Isaiah 1:20

1:20 But if you refuse and rebel,

you will be devoured ¹  by the sword.”

Know for certain that the Lord has spoken. ² 

Isaiah 58:14

58:14 Then you will find joy in your relationship to the Lord, ³ 

and I will give you great prosperity, ⁴ 

and cause crops to grow on the land I gave to your ancestor Jacob.” ⁵ 

Know for certain that the Lord has spoken. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 9:12

9:12 I said, ⁷ 

“Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened? ⁸ 

Who has a word from the Lord that can explain it? ⁹ 

Why does the land lie in ruins?

Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?”

Micah 4:4

4:4 Each will sit under his own grapevine

or under his own fig tree without any fear. ¹⁰ 

The Lord who commands armies has decreed it. ¹¹ 

[1:20]  ¹ 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]  ² 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).

[58:14]  ³ tn For a parallel use of the phrase “find joy in” (Hitpael of עָנַג [’anag] followed by the preposition עַל [’al]), see Ps 37:4.

[58:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I will cause you to ride upon the heights of the land.” The statement seems to be an allusion to Deut 32:13, where it is associated, as here, with God’s abundant provision of food.

[58:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I will cause you to eat the inheritance of Jacob your father.” The Hebrew term נַחֲלָה (nakhalah) likely stands by metonymy for the crops that grow on Jacob’s “inheritance” (i.e., the land he inherited as a result of God’s promise).

[58:14]  ⁶ 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 preceding promise will become reality (because it is guaranteed by the divine word).

[9:12]  ⁷ tn The words, “I said” are not in the text. It is not clear that a shift in speaker has taken place. However, the words of the verse are very unlikely to be a continuation of the Lord’s threat. It is generally assumed that these are the words of Jeremiah and that a dialogue is going on between him and the Lord in vv. 9-14. That assumption is accepted here.

[9:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “Who is the wise man that he may understand this?”

[9:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “And [who is the man] to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken that he may explain it?”

[4:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and there will be no one making [him] afraid.”

[4:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.”