Hosea 6:5

6:5 Therefore, I will certainly cut ¹  you into pieces at the hands of the prophets; ² 

I will certainly kill you ³  in fulfillment of my oracles of judgment; ⁴ 

for ⁵  my judgment ⁶  will come forth like the light of the dawn. ⁷ 

Isaiah 1:5

1:5 ⁸ Why do you insist on being battered?

Why do you continue to rebel? ⁹ 

Your head has a massive wound, ¹⁰ 

your whole body is weak. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 5:3

5:3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness. ¹² 

But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. ¹³ 

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

They have become as hardheaded as a rock. ¹⁴ 

They refuse to change their ways. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 25:3-7

25:3 “For the last twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was ruling in Judah ¹⁶  until now, the Lord has been speaking to me. I told you over and over again ¹⁷  what he said. ¹⁸  But you would not listen. 25:4 Over and over again ¹⁹  the Lord has sent ²⁰  his servants the prophets to you. But you have not listened or paid attention. ²¹  25:5 He said through them, ²²  ‘Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and stop doing the evil things you are doing. ²³  If you do, I will allow you to continue to live here in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors as a lasting possession. ²⁴  25:6 Do not pay allegiance to ²⁵  other gods and worship and serve them. Do not make me angry by the things that you do. ²⁶  Then I will not cause you any harm.’ 25:7 So, now the Lord says, ²⁷  ‘You have not listened to me. But ²⁸  you have made me angry by the things that you have done. ²⁹  Thus you have brought harm on yourselves.’

Amos 4:6-12

4:6 “But surely I gave ³⁰  you no food to eat in any of your cities;

you lacked food everywhere you live. ³¹ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:7 “I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest. ³² 

I gave rain to one city, but not to another.

One field ³³  would get rain, but the field that received no rain dried up.

4:8 People from ³⁴  two or three cities staggered into one city to get ³⁵  water,

but remained thirsty. ³⁶ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:9 “I destroyed your crops ³⁷  with blight and disease.

Locusts kept ³⁸  devouring your orchards, ³⁹  vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:10 “I sent against you a plague like one of the Egyptian plagues. ⁴⁰ 

I killed your young men with the sword,

along with the horses you had captured.

I made the stench from the corpses ⁴¹  rise up into your nostrils.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:11 “I overthrew some of you the way God ⁴²  overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ⁴³ 

You were like a burning stick ⁴⁴  snatched from the flames.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel.

Because I will do this to you,

prepare to meet your God, Israel! ⁴⁵ 

Zephaniah 3:1-2

Jerusalem is Corrupt

3:1 The filthy, ⁴⁶  stained city is as good as dead;

the city filled with oppressors is finished! ⁴⁷ 

3:2 She is disobedient; ⁴⁸ 

she refuses correction. ⁴⁹ 

She does not trust the Lord;

she does not seek the advice of ⁵⁰  her God.

Revelation 3:19

3:19 All those ⁵¹  I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent!

[6:5]  ¹ tn The two suffix conjugation verbs חָצַבְתִּי (khatsavti, Qal perfect 1st person common singular from חָצַב, khatsav, “to cut into pieces”) and הֲרַגְתִּים (haragtim, Qal perfect 1st person common singular + 3rd person masculine plural suffix from הָרַג, harag, “to kill”) are used in reference to future-time events. These are examples of the so-called “prophetic perfect” which emphasizes the certainty of the future event (e.g., Num 24:17; Josh 10:19; Isa 8:23; 9:1). For this function of the perfect, see IBHS 480-81 §30.1d. Most English versions, however, render these as past tenses.

[6:5]  ² tn Heb “by the prophets” (so KJV, NRSV). The prophets are pictured as the executioners of Israel and Judah because they announced their imminent destruction. The prophetic word was endowed with the power of fulfillment.

[6:5]  ³ tn Heb “them.” The shift from the 2nd person masculine singular referents (“your” and “you”) in 6:4-5 to the 3rd person masculine plural referent (“them”) is an example of enallage, a poetic device used for emphasis.

[6:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “with the words of my mouth” (so NIV); TEV “with my message of judgment and destruction.”

[6:5]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive vav prefixed to the noun (וּמִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ, umishpatekha) has an explanatory function.

[6:5]  ⁶ tc The MT reads וּמִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ אוֹר יֵצֵא (umishpatekha ’or yetse’, “and your judgments [are] a light [which] goes forth”) which is enigmatic and syntactically awkward (cf. KJV, NASB). The LXX reads καὶ τὸ κρίμα μου ὡς φώς (kai to krima mou {ws fos, “my judgment goes forth like light”) which reflects וּמִשְׁפָּטִי כָאוֹר יֵצֵא (umishpati kha’or yetse’, “my judgment goes forth like the light”) and posits only a simple misdivision of words. This is reflected in the Syriac Peshitta and Aramaic Targum and is followed by the present translation (so also NCV, NRSV). See D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:238.

[6:5]  ⁷ tn The noun אוֹר (’or, “light”) is used here in reference to the morning light or dawn (e.g., Judg 16:2; 19:26; 1 Sam 14:36; 25:34, 36; 2 Sam 17:22; 23:4; 2 Kgs 7:9; Neh 8:3; Job 24:14; Prov 4:18; Mic 2:1; cf. CEV, NLT) rather than lightning (cf. NIV). This continues the early morning imagery used throughout 6:2-5.

[1:5]  ⁸ sn In vv. 5-9 Isaiah addresses the battered nation (5-8) and speaks as their representative (9).

[1:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “Why are you still beaten? [Why] do you continue rebellion?” The rhetorical questions express the prophet’s disbelief over Israel’s apparent masochism and obsession with sin. The interrogative construction in the first line does double duty in the parallelism. H. Wildberger (Isaiah, 1:18) offers another alternative by translating the two statements with one question: “Why do you still wish to be struck that you persist in revolt?”

[1:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all the head is ill”; NRSV “the whole head is sick”; CEV “Your head is badly bruised.”

[1:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and all the heart is faint.” The “heart” here stands for bodily strength and energy, as suggested by the context and usage elsewhere (see Jer 8:18; Lam 1:22).

[5:3]  ¹² tn Heb “O Lord, are your eyes not to faithfulness?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[5:3]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “They made their faces as hard as a rock.”

[5:3]  ¹⁵ tn Or “to repent”; Heb “to turn back.”

[25:3]  ¹⁶ sn The year referred to would be 627 b.c. The same year is referred to in 1:2 in reference to his call to be a prophet.

[25:3]  ¹⁷ tn For the idiom involved here see the notes at 7:13 and 11:7.

[25:3]  ¹⁸ tn The words “what he said” are not in the text but are implicit. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[25:4]  ¹⁹ tn For the idiom involved here see the notes at 7:13 and 11:7.

[25:4]  ²⁰ tn The vav consecutive with the perfect in a past narrative is a little unusual. Here it is probably indicating repeated action in past time in keeping with the idiom that precedes and follows it. See GKC 332 §112.f for other possible examples.

[25:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “inclined your ear to hear.” This is idiomatic for “paying attention.” It is often parallel with “listen” as here or with “pay attention” (see, e.g., Prov 4:20; 51:1).

[25:5]  ²² tn Heb “saying.” The infinitive goes back to “he sent”; i.e., “he sent, saying.”

[25:5]  ²³ tn Heb “Turn [masc. pl.] each person from his wicked way and from the evil of your [masc. pl.] doings.” See the same demand in 23:22.

[25:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “gave to you and your fathers with reference to from ancient times even unto forever.” See the same idiom in 7:7.

[25:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “follow after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for this idiom.

[25:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “make me angry with the work of your hands.” The term “work of your own hands” is often interpreted as a reference to idolatry as is clearly the case in Isa 2:8; 37:19. However, the parallelism in 25:14 and the context in 32:30 show that it is more general and refers to what they have done. That is likely the meaning here as well.

[25:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[25:7]  ²⁸ tn This is a rather clear case where the Hebrew particle לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) introduces a consequence and not a purpose, contrary to the dictum of BDB 775 s.v. מַעַן note 1. They have not listened to him in order to make him angry but with the result that they have made him angry by going their own way. Jeremiah appears to use this particle for result rather than purpose on several other occasions (see, e.g., 7:18, 19; 27:10, 15; 32:29).

[25:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “make me angry with the work of your hands.” The term “work of your own hands” is often interpreted as a reference to idolatry as is clearly the case in Isa 2:8; 37:19. However, the parallelism in 25:14 and the context in 32:30 show that it is more general and refers to what they have done. That is likely the meaning here as well.

[4:6]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic (pronoun + verb). It underscores the stark contrast between the judgments that the Lord had been sending with the God of blessing Israel was celebrating in its worship (4:4-5).

[4:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “But I gave to you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of food in all your places.” The phrase “cleanness of teeth” is a vivid way of picturing the famine Israel experienced.

[4:7]  ³² sn Rain…three months before the harvest refers to the rains of late March-early April.

[4:7]  ³³ tn Heb “portion”; KJV, ASV “piece”; NASB “part.” The same word occurs a second time later in this verse.

[4:8]  ³⁴ tn The words “people from” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “to drink.”

[4:8]  ³⁶ tn Or “were not satisfied.”

[4:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “you.” By metonymy the crops belonging to these people are meant. See the remainder of this verse, which describes the agricultural devastation caused by locusts.

[4:9]  ³⁸ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct is taken adverbially (“kept”) and connected to the activity of the locusts (NJPS). It also could be taken with the preceding sentence and related to the Lord’s interventions (“I kept destroying,” cf. NEB, NJB, NIV, NRSV), or it could be understood substantivally in construct with the following nouns (“Locusts devoured your many orchards,” cf. NASB; cf. also KJV, NKJV).

[4:9]  ³⁹ tn Or “gardens.”

[4:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “in the manner [or “way”] of Egypt.”

[4:10]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “of your camps [or “armies”].”

[4:11]  ⁴² tn Several English versions substitute the first person pronoun (“I”) here for stylistic reasons (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[4:11]  ⁴³ tn Heb “like God’s overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.” The divine name may be used in an idiomatic superlative sense here, in which case one might translate, “like the great [or “disastrous”] overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.”

[4:11]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “like that which is burning.”

[4:12]  ⁴⁵ tn The Lord appears to announce a culminating judgment resulting from Israel’s obstinate refusal to repent. The following verse describes the Lord in his role as sovereign judge, but it does not outline the judgment per se. For this reason F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman (Amos [AB], 450) take the prefixed verbal forms as preterites referring to the series of judgments detailed in vv. 6-11. It is more likely that a coming judgment is in view, but that its details are omitted for rhetorical effect, creating a degree of suspense (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 149-50) that will find its solution in chapter 5. This line is an ironic conclusion to the section begun at 4:4. Israel thought they were meeting the Lord at the sanctuaries, yet they actually had misunderstood how he had been trying to bring them back to himself. Now Israel would truly meet the Lord – not at the sanctuaries, but face-to-face in judgment.

[3:1]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “she does not hear a voice” Refusing to listen is equated with disobedience.

[3:2]  ⁴⁹ 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]  ⁵⁰ 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).

[3:19]  ⁵¹ tn The Greek pronoun ὅσος (Josos) means “as many as” and can be translated “All those” or “Everyone.”