Isaiah 1:29

1:29 Indeed, they ¹  will be ashamed of the sacred trees

you ²  find so desirable;

you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards ³ 

where you choose to worship.

Isaiah 2:18-21

2:18 The worthless idols will be completely eliminated. ⁴ 

2:19 They ⁵  will go into caves in the rocky cliffs

and into holes in the ground, ⁶ 

trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord ⁷ 

and his royal splendor,

when he rises up to terrify the earth. ⁸ 

2:20 At that time ⁹  men will throw

their silver and gold idols,

which they made for themselves to worship, ¹⁰ 

into the caves where rodents and bats live, ¹¹ 

2:21 so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs

and the openings under the rocky overhangs, ¹² 

trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord ¹³ 

and his royal splendor,

when he rises up to terrify the earth. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 27:9

27:9 So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven, ¹⁵ 

and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: ¹⁶ 

They will make all the stones of the altars ¹⁷ 

like crushed limestone,

and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 30:22

30:22 You will desecrate your silver-plated idols ¹⁹ 

and your gold-plated images. ²⁰ 

You will throw them away as if they were a menstrual rag,

saying to them, “Get out!”

Isaiah 30:2

30:2 They travel down to Egypt

without seeking my will, ²¹ 

seeking Pharaoh’s protection,

and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ²² 

Isaiah 34:6-7

34:6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood,

it is covered ²³  with fat;

it drips ²⁴  with the blood of young rams and goats

and is covered ²⁵  with the fat of rams’ kidneys.

For the Lord is holding a sacrifice ²⁶  in Bozrah, ²⁷ 

a bloody ²⁸  slaughter in the land of Edom.

34:7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered ²⁹  along with them,

as well as strong bulls. ³⁰ 

Their land is drenched with blood,

their soil is covered with fat.

Ezekiel 36:25

36:25 I will sprinkle you with pure water ³¹  and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols.

Hosea 14:8

14:8 O Ephraim, I do not want to have anything to do ³²  with idols anymore!

I will answer him and care for him.

I am like ³³  a luxuriant cypress tree; ³⁴ 

your fruitfulness comes from me! ³⁵ 

Zephaniah 1:3

1:3 “I will destroy people and animals;

I will destroy the birds in the sky

and the fish in the sea.

(The idolatrous images of these creatures will be destroyed along with evil people.) ³⁶ 

I will remove ³⁷  humanity from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.

Zechariah 13:2

13:2 And also on that day,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will remove ³⁸  the names of the idols from the land and they will never again be remembered. Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

[1:29]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text (and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) has the third person here, though a few Hebrew mss (and Targums) read the second person, which is certainly more consistent with the following context. The third person form is the more difficult reading and probably original. This disagreement in person has caused some to emend the first verb (3rd plural) to a 2nd plural form (followed by most English translations). The BHS textual apparatus suggests that the 2nd plural form be read even though there is only sparse textual evidence. LXX, Syriac, and the Vulgate change all the 2nd person verbs in 1:29-31 to 3rd person verbs. It is likely that the change to a 2nd person form represents an attempt at syntactical harmonization (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 10). The abrupt change from 3rd person to 2nd person may have been intentional for rhetorical impact (GKC 462 §144.p). The rapid change from exclamation (they did!) to reproach (you desired!) might be regarded as a rhetorical figure focusing attention on the addressees and their conditions (de Waard, 10; E. König, Stilistik, Rhetorik, Poetik, 239). This use of the 3rd person could also be understood as an impersonal third person: “one will be ashamed” (de Waard, 10). In v. 29 the prophet continues his description of the sinners (v. 28), but then suddenly makes a transition to direct address (switching from 3^rd to 2^nd person) in the middle of his sentence.

[1:29]  ² tn The second person pronouns in vv. 29-30 are masculine plural, indicating that the rebellious sinners (v. 28) are addressed.

[1:29]  ³ tn Or “gardens” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “groves.”

[2:18]  ⁴ tc The verb “pass away” is singular in the Hebrew text, despite the plural subject (“worthless idols”) that precedes. The verb should be emended to a plural; the final vav (ו) has been accidentally omitted by haplography (note the vav at the beginning of the immediately following form).

[2:19]  ⁵ tn The identity of the grammatical subject is unclear. The “idols” could be the subject; they will “go” into the caves and holes when the idolaters throw them there in their haste to escape God’s judgment (see vv. 20-21). The picture of the idols, which represent the foreign deities worshiped by the people, fleeing from the Lord would be highly polemical and fit the overall mood of the chapter. However it seems more likely that the idolaters themselves are the subject, for v. 10 uses similar language in sarcastically urging them to run from judgment.

[2:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “dust”; ASV “into the holes of the earth.”

[2:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the dread of the Lord,” that is, from the dread that he produces in the objects of his judgment.” The words “trying to escape” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:19]  ⁸ tn Or “land.” It is not certain if these verses are describing the judgment of Judah (see vv. 6-9) or a more universal judgment on all proud men.

[2:20]  ⁹ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[2:20]  ¹⁰ tn Or “bow down to.”

[2:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to the shrews and to the bats.” On the meaning of חֲפַרְפָּרָה (khafarparah, “shrew”), see HALOT 341 s.v. חֲפַרְפָּרָה. The BHS text as it stands (לַחְפֹּר פֵּרוֹת, perot lakhpor), makes no sense. Based on Theodotion’s transliteration and a similar reading in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, most scholars suggest that the MT mistakenly divided a noun (a hapax legomenon) that should be translated “moles,” “shrews,” or “rodents.”

[2:21]  ¹² sn The precise point of vv. 20-21 is not entirely clear. Are they taking the idols into their hiding places with them, because they are so attached to their man-made images? Or are they discarding the idols along the way as they retreat into the darkest places they can find? In either case it is obvious that the gods are incapable of helping them.

[2:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “from the dread of the Lord,” that is, from the dread that he produces in the objects of his judgment.” The words “trying to escape” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:21]  ¹⁴ tn Or “land.” It is not certain if these verses are describing the judgment of Judah (see vv. 6-9) or a more universal judgment on all proud men. Almost all English versions translate “earth,” taking this to refer to universal judgment.

[27:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “be atoned for” (NIV); cf. NRSV “be expiated.”

[27:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and this [is] all the fruit of removing his sin.” The meaning of the statement is not entirely clear, though “removing his sin” certainly parallels “Jacob’s sin will be removed” in the preceding line. If original, “all the fruit” may refer to the result of the decision to remove sin, but the phrase may be a corruption of לְכַפֵּר (lekhaper, “to atone for”), which in turn might be a gloss on הָסִר (hasir, “removing”).

[27:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “when he makes the stones of an altar.” The singular “altar” is collective here; pagan altars are in view, as the last line of the verse indicates. See also 17:8.

[27:9]  ¹⁸ sn As interpreted and translated above, this verse says that Israel must totally repudiate its pagan religious practices in order to experience God’s forgiveness and restoration. Another option is to understand “in this way” and “this” in v. 9a as referring back to the judgment described in v. 8. In this case כָּפַר (kafar, “atone for”) is used in a sarcastic sense; Jacob’s sin is “atoned for” and removed through severe judgment. Following this line of interpretation, one might paraphrase the verse as follows: “So in this way (through judgment) Jacob’s sin will be “atoned for,” and this is the way his sin will be removed, when he (i.e., God) makes all the altar stones like crushed limestone….” This interpretation is more consistent with the tone of judgment in vv. 8 and 10-11.

[30:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the platings of your silver idols.”

[30:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the covering of your gold image.”

[30:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “those who go to descend to Egypt, but [of] my mouth they do not inquire.”

[30:2]  ²² tn Heb “to seek protection in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek refuge in the shade of Egypt.”

[34:6]  ²³ tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.

[34:6]  ²⁴ tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:6]  ²⁵ tn The words “and is covered” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”

[34:6]  ²⁷ sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.

[34:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[34:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “will go down”; NAB “shall be struck down.”

[34:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and bulls along with strong ones.” Perhaps this refers to the leaders.

[36:25]  ³¹ sn The Lord here uses a metaphor from the realm of ritual purification. For the use of water in ritual cleansing, see Exod 30:19-20; Lev 14:51; Num 19:18; Heb 10:22.

[14:8]  ³² tn The Hebrew expression מַה־לִּי עוֹד (mah-li ’od) is a formula of repudiation/emphatic denial that God has anything in common with idols: “I want to have nothing to do with […] any more!” Cf., e.g., Judg 11:12; 2 Sam 16:10; 19:23; 1 Kgs 17:18; 2 Kgs 3:13; 2 Chr 35:21; Jer 2:18; Ps 50:16; BDB 553 s.v. מָה 1.d.(c).

[14:8]  ³³ tn The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity, as in the majority of English versions (including KJV).

[14:8]  ³⁴ tn Cf. KJV “a green fir tree”; NIV, NCV “a green pine tree”; NRSV “an evergreen cypress.”

[14:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “your fruit is found in me”; NRSV “your faithfulness comes from me.”

[1:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “And the stumbling blocks [or, “ruins”] with the evil”; or “the things that make the evil stumble.” The line does not appear in the original form of the LXX; it may be a later scribal addition. The present translation assumes the “stumbling blocks” are idolatrous images of animals, birds, and fish. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 167, and Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB), 73-74.

[1:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “cut off.”

[13:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “cut off” (so NRSV); NAB “destroy”; NIV “banish.”