Genesis 9:4

9:4 But ¹  you must not eat meat ²  with its life (that is, ³  its blood) in it. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 18:19

18:19 I will personally hold responsible ⁵  anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet ⁶  speaks in my name.

Deuteronomy 18:1

Provision for Priests and Levites

18:1 The Levitical priests ⁷  – indeed, the entire tribe of Levi – will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. ⁸ 

Deuteronomy 20:16

Laws Concerning War with Canaanite Nations

20:16 As for the cities of these peoples that ⁹  the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing ¹⁰  to survive.

Deuteronomy 20:2

20:2 As you move forward for battle, the priest ¹¹  will approach and say to the soldiers, ¹² 

Deuteronomy 24:22

24:22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt; therefore, I am commanding you to do all this.

Psalms 10:13-14

10:13 Why does the wicked man reject God? ¹³ 

He says to himself, ¹⁴  “You ¹⁵  will not hold me accountable.” ¹⁶ 

10:14 You have taken notice, ¹⁷ 

for ¹⁸  you always see ¹⁹  one who inflicts pain and suffering. ²⁰ 

The unfortunate victim entrusts his cause to you; ²¹ 

you deliver ²²  the fatherless. ²³ 

Ezekiel 3:18

3:18 When I say to the wicked, “You will certainly die,” ²⁴  and you do not warn him – you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked deed and wicked lifestyle so that he may live – that wicked person will die for his iniquity, ²⁵  but I will hold you accountable for his death. ²⁶ 

Ezekiel 33:6

33:6 But suppose the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. Then the sword comes and takes one of their lives. He is swept away for his iniquity, ²⁷  but I will hold the watchman accountable for that person’s death.’ ²⁸ 

Ezekiel 33:8

33:8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you must certainly die,’ ²⁹  and you do not warn ³⁰  the wicked about his behavior, ³¹  the wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death. ³² 

[9:4]  ¹ tn Heb “only.”

[9:4]  ² tn Or “flesh.”

[9:4]  ³ tn Heb “its life, its blood.” The second word is in apposition to the first, explaining what is meant by “its life.” Since the blood is equated with life, meat that had the blood in it was not to be eaten.

[9:4]  ⁴ tn The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[18:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “will seek from him”; NAB “I myself will make him answer for it”; NRSV “will hold accountable.”

[18:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet mentioned in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ⁷ tn The MT places the terms “priests” and “Levites” in apposition, thus creating an epexegetical construction in which the second term qualifies the first, i.e., “Levitical priests.” This is a way of asserting their legitimacy as true priests. The Syriac renders “to the priest and to the Levite,” making a distinction between the two, but one that is out of place here.

[18:1]  ⁸ sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the Lord will give to his people. It is the Lord’s inheritance, but the Levites are allowed to eat it since they themselves have no inheritance among the other tribes of Israel.

[20:16]  ⁹ tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is “cities.”

[20:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “any breath.”

[20:2]  ¹¹ sn The reference to the priest suggests also the presence of the ark of the covenant, the visible sign of God’s presence. The whole setting is clearly that of “holy war” or “Yahweh war,” in which God himself takes initiative as the true commander of the forces of Israel (cf. Exod 14:14-18; 15:3-10; Deut 3:22; 7:18-24; 31:6, 8).

[20:2]  ¹² tn Heb “and he will say to the people.” Cf. NIV, NCV, CEV “the army”; NRSV, NLT “the troops.”

[10:13]  ¹³ tn The rhetorical question expresses the psalmist’s outrage that the wicked would have the audacity to disdain God.

[10:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he says in his heart” (see vv. 6, 11). Another option is to understand an ellipsis of the interrogative particle here (cf. the preceding line), “Why does he say in his heart?”

[10:13]  ¹⁵ tn Here the wicked man addresses God directly.

[10:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “you will not seek.” The verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as generalizing about what is typical and translate, “you do not hold [people] accountable.”

[10:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you see.” One could translate the perfect as generalizing, “you do take notice.”

[10:14]  ¹⁸ tn If the preceding perfect is taken as generalizing, then one might understand כִּי (ki) as asseverative: “indeed, certainly.”

[10:14]  ¹⁹ tn Here the imperfect emphasizes God’s typical behavior.

[10:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “destruction and suffering,” which here refers metonymically to the wicked, who dish out pain and suffering to their victims.

[10:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “to give into your hand, upon you, he abandons, [the] unfortunate [one].” The syntax is awkward and the meaning unclear. It is uncertain who or what is being given into God’s hand. Elsewhere the idiom “give into the hand” means to deliver into one’s possession. If “to give” goes with what precedes (as the accentuation of the Hebrew text suggests), then this may refer to the wicked man being delivered over to God for judgment. The present translation assumes that “to give” goes with what follows (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). The verb יַעֲזֹב (ya’azov) here has the nuance “entrust” (see Gen 39:6; Job 39:11); the direct object (“[his] cause”) is implied.

[10:14]  ²² tn Or “help.”

[10:14]  ²³ tn Heb “[for] one who is fatherless, you are a deliverer.” The noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9).

[3:18]  ²⁴ sn Even though the infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the warning, the warning is still implicitly conditional, as the following context makes clear.

[3:18]  ²⁵ tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and v. 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”

[3:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “his blood I will seek from your hand.” The expression “seek blood from the hand” is equivalent to requiring the death penalty (2 Sam 4:11-12).

[33:6]  ²⁷ tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in vv. 8 and 9; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.

[33:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.”

[33:8]  ²⁹ tn The same expression occurs in Gen 2:17.

[33:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and you do not speak to warn.”

[33:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “way.”

[33:8]  ³² tn Heb “and his blood from your hand I will seek.”