Hosea 8:13

8:13 They offer up sacrificial gifts to me,

and eat the meat,

but the Lord does not accept their sacrifices. ¹ 

Soon he will remember their wrongdoing,

he will punish their sins,

and they will return to Egypt.

Isaiah 1:11-15

1:11 “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?” ² 

says the Lord.

“I am stuffed with ³  burnt sacrifices

of rams and the fat from steers.

The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats

I do not want. ⁴ 

1:12 When you enter my presence,

do you actually think I want this –

animals trampling on my courtyards? ⁵ 

1:13 Do not bring any more meaningless ⁶  offerings;

I consider your incense detestable! ⁷ 

You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,

but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! ⁸ 

1:14 I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies;

they are a burden

that I am tired of carrying.

1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way; ⁹ 

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen,

because your hands are covered with blood. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 57:6

57:6 Among the smooth stones of the stream are the idols you love;

they, they are the object of your devotion. ¹¹ 

You pour out liquid offerings to them,

you make an offering.

Because of these things I will seek vengeance. ¹² 

Isaiah 66:3

66:3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; ¹³ 

the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; ¹⁴ 

the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; ¹⁵ 

the one who offers incense also praises an idol. ¹⁶ 

They have decided to behave this way; ¹⁷ 

they enjoy these disgusting practices. ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 6:20

6:20 I take no delight ¹⁹  when they offer up to me ²⁰ 

frankincense that comes from Sheba

or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land.

I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me.

I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.’ ²¹ 

Amos 4:4-5

Israel has an Appointment with God

4:4 “Go to Bethel ²²  and rebel! ²³ 

At Gilgal ²⁴  rebel some more!

Bring your sacrifices in ²⁵  the morning,

your tithes on ²⁶  the third day!

4:5 Burn a thank offering of bread made with yeast! ²⁷ 

Make a public display of your voluntary offerings! ²⁸ 

For you love to do this, you Israelites.”

The sovereign Lord is speaking!

Amos 5:22

5:22 Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, ²⁹  I will not be satisfied;

I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves. ³⁰ 

Malachi 1:9-10

1:9 But now plead for God’s favor ³¹  that he might be gracious to us. ³²  “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord who rules over all.

1:10 “I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, ³³  so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you.

[8:13]  ¹ tn Heb “does not accept them”; the referent (their sacrifices) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:11]  ² tn Heb “Why to me the multitude of your sacrifices?” The sarcastic rhetorical question suggests that their many sacrifices are of no importance to the Lord. This phrase answers the possible objection that an Israelite could raise in response to God’s indictment: “But we are offering the sacrifices you commanded!”

[1:11]  ³ tn The verb שָׂבַע (sava’, “be satisfied, full”) is often used of eating and/or drinking one’s fill. See BDB 959 s.v. שָׂבַע. Here sacrifices are viewed, in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion, as food for the deity. God here declares that he has eaten and drunk, as it were, his fill.

[1:11]  ⁴ sn In the chiastic structure of the verse, the verbs at the beginning and end highlight God’s displeasure, while the heaping up of references to animals, fat, and blood in the middle lines hints at why God wants no more of their sacrifices. They have, as it were, piled the food on his table and he needs no more.

[1:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “When you come to appear before me, who requires this from your hand, trampling of my courtyards?” The rhetorical question sarcastically makes the point that God does not require this parade of livestock. The verb “trample” probably refers to the eager worshipers and their sacrificial animals walking around in the temple area.

[1:13]  ⁶ tn Or “worthless” (NASB, NCV, CEV); KJV, ASV “vain.”

[1:13]  ⁷ sn Notice some of the other practices that Yahweh regards as “detestable”: homosexuality (Lev 18:22-30; 20:13), idolatry (Deut 7:25; 13:15), human sacrifice (Deut 12:31), eating ritually unclean animals (Deut 14:3-8), sacrificing defective animals (Deut 17:1), engaging in occult activities (Deut 18:9-14), and practicing ritual prostitution (1 Kgs 14:23).

[1:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “sin and assembly” (these two nouns probably represent a hendiadys). The point is that their attempts at worship are unacceptable to God because the people’s everyday actions in the socio-economic realm prove they have no genuine devotion to God (see vv. 16-17).

[1:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

[1:15]  ¹⁰ sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.

[57:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “among the smooth stones of the stream [is] your portion, they, they [are] your lot.” The next line indicates idols are in view.

[57:6]  ¹² tn The text reads literally, “Because of these am I relenting?” If the prefixed interrogative particle is retained at the beginning of the sentence, then the question would be rhetorical, with the Niphal of נָחָם (nakham) probably being used in the sense of “relent, change one’s mind.” One could translate: “Because of these things, how can I relent?” However, the initial letter he may be dittographic (note the final he [ה] on the preceding word). In this case one may understand the verb in the sense of “console oneself, seek vengeance,” as in 1:24.

[66:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “one who slaughters a bull, one who strikes down a man.” Some understand a comparison here and in the following lines. In God’s sight the one who sacrifices is like (i.e., regarded as) a murderer or one whose worship is ritually defiled or idolatrous. The translation above assumes that the language is not metaphorical, but descriptive of the sinners’ hypocritical behavior. (Note the last two lines of the verse, which suggests they are guilty of abominable practices.) On the one hand, they act pious and offer sacrifices; but at the same time they commit violent crimes against men, defile their sacrifices, and worship other gods.

[66:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “one who sacrifices a lamb, one who breaks a dog’s neck.” Some understand a comparison, but see the previous note.

[66:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “one who offers an offering, pig’s blood.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line.

[66:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “one who offers incense as a memorial offering, one who blesses something false.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line. אָוֶן (’aven), which has a wide variety of attested nuances, here refers metonymically to an idol. See HALOT 22 s.v. and BDB 20 s.v. 2.

[66:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “also they have chosen their ways.”

[66:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “their being [or “soul”] takes delight in their disgusting [things].”

[6:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “To what purpose is it to me?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

[6:20]  ²⁰ tn The words “when they offer up to me” are not in the text but are implicit from the following context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “Your burnt offerings are not acceptable and your sacrifices are not pleasing to me.” “The shift from “your” to “their” is an example of the figure of speech (apostrophe) where the speaker turns from talking about someone to addressing him/her directly. Though common in Hebrew style, it is not common in English. The shift to the third person in the translation is an accommodation to English style.

[4:4]  ²² sn Bethel and Gilgal were important formal worship centers because of their importance in Israel’s history. Here the Lord ironically urges the people to visit these places so they can increase their sin against him. Their formal worship, because it was not accompanied by social justice, only made them more guilty in God’s sight by adding hypocrisy to their list of sins. Obviously, theirs was a twisted view of the Lord. They worshiped a god of their own creation in order to satisfy their religious impulses (see 4:5: “For you love to do this”). Note that none of the rituals listed in 4:4-5 have to do with sin.

[4:4]  ²³ tn The Hebrew word translated “rebel” (also in the following line) could very well refer here to Israel’s violations of their covenant with God (see also the term “crimes” in 1:3 [with note] and the phrase “covenant transgressions” in 2:4 [with note]; 3:14).

[4:4]  ²⁴ sn See the note on Bethel earlier in this verse.

[4:4]  ²⁵ tn Or “for.”

[4:4]  ²⁶ tn Or “for.”

[4:5]  ²⁷ sn For the background of the thank offering of bread made with yeast, see Lev 7:13.

[4:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “proclaim voluntary offerings, announce.”

[5:22]  ²⁹ tn Heb “burnt offerings and your grain offerings.”

[5:22]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Peace offering[s], your fattened calves, I will not look at.”

[1:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “seek the face of God.”

[1:9]  ³² tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunction indicates purpose (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[1:10]  ³³ sn The rhetorical language suggests that as long as the priesthood and people remain disobedient, the temple doors may as well be closed because God is not “at home” to receive them or their worship there.