁰  and judge fairly, ⁶¹  whether between one citizen and another ⁶²  or a citizen and a resident foreigner. ⁶³ 

Isaiah 1:4

1:4 ⁶⁴ The sinful nation is as good as dead, ⁶⁵ 

the people weighed down by evil deeds.

They are offspring who do wrong,

children ⁶⁶  who do wicked things.

They have abandoned the Lord,

and rejected the Holy One of Israel. ⁶⁷ 

They are alienated from him. ⁶⁸ 

Isaiah 59:2-8

59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;

your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers. ⁶⁹ 

59:3 For your hands are stained with blood

and your fingers with sin;

your lips speak lies,

your tongue utters malicious words.

59:4 No one is concerned about justice; ⁷⁰ 

no one sets forth his case truthfully.

They depend on false words ⁷¹  and tell lies;

they conceive of oppression ⁷² 

and give birth to sin.

59:5 They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake

and spin a spider’s web.

Whoever eats their eggs will die,

a poisonous snake is hatched. ⁷³ 

59:6 Their webs cannot be used for clothing;

they cannot cover themselves with what they make.

Their deeds are sinful;

they commit violent crimes. ⁷⁴ 

59:7 They are eager to do evil, ⁷⁵ 

quick to shed innocent blood. ⁷⁶ 

Their thoughts are sinful;

they crush and destroy. ⁷⁷ 

59:8 They are unfamiliar with peace;

their deeds are unjust. ⁷⁸ 

They use deceitful methods,

and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace. ⁷⁹ 

Isaiah 59:12-15

59:12 For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds, ⁸⁰ 

and our sins testify against us;

indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds;

we know our sins all too well. ⁸¹ 

59:13 We have rebelled and tried to deceive the Lord;

we turned back from following our God.

We stir up ⁸²  oppression and rebellion;

we tell lies we concocted in our minds. ⁸³ 

59:14 Justice is driven back;

godliness ⁸⁴  stands far off.

Indeed, ⁸⁵  honesty stumbles in the city square

and morality is not even able to enter.

59:15 Honesty has disappeared;

the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed.

The Lord watches and is displeased, ⁸⁶ 

for there is no justice.

Jeremiah 5:1-9

Judah is Justly Deserving of Coming Judgment

5:1 The Lord said, ⁸⁷ 

“Go up and down ⁸⁸  through the streets of Jerusalem. ⁸⁹ 

Look around and see for yourselves.

Search through its public squares.

See if any of you can find a single person

who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. ⁹⁰ 

If you can, ⁹¹  then I will not punish this city. ⁹² 

5:2 These people make promises in the name of the Lord. ⁹³ 

But the fact is, ⁹⁴  what they swear to is really a lie.” ⁹⁵ 

5:3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness. ⁹⁶ 

But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. ⁹⁷ 

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

They have become as hardheaded as a rock. ⁹⁸ 

They refuse to change their ways. ⁹⁹ 

5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. ¹⁰⁰ 

They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. ¹⁰¹ 

They do not know what their God requires of them. ¹⁰² 

5:5 I will go to the leaders ¹⁰³ 

and speak with them.

Surely they know what the Lord demands. ¹⁰⁴ 

Surely they know what their God requires of them.” ¹⁰⁵ 

Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority

and refuse to submit to him. ¹⁰⁶ 

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. ¹⁰⁷ 

For they have rebelled so much

and done so many unfaithful things. ¹⁰⁸ 

5:7 The Lord asked, ¹⁰⁹ 

“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? ¹¹⁰ 

Your people ¹¹¹  have rejected me

and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. ¹¹² 

Even though I supplied all their needs, ¹¹³  they were like an unfaithful wife to me. ¹¹⁴ 

They went flocking ¹¹⁵  to the houses of prostitutes. ¹¹⁶ 

5:8 They are like lusty, well-fed ¹¹⁷  stallions.

Each of them lusts after ¹¹⁸  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!” ¹¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 7:8-9

7:8 “‘But just look at you! ¹²⁰  You are putting your confidence in a false belief ¹²¹  that will not deliver you. ¹²²  7:9 You steal. ¹²³  You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to ¹²⁴  other gods whom you have not previously known.

Micah 3:9-12

3:9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family ¹²⁵  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ¹²⁶  of Israel!

You ¹²⁷  hate justice

and pervert all that is right.

3:10 You ¹²⁸  build Zion through bloody crimes, ¹²⁹ 

Jerusalem ¹³⁰  through unjust violence.

3:11 Her ¹³¹  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ¹³² 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ¹³³  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ¹³⁴ 

Disaster will not overtake ¹³⁵  us!”

3:12 Therefore, because of you, ¹³⁶  Zion will be plowed up like ¹³⁷  a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount ¹³⁸  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ¹³⁹ 

Zephaniah 3:1-4

Jerusalem is Corrupt

3:1 The filthy, ¹⁴⁰  stained city is as good as dead;

the city filled with oppressors is finished! ¹⁴¹ 

3:2 She is disobedient; ¹⁴² 

she refuses correction. ¹⁴³ 

She does not trust the Lord;

she does not seek the advice of ¹⁴⁴  her God.

3:3 Her princes ¹⁴⁵  are as fierce as roaring lions; ¹⁴⁶ 

her rulers ¹⁴⁷  are as hungry as wolves in the desert, ¹⁴⁸ 

who completely devour their prey by morning. ¹⁴⁹ 

3:4 Her prophets are proud; ¹⁵⁰ 

they are deceitful men.

Her priests defile what is holy; ¹⁵¹ 

they break God’s laws. ¹⁵² 

[7:23]  ¹ tc The Hebrew word “the chain” occurs only here in the OT. The reading of the LXX (“and they will make carnage”) seems to imply a Hebrew text of ַהבַּתּוֹק (habbattoq, “disorder, slaughter”) instead of הָרַתּוֹק (haratoq, “the chain”). The LXX is also translating the verb as a third person plural future and taking this as the end of the preceding verse. As M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 1:154) notes, this may refer to a chain for a train of exiles but “the context does not speak of exile but of the city’s fall. The versions guess desperately and we can do little better.”

[7:23]  ² tn Heb “judgment for blood,” i.e., indictment or accountability for bloodshed. The word for “judgment” does not appear in the similar phrase in 9:9.

[22:2]  ³ tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment upon the city. See 20:4.

[22:2]  ⁴ tn The phrase “bloody city” is used of Nineveh in Nah 3:1.

[22:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “her time”; this refers to the time of impending judgment (see the note on “doom” in v. 4).

[22:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “you have brought near your days.” The expression “bring near your days” appears to be an adaptation of the idiom “days draw near,” which is used to indicate that an event, such as death, is imminent (see Gen 27:41; 47:29; Deut 31:14; 1 Kgs 2:1; Ezek 12:23). Here “your days” probably refers to the days of the personified city’s life, which was about to come to an end through God’s judgment.

[22:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and you have come to your years.” This appears to mean that she has arrived at the time when her years (i.e., life) would end, though it may mean that her years of punishment will begin. Because “day” and “time” are so closely associated in the immediate context (see 21:25, 29) some prefer to emend the text and read “you have brought near your time.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:31, as well as the translator’s note on verse 3.

[22:4]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verb is a prophetic perfect, emphasizing that the action is as good as done from the speaker’s perspective.

[22:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “unclean of name.”

[22:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Look! The princes of Israel, each according to his arm, were in you in order to shed blood.”

[22:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “treated lightly, cursed.”

[22:7]  ¹² tn Widows and orphans are often coupled together in the OT (Deut 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:19-21; 26:12-13; Jer 7:6; 22:3). They represented all who were poor and vulnerable to economic exploitation.

[22:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “men of slander are in you in order to shed blood.”

[22:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and on the mountains they eat within you.” The mountains mentioned here were the site of pagan sacrifices. See 18:6.

[22:9]  ¹⁵ sn This statement introduces vv. 10-11 and refers in general terms to the sexual sins described there. For the legal background of vv. 10-11, see Lev 18:7-20; 20:10-21; Deut 22:22-23, 30; 27:22.

[22:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the nakedness of a father one uncovers within you.” The ancient versions read the verb as plural (“they uncover”). If the singular is retained, it must be taken as indefinite and representative of the entire group. The idiomatic expression “uncover the nakedness” refers here to sexual intercourse (cf. Lev 18:6). To uncover a father’s nakedness could include sexual relations with one’s own mother (Lev 18:7), but more likely it refers to having intercourse with another wife of one’s father, such as a stepmother (Lev 18:8; cf. Gen 35:22; 49:4).

[22:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “(one who is) unclean due to the impurity they humble within you.” The use of the verb “to humble” suggests that these men forced themselves upon women during menstruation. Having sexual relations with a woman during her period was forbidden by the Law (Lev 18:19; 20:18).

[22:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a man.”

[22:11]  ¹⁹ tn The verb is the same one used in verse 10b and suggests forcible sexual violation of the woman.

[22:11]  ²⁰ sn Sexual relations with one’s half-sister may be primarily in view here. See Lev 18:9; 20:17.

[22:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “usury and interest you take.” See 18:13, 17. This kind of economic exploitation violated the law given in Lev 25:36.

[22:12]  ²² sn Forgetting the Lord is also addressed in Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14; Jer 3:21; 13:25; Ezek 23:35; Hos 2:15; 8:14; 13:6.

[22:12]  ²³ tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.

[22:25]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Heb “her widows they have multiplied.” The statement alludes to their murderous acts.

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

[22:26]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Heb “her prophets coat for themselves with whitewash.” The expression may be based on Ezek 13:10-15.

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

[22:30]  ³⁰ tn Heb “I did not find.”

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

[31:29]  ³² tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “totally.”

[31:29]  ³³ tn Heb “do the evil.”

[31:29]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the work of your hands.”

[32:5]  ³⁵ tc The 3rd person masculine singular שָׁחַת (shakhat) is rendered as 3rd person masculine plural by Smr, a reading supported by the plural suffix on מוּם (mum, “defect”) as well as the plural of בֵּן (ben, “sons”).

[32:5]  ³⁶ tn Heb “(they are) not his sons.”

[32:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “defect” (so NASB). This highly elliptical line suggests that Israel’s major fault was its failure to act like God’s people; in fact, they acted quite the contrary.

[32:5]  ³⁸ tn Heb “twisted,” “crooked.” See Ps 18:26.

[32:15]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ 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]  ⁴¹ tc Heb “with strange (things).” The Vulgate actually supplies diis (“gods”).

[32:16]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[32:18]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “I will hide my face from them.”

[32:20]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “sons” (so NAB, NASB); TEV “unfaithful people.”

[32:21]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “what is not a god,” or a “nondeity.”

[32:21]  ⁴⁹ 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]  ⁵⁰ 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]  ⁵¹ 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]  ⁵² 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.”

[32:2]  ⁵³ tn Or “mist,” “light drizzle.” In some contexts the term appears to refer to light rain, rather than dew.

[17:7]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “the hand of the witnesses.” This means the two or three witnesses are to throw the first stones (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[17:7]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”

[17:2]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “gates.”

[17:2]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the Lord your God.”

[1:15]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “selected”; Heb “took.”

[1:16]  ⁵⁹ 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]  ⁶⁰ 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]  ⁶¹ 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]  ⁶² tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”

[1:16]  ⁶³ tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”

[1:4]  ⁶⁴ sn Having summoned the witnesses and announced the Lord’s accusation against Israel, Isaiah mourns the nation’s impending doom. The third person references to the Lord in the second half of the verse suggest that the quotation from the Lord (cf. vv. 2-3) has concluded.

[1:4]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “Woe [to the] sinful nation.” The Hebrew term הוֹי, (hoy, “woe, ah”) was used in funeral laments (see 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5) and carries the connotation of death. In highly dramatic fashion the prophet acts out Israel’s funeral in advance, emphasizing that their demise is inevitable if they do not repent soon.

[1:4]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “sons” (NASB). The prophet contrasts four terms of privilege – nation, people, offspring, children – with four terms that depict Israel’s sinful condition in Isaiah’s day – sinful, evil, wrong, wicked (see J. A. Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah, 43).

[1:4]  ⁶⁷ sn Holy One of Israel is one of Isaiah’s favorite divine titles for God. It pictures the Lord as the sovereign king who rules over his covenant people and exercises moral authority over them.

[1:4]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “they are estranged backward.” The LXX omits this statement, which presents syntactical problems and seems to be outside the synonymous parallelistic structure of the verse.

[59:2]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”

[59:4]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”

[59:4]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”

[59:4]  ⁷² tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”

[59:5]  ⁷³ tn Heb “that which is pressed in hatches [as] a snake.”

[59:6]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “their deeds are deeds of sin, and the work of violence [is] in their hands.”

[59:7]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “their feet run to evil.”

[59:7]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “they quickly pour out innocent blood.”

[59:7]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “their thoughts are thoughts of sin, destruction and crushing [are] in their roadways.”

[59:8]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “a way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their pathways.”

[59:8]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “their paths they make crooked, everyone who walks in it does not know peace.”

[59:12]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “for many are our rebellious deeds before you.”

[59:12]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] our rebellious deeds (are) with us, and our sins, we know them.”

[59:13]  ⁸² tn Heb “speaking.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[59:13]  ⁸³ tn Heb “conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.”

[59:14]  ⁸⁴ tn Or “righteousness” (ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NAB “justice.”

[59:14]  ⁸⁵ tn Or “for” (KJV, NRSV).

[59:15]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “and it is displeasing in his eyes.”

[5:1]  ⁸⁷ tn These words are not in the text, but since the words at the end are obviously those of the Lord, they are supplied in the translation here to mark the shift in speaker from 4:29-31 where Jeremiah is the obvious speaker.

[5:1]  ⁸⁸ tn It is not clear who is being addressed here. The verbs are plural so they are not addressed to Jeremiah per se. Since the passage is talking about the people of Jerusalem, it is unlikely they are addressed here except perhaps rhetorically. Some have suggested that the heavenly court is being addressed here as in Job 1:6-8; 2:1-3. It is clear from Jer 23:18, 22; Amos 3:7 that the prophets had access to this heavenly counsel through visions (cf. 1 Kgs 22:19-23), so Jeremiah could have been privy to this speech through that means. Though these are the most likely addressee, it is too presumptuous to supply such an explicit addressee without clearer indication in the text. The translation will just have to run the risk of the probable erroneous assumption by most English readers that the addressee is Jeremiah.

[5:1]  ⁸⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:1]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “who does justice and seeks faithfulness.”

[5:1]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “squares. If you can find…if there is one person…then I will…”

[5:1]  ⁹² tn Heb “forgive [or pardon] it.”

[5:2]  ⁹³ tn Heb “Though they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives.” The idea of “swear on oath” comes from the second line.

[5:2]  ⁹⁴ tc The translation follows many Hebrew mss and the Syriac version in reading “surely” (אָכֵן, ’akhen) instead of “therefore” (לָכֵן, lakhen) in the MT.

[5:2]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “they swear falsely.”

[5:3]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “O Lord, are your eyes not to faithfulness?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[5:3]  ⁹⁷ 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]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “They made their faces as hard as a rock.”

[5:3]  ⁹⁹ tn Or “to repent”; Heb “to turn back.”

[5:4]  ¹⁰⁰ 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]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

[5:4]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

[5:5]  ¹⁰³ tn Or “people in power”; Heb “the great ones.”

[5:5]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

[5:5]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

[5:5]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “have broken the yoke and torn off the yoke ropes.” Compare Jer 2:20 and the note there.

[5:6]  ¹⁰⁷ 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]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Heb “their rebellions are so many and their unfaithful acts so numerous.”

[5:7]  ¹⁰⁹ tn These words are not in the text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking.

[5:7]  ¹¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “your children.”

[5:7]  ¹¹² tn Heb “and they have sworn [oaths] by not-gods.”

[5:7]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “I satisfied them to the full.”

[5:7]  ¹¹⁴ 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]  ¹¹⁵ 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]  ¹¹⁶ tn Heb “to a house of a prostitute.”

[5:8]  ¹¹⁷ 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]  ¹¹⁸ tn Heb “neighs after.”

[5:9]  ¹¹⁹ tn Heb “Should I not punish them…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions have the force of strong declarations.

[7:8]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “Behold!”

[7:8]  ¹²¹ tn Heb “You are trusting in lying words.” See the similar phrase in v. 4 and the note there.

[7:8]  ¹²² tn Heb “not profit [you].”

[7:9]  ¹²³ tn Heb “Will you steal…then say, ‘We are safe’?” Verses 9-10 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text.

[7:9]  ¹²⁴ tn Heb “You go/follow after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

[3:9]  ¹²⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[3:9]  ¹²⁶ tn Heb “house.”

[3:9]  ¹²⁷ tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10).

[3:10]  ¹²⁸ tn Heb “who.”

[3:10]  ¹²⁹ tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”

[3:10]  ¹³⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:11]  ¹³¹ sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11]  ¹³² tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11]  ¹³³ tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11]  ¹³⁴ tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

[3:11]  ¹³⁵ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

[3:12]  ¹³⁶ tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.

[3:12]  ¹³⁷ tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).

[3:12]  ¹³⁸ tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[3:12]  ¹³⁹ tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”

[3:1]  ¹⁴⁰ 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]  ¹⁴¹ 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]  ¹⁴² tn Heb “she does not hear a voice” Refusing to listen is equated with disobedience.

[3:2]  ¹⁴³ 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]  ¹⁴⁴ 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]  ¹⁴⁵ tn Or “officials.”

[3:3]  ¹⁴⁶ 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]  ¹⁴⁷ tn Traditionally “judges.”

[3:3]  ¹⁴⁸ 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]  ¹⁴⁹ 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]  ¹⁵⁰ 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]  ¹⁵¹ tn Or “defile the temple.”

[3:4]  ¹⁵² tn Heb “they treat violently [the] law.”