Isaiah 1:16-20

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.

1:20 But if you refuse and rebel,

you will be devoured ¹¹  by the sword.”

Know for certain that the Lord has spoken. ¹² 

Jeremiah 2:30

2:30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.

They did not respond to such correction.

You slaughtered your prophets

like a voracious lion.” ¹³ 

Jeremiah 5:3

5:3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness. ¹⁴ 

But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. ¹⁵ 

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

They have become as hardheaded as a rock. ¹⁶ 

They refuse to change their ways. ¹⁷ 

Ezekiel 24:13-14

24:13 You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct. ¹⁸ 

I tried to cleanse you, ¹⁹  but you are not clean.

You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness ²⁰ 

until I have exhausted my anger on you.

24:14 “‘I the Lord have spoken; judgment ²¹  is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry! ²²  I will judge you ²³  according to your conduct ²⁴  and your deeds, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Amos 4:6-12

4:6 “But surely I gave ²⁵  you no food to eat in any of your cities;

you lacked food everywhere you live. ²⁶ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:7 “I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest. ²⁷ 

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

One field ²⁸  would get rain, but the field that received no rain dried up.

4:8 People from ²⁹  two or three cities staggered into one city to get ³⁰  water,

but remained thirsty. ³¹ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:9 “I destroyed your crops ³²  with blight and disease.

Locusts kept ³³  devouring your orchards, ³⁴  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. ³⁵ 

I killed your young men with the sword,

along with the horses you had captured.

I made the stench from the corpses ³⁶  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 ³⁷  overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ³⁸ 

You were like a burning stick ³⁹  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! ⁴⁰ 

[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.”

[1:20]  ¹¹ sn The wordplay in the Hebrew draws attention to the options. The people can obey, in which case they will “eat” v. 19 (תֹּאכֵלוּ [to’khelu], Qal active participle of אָכַל) God’s blessing, or they can disobey, in which case they will be devoured (Heb “eaten,” תְּאֻכְּלוּ, [tÿ’ukkÿlu], Qal passive/Pual of אָכַל) by God’s judgment.

[1:20]  ¹² tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” The introductory כִּי (ki) may be asseverative (as reflected in the translation) or causal/explanatory, explaining why the option chosen by the people will become reality (it is guaranteed by the divine word).

[2:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “Your sword devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.” However, the reference to the sword in this and many similar idioms is merely idiomatic for death by violent means.

[5:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “O Lord, are your eyes not to faithfulness?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[5:3]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “They made their faces as hard as a rock.”

[5:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “to repent”; Heb “to turn back.”

[24:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in your uncleanness (is) obscene conduct.”

[24:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “because I cleansed you.” In this context (see especially the very next statement), the statement must refer to divine intention and purpose. Despite God’s efforts to cleanse his people, they resisted him and remained morally impure.

[24:13]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew text adds the word “again.”

[24:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “it”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:14]  ²² tn Or perhaps, “change my mind.”

[24:14]  ²³ tc Some medieval Hebrew mss and the major ancient versions read a first person verb here. Most Hebrew mss read have an indefinite subject, “they will judge you,” which could be translated, “you will be judged.”

[24:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “ways.”

[4:6]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ sn Rain…three months before the harvest refers to the rains of late March-early April.

[4:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “portion”; KJV, ASV “piece”; NASB “part.” The same word occurs a second time later in this verse.

[4:8]  ²⁹ tn The words “people from” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “to drink.”

[4:8]  ³¹ tn Or “were not satisfied.”

[4:9]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn Or “gardens.”

[4:10]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in the manner [or “way”] of Egypt.”

[4:10]  ³⁶ tn Heb “of your camps [or “armies”].”

[4:11]  ³⁷ tn Several English versions substitute the first person pronoun (“I”) here for stylistic reasons (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[4:11]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ tn Heb “like that which is burning.”

[4:12]  ⁴⁰ 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.