Isaiah 1:16-19

1:16 ¹ Wash! Cleanse yourselves!

Remove your sinful deeds ² 

from my sight.

Stop sinning!

1:17 Learn to do what is right!

Promote justice!

Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! ³ 

Take up the cause of the orphan!

Defend the rights of the widow! ⁴ 

1:18 ⁵ Come, let’s consider your options,” ⁶  says the Lord.

“Though your sins have stained you like the color red,

you can become ⁷  white like snow;

though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet,

you can become ⁸  white like wool. ⁹ 

1:19 If you have a willing attitude and obey, ¹⁰ 

then you will again eat the good crops of the land.

Isaiah 26:7-8

God’s People Anticipate Vindication

26:7 ¹¹ The way of the righteous is level,

the path of the righteous that you make is straight. ¹² 

26:8 Yes, as your judgments unfold, ¹³ 

O Lord, we wait for you.

We desire your fame and reputation to grow. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 55:7

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ¹⁵ 

and sinful people their plans. ¹⁶ 

They should return ¹⁷  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ¹⁸ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 24:4-6

24:4 The one whose deeds are blameless

and whose motives are pure, ²⁰ 

who does not lie, ²¹ 

or make promises with no intention of keeping them. ²² 

24:5 Such godly people are rewarded by the Lord, ²³ 

and vindicated by the God who delivers them. ²⁴ 

24:6 Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor,

Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him. ²⁵  (Selah)

Psalms 50:23

50:23 Whoever presents a thank-offering honors me. ²⁶ 

To whoever obeys my commands, I will reveal my power to deliver.” ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 7:3-11

7:3 The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ²⁸  says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right. ²⁹  If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land. ³⁰  7:4 Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, ³¹  “We are safe! ³²  The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!” ³³  7:5 You must change ³⁴  the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. ³⁵  7:6 Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. ³⁶  Stop killing innocent people ³⁷  in this land. Stop paying allegiance to ³⁸  other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. ³⁹  7:7 If you stop doing these things, ⁴⁰  I will allow you to continue to live in this land ⁴¹  which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession. ⁴² 

7:8 “‘But just look at you! ⁴³  You are putting your confidence in a false belief ⁴⁴  that will not deliver you. ⁴⁵  7:9 You steal. ⁴⁶  You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to ⁴⁷  other gods whom you have not previously known. 7:10 Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own ⁴⁸  and say, “We are safe!” You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins! ⁴⁹  7:11 Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own ⁵⁰  is to be a hideout for robbers? ⁵¹  You had better take note! ⁵²  I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord.

Malachi 4:4

Restoration through the Lord

4:4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb ⁵³  I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey. ⁵⁴ 

Matthew 3:2

3:2 “Repent, ⁵⁵  for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

John 7:17

7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will, ⁵⁶  he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority. ⁵⁷ 

[1:16]  ¹ sn Having demonstrated the people’s guilt, the Lord calls them to repentance, which will involve concrete action in the socio-economic realm, not mere emotion.

[1:16]  ² sn This phrase refers to Israel’s covenant treachery (cf. Deut 28:10; Jer 4:4; 21:12; 23:2, 22; 25:5; 26:3; 44:22; Hos 9:15; Ps 28:4). In general, the noun ַמעַלְלֵיכֶם (ma’alleykhem) can simply be a reference to deeds, whether good or bad. However, Isaiah always uses it with a negative connotation (cf. 3:8, 10).

[1:17]  ³ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The translation assumes an emendation of חָמוֹץ (khamots, “oppressor [?]”) to חָמוּץ (khamuts, “oppressed”), a passive participle from II חָמַץ (khamats, “oppress”; HALOT 329 s.v. II חמץ) and takes the verb II אָשַׁר (’ashar) in the sense of “make happy” (the delocutive Piel, meaning “call/pronounce happy,” is metonymic here, referring to actually effecting happiness). The parallelism favors this interpretation, for the next two lines speak of positive actions on behalf of the destitute. The other option is to retain the MT pointing and translate, “set right the oppressor,” but the nuance “set right” is not clearly attested elsewhere for the verb I אשׁר. This verb does appear as a participle in Isa 3:12 and 9:16 with the meaning “to lead or guide.” If it can mean to “lead” or “rebuke/redirect” in this verse, the prophet could be contrasting this appeal for societal reformation (v. 17c) with a command to reorder their personal lives (v. 17a-b). J. A. Motyer (The Prophecy of Isaiah, 47) suggests that these three statements (v. 17a-c) provide “the contrast between the two ends of imperfect society, the oppressor and the needy, the one inflicting and the other suffering the hurt. Isaiah looks for a transformed society wherever it needs transforming.”

[1:17]  ⁴ tn This word refers to a woman who has lost her husband, by death or divorce. The orphan and widow are often mentioned in the OT as epitomizing the helpless and impoverished who have been left without the necessities of life due to the loss of a family provider.

[1:18]  ⁵ sn The Lord concludes his case against Israel by offering them the opportunity to be forgiven and by setting before them the alternatives of renewed blessing (as a reward for repentance) and final judgment (as punishment for persistence in sin).

[1:18]  ⁶ tn Traditionally, “let us reason together,” but the context suggests a judicial nuance. The Lord is giving the nation its options for the future.

[1:18]  ⁷ tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.

[1:18]  ⁸ tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.

[1:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “though your sins are like red, they will become white like snow; though they are red like scarlet, they will be like wool.” The point is not that the sins will be covered up, though still retained. The metaphorical language must be allowed some flexibility and should not be pressed into a rigid literalistic mold. The people’s sins will be removed and replaced by ethical purity. The sins that are now as obvious as the color red will be washed away and the ones who are sinful will be transformed.

[1:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “listen”; KJV “obedient”; NASB “If you consent and obey.”

[26:7]  ¹¹ sn The literary structure of chap. 26 is not entirely clear. The chapter begins with an eschatological song of praise and ends with a lament and prophetic response (vv. 16-21). It is not certain where the song of praise ends or how vv. 7-15 fit into the structure. Verses 10-11a seem to lament the presence of evil and v. 11b anticipates the arrival of judgment, so it is possible that vv. 7-15 are a prelude to the lament and announcement that conclude the chapter.

[26:7]  ¹² tc The Hebrew text has, “upright, the path of the righteous you make level.” There are three possible ways to translate this line. Some take יָשָׁר (yashar) as a divine title: “O Upright One” (cf. NASB, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, NLT). Others regard יָשָׁר as the result of dittography (מֵישָׁרִים יָשָׁר ַמעְגַּל, mesharim yashar ma’gal) and do not include it in the translation. Another possibility is to keep יָשָׁר and render the line as “the path of the righteous that you prepare is straight.”

[26:8]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text has, “yes, the way of your judgments.” The translation assumes that “way” is related to the verb “we wait” as an adverbial accusative (“in the way of your judgments we wait”). מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ (mishpatekha, “your judgments”) could refer to the Lord’s commandments, in which case one might translate, “as we obey your commands.” However, in verse 9 the same form refers to divine acts of judgment on evildoers.

[26:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your name and your remembrance [is] the desire of [our?] being.”

[55:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ¹⁸ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ¹⁹ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

[24:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the innocent of hands and the pure of heart.” The “hands” allude to one’s actions, the “heart” to one’s thought life and motives.

[24:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “who does not lift up for emptiness my life.” The first person pronoun on נַפְשִׁי (nafshiy, “my life”) makes little sense here; many medieval Hebrew mss support the ancient versions in reading a third person pronoun “his.” The idiom “lift the life” here means to “long for” or “desire strongly.” In this context (note the reference to an oath in the following line) “emptiness” probably refers to speech (see Ps 12:2).

[24:4]  ²² tn Heb “and does not swear an oath deceitfully.”

[24:5]  ²³ tn Heb “he (the righteous individual described in v. 4) lifts up a blessing from the Lord.” The singular subject is representative here, as v. 6 makes clear. The referent (godly people like the individual in v. 4) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The imperfect verbal form is generalizing; such people are typically rewarded for their deeds.

[24:5]  ²⁴ tn “and vindication from the God of his deliverance.”

[24:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “this [is the] generation of the ones seeking him, the ones seeking your face, Jacob.” To “seek the Lord’s face” means to seek his favor through prayer (see 2 Sam 21:1; Pss 27:8; 105:4).

[50:23]  ²⁶ sn The reference to a thank-offering recalls the earlier statement made in v. 14. Gratitude characterizes genuine worship.

[50:23]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and [to one who] sets a way I will show the deliverance of God.” Elsewhere the phrase “set a way” simply means “to travel” (see Gen 30:36; cf. NRSV). The present translation assumes an emendation of וְשָׂם דֶּרֶךְ (vÿsam derekh) to וְשֹׁמֵר דְּרָכַּי (vÿshomer dÿrakhay, “and [the one who] keeps my ways” [i.e., commands, see Pss 18:21; 37:34). Another option is to read וְשֹׁמֵר דַּרְכּוֹ (vÿshomer darko, “and [the one who] guards his way,” i.e., “the one who is careful to follow a godly lifestyle”; see Ps 39:1).

[7:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God Israel.”

[7:3]  ²⁹ tn Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” J. Bright’s translation (“Reform the whole pattern of your conduct”; Jeremiah [AB], 52) is excellent.

[7:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “place” but this might be misunderstood to refer to the temple.

[7:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “Stop trusting in lying words which say.”

[7:4]  ³² tn The words “We are safe!” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:4]  ³³ tn Heb “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these (i.e., these buildings).” Elsewhere triple repetition seems to mark a kind of emphasis (cf. Isa 6:3; Jer 22:29; Ezek 21:27 [32 HT]). The triple repetition that follows seems to be Jeremiah’s way of mocking the (false) sense of security that people had in the invincibility of Jerusalem because God dwelt in the temple. They appeared to be treating the temple as some kind of magical charm. A similar feeling had grown up around the ark in the time of the judges (cf. 1 Sam 3:3) and the temple and city of Jerusalem in Micah’s day (cf. Mic 3:11). It is reflected also in some of the Psalms (cf., e.g., Ps 46, especially v. 5).

[7:5]  ³⁴ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[7:5]  ³⁵ tn Heb “you must do justice between a person and his fellow/neighbor.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[7:6]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Stop oppressing foreigner, orphan, and widow.”

[7:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Stop shedding innocent blood.”

[7:6]  ³⁸ tn Heb “going/following after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

[7:6]  ³⁹ tn Heb “going after other gods to your ruin.”

[7:7]  ⁴⁰ tn The translation uses imperatives in vv. 5-6 followed by the phrase, “If you do all this,” to avoid the long and complex sentence structure of the Hebrew sentence which has a series of conditional clauses in vv. 5-6 followed by a main clause in v. 7.

[7:7]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “live in this place, in this land.”

[7:7]  ⁴² tn Heb “gave to your fathers [with reference to] from ancient times even unto forever.”

[7:8]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Behold!”

[7:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “You are trusting in lying words.” See the similar phrase in v. 4 and the note there.

[7:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “not profit [you].”

[7:9]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Will you steal…then say, ‘We are safe’?” Verses 9-10 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text.

[7:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “You go/follow after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

[7:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.

[7:10]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “‘We are safe!’ – safe, you think, to go on doing all those hateful things.” Verses 9-10 are all one long sentence in the Hebrew text. It has been broken up for English stylistic reasons. Somewhat literally it reads “Will you steal…then come and stand…and say, ‘We are safe’ so as to/in order to do…” The Hebrew of v. 9 has a series of infinitives which emphasize the bare action of the verb without the idea of time or agent. The effect is to place a kind of staccato like emphasis on the multitude of their sins all of which are violations of one of the Ten Commandments. The final clause in v. 8 expresses purpose or result (probably result) through another infinitive. This long sentence is introduced by a marker (ה interrogative in Hebrew) introducing a rhetorical question in which God expresses his incredulity that they could do these sins, come into the temple and claim the safety of his protection, and then go right back out and commit the same sins. J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 52) catches the force nicely: “What? You think you can steal, murder…and then come and stand…and say, ‘We are safe…’ just so that you can go right on…”

[7:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.

[7:11]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “Is this house…a den/cave of robbers in your eyes?”

[7:11]  ⁵² tn Heb “Behold!”

[4:4]  ⁵³ sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (cf. Exod 3:1).

[4:4]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “which I commanded him in Horeb concerning all Israel, statutes and ordinances.”

[3:2]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “and saying, ‘Repent.’” The participle λέγων (legwn) at the beginning of v. 2 is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[7:17]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “his will.”

[7:17]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “or whether I speak from myself.”