Isaiah 2:10

2:10 Go up into the rocky cliffs,

hide in the ground.

Get away from the dreadful judgment of the Lord, ¹ 

from his royal splendor!

Isaiah 24:5

24:5 The earth is defiled by ²  its inhabitants, ³ 

for they have violated laws,

disregarded the regulation, ⁴ 

and broken the permanent treaty. ⁵ 

Isaiah 27:13

27:13 At that time ⁶  a large ⁷  trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost ⁸  in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in ⁹  the land of Egypt. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 78:54-58

78:54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,

to this mountainous land ¹¹  which his right hand ¹²  acquired.

78:55 He drove the nations out from before them;

he assigned them their tribal allotments ¹³ 

and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down. ¹⁴ 

78:56 Yet they challenged and defied ¹⁵  the sovereign God, ¹⁶ 

and did not obey ¹⁷  his commands. ¹⁸ 

78:57 They were unfaithful ¹⁹  and acted as treacherously as ²⁰  their ancestors;

they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow. ²¹ 

78:58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines, ²² 

and made him jealous with their idols.

Psalms 143:10

143:10 Teach me to do what pleases you, ²³ 

for you are my God.

May your kind presence ²⁴ 

lead me ²⁵  into a level land. ²⁶ 

Jeremiah 2:7

2:7 I brought you ²⁷  into a fertile land

so you could enjoy ²⁸  its fruits and its rich bounty.

But when you entered my land, you defiled it; ²⁹ 

you made the land I call my own ³⁰  loathsome to me.

Jeremiah 31:23

Judah Will Be Restored

31:23 The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ³¹  says,

“I will restore the people of Judah to their land and to their towns.

When I do, they will again say ³²  of Jerusalem, ³³ 

‘May the Lord bless you, you holy mountain,

the place where righteousness dwells.’ ³⁴ 

Ezekiel 22:2-16

22:2 “As for you, son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment, ³⁵  are you willing to pronounce judgment on the bloody city? ³⁶  Then confront her with all her abominable deeds! 22:3 Then say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom), ³⁷  and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity), 22:4 you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made. You have hastened the day of your doom; ³⁸  the end of your years has come. ³⁹  Therefore I will make ⁴⁰  you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands. 22:5 Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation, ⁴¹  full of turmoil.

22:6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. ⁴²  22:7 They have treated father and mother with contempt ⁴³  within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow ⁴⁴  within you. 22:8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths! 22:9 Slanderous men shed blood within you. ⁴⁵  Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; ⁴⁶  they commit obscene acts among you. ⁴⁷  22:10 They have sex with their father’s wife within you; ⁴⁸  they violate women during their menstrual period within you. ⁴⁹  22:11 One ⁵⁰  commits an abominable act with his neighbor’s wife; another obscenely defiles his daughter-in-law; another violates ⁵¹  his sister – his father’s daughter ⁵²  – within you. 22:12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; ⁵³  you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, ⁵⁴  declares the sovereign Lord. ⁵⁵ 

22:13 “‘See, I strike my hands together ⁵⁶  at the dishonest profit you have made, and at the bloodshed ⁵⁷  they have done among you. 22:14 Can your heart endure, ⁵⁸  or can your hands be strong when I deal with you? ⁵⁹  I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it! 22:15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you among various countries; I will remove your impurity from you. ⁶⁰  22:16 You will be profaned within yourself ⁶¹  in the sight of the nations; then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Hosea 9:3

Assyrian Exile Will Reverse the Egyptian Exodus

9:3 They will not remain in the Lord’s land.

Ephraim will return to Egypt;

they will eat ritually unclean food in Assyria.

Micah 2:10

2:10 But you are the ones who will be forced to leave! ⁶² 

For this land is not secure! ⁶³ 

Sin will thoroughly destroy it! ⁶⁴ 

Micah 3:10-12

3:10 You ⁶⁵  build Zion through bloody crimes, ⁶⁶ 

Jerusalem ⁶⁷  through unjust violence.

3:11 Her ⁶⁸  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ⁶⁹ 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ⁷⁰  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ⁷¹ 

Disaster will not overtake ⁷²  us!”

3:12 Therefore, because of you, ⁷³  Zion will be plowed up like ⁷⁴  a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount ⁷⁵  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ⁷⁶ 

Matthew 4:5

4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, ⁷⁷  had him stand ⁷⁸  on the highest point ⁷⁹  of the temple,

[2:10]  ¹ tn Heb “from the dread of the Lord,” that is, from the dread that he produces in the objects of his judgment.” The words “get away” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:5]  ² tn Heb “beneath”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “under”; NAB “because of.”

[24:5]  ³ sn Isa 26:21 suggests that the earth’s inhabitants defiled the earth by shedding the blood of their fellow human beings. See also Num 35:33-34, which assumes that bloodshed defiles a land.

[24:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “moved past [the?] regulation.”

[24:5]  ⁵ tn Or “everlasting covenant” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the ancient covenant”; CEV “their agreement that was to last forever.”

[27:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “and it will be in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[27:13]  ⁷ tn Traditionally, “great” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “loud.”

[27:13]  ⁸ tn Or “the ones perishing.”

[27:13]  ⁹ tn Or “the ones driven into.”

[27:13]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[78:54]  ¹¹ tn Heb “this mountain.” The whole land of Canaan seems to be referred to here. In Exod 15:17 the promised land is called the “mountain of your [i.e., God’s] inheritance.”

[78:54]  ¹² tn The “right hand” here symbolizes God’s military strength (see v. 55).

[78:55]  ¹³ tn Heb “he caused to fall [to] them with a measuring line an inheritance.”

[78:55]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and caused the tribes of Israel to settle down in their tents.”

[78:56]  ¹⁵ tn Or “tested and rebelled against.”

[78:56]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “God, the Most High.”

[78:56]  ¹⁷ tn Or “keep.”

[78:56]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his testimonies” (see Ps 25:10).

[78:57]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they turned back.”

[78:57]  ²⁰ tn Or “acted treacherously like.”

[78:57]  ²¹ tn Heb “they turned aside like a deceitful bow.”

[78:58]  ²² tn Traditionally, “high places.”

[143:10]  ²³ tn Or “your will.” See Ps 40:8.

[143:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “your good spirit.” God’s “spirit” may refer here to his presence (see the note on the word “presence” in Ps 139:7) or to his personal Spirit (see Ps 51:10).

[143:10]  ²⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive. Taking the statement as a prayer fits well with the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.

[143:10]  ²⁶ sn A level land (where one can walk free of obstacles) here symbolizes divine blessing and protection. See Pss 26:12 and 27:11 for similar imagery.

[2:7]  ²⁷ sn Note how contemporary Israel is again identified with her early ancestors. See the study note on 2:2.

[2:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “eat.”

[2:7]  ²⁹ sn I.e., made it ceremonially unclean. See Lev 18:19-30; Num 35:34; Deut 21:23.

[2:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “my inheritance.” Or “the land [i.e., inheritance] I gave you,” reading the pronoun as indicating source rather than possession. The parallelism and the common use in Jeremiah of the term to refer to the land or people as the Lord’s (e.g., 12:7, 8, 9; 16:18; 50:11) make the possessive use more likely here.

[31:23]  ³¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See 7:3 and the study note of 2:19 for the rendering of this title and an explanation of its significance.

[31:23]  ³² tn Heb “They [i.e., people (the indefinite plural, GKC 460 §144.g)] will again say in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes.” For the meaning of the idiom “to restore the fortunes” see the translator’s note on 29:14.

[31:23]  ³³ tn The words “of Jerusalem” are not in the text but it is implicit in the titles that follow. They have been supplied in the translation for clarity to aid in identifying the referent.

[31:23]  ³⁴ sn The blessing pronounced on the city of Zion/Jerusalem by the restored exiles looks at the restoration of its once exalted state as the city known for its sanctity and its just dealing (see Isa 1:21 and Ps 122). This was a reversal of the state of Jerusalem in the time of Isaiah and Jeremiah where wickedness not righteousness characterized the inhabitants of the city (cf. Isa 1:21; Jer 4:14; 5:1; 13:27). The blessing here presupposes the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and the temple which gave the city its sanctity.

[22:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment upon the city. See 20:4.

[22:2]  ³⁶ tn The phrase “bloody city” is used of Nineveh in Nah 3:1.

[22:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “her time”; this refers to the time of impending judgment (see the note on “doom” in v. 4).

[22:4]  ³⁸ tn Heb “you have brought near your days.” The expression “bring near your days” appears to be an adaptation of the idiom “days draw near,” which is used to indicate that an event, such as death, is imminent (see Gen 27:41; 47:29; Deut 31:14; 1 Kgs 2:1; Ezek 12:23). Here “your days” probably refers to the days of the personified city’s life, which was about to come to an end through God’s judgment.

[22:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and you have come to your years.” This appears to mean that she has arrived at the time when her years (i.e., life) would end, though it may mean that her years of punishment will begin. Because “day” and “time” are so closely associated in the immediate context (see 21:25, 29) some prefer to emend the text and read “you have brought near your time.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:31, as well as the translator’s note on verse 3.

[22:4]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew verb is a prophetic perfect, emphasizing that the action is as good as done from the speaker’s perspective.

[22:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “unclean of name.”

[22:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “Look! The princes of Israel, each according to his arm, were in you in order to shed blood.”

[22:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “treated lightly, cursed.”

[22:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Widows and orphans are often coupled together in the OT (Deut 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:19-21; 26:12-13; Jer 7:6; 22:3). They represented all who were poor and vulnerable to economic exploitation.

[22:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “men of slander are in you in order to shed blood.”

[22:9]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and on the mountains they eat within you.” The mountains mentioned here were the site of pagan sacrifices. See 18:6.

[22:9]  ⁴⁷ sn This statement introduces vv. 10-11 and refers in general terms to the sexual sins described there. For the legal background of vv. 10-11, see Lev 18:7-20; 20:10-21; Deut 22:22-23, 30; 27:22.

[22:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “the nakedness of a father one uncovers within you.” The ancient versions read the verb as plural (“they uncover”). If the singular is retained, it must be taken as indefinite and representative of the entire group. The idiomatic expression “uncover the nakedness” refers here to sexual intercourse (cf. Lev 18:6). To uncover a father’s nakedness could include sexual relations with one’s own mother (Lev 18:7), but more likely it refers to having intercourse with another wife of one’s father, such as a stepmother (Lev 18:8; cf. Gen 35:22; 49:4).

[22:10]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “(one who is) unclean due to the impurity they humble within you.” The use of the verb “to humble” suggests that these men forced themselves upon women during menstruation. Having sexual relations with a woman during her period was forbidden by the Law (Lev 18:19; 20:18).

[22:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “a man.”

[22:11]  ⁵¹ tn The verb is the same one used in verse 10b and suggests forcible sexual violation of the woman.

[22:11]  ⁵² sn Sexual relations with one’s half-sister may be primarily in view here. See Lev 18:9; 20:17.

[22:12]  ⁵³ tn Heb “usury and interest you take.” See 18:13, 17. This kind of economic exploitation violated the law given in Lev 25:36.

[22:12]  ⁵⁴ sn Forgetting the Lord is also addressed in Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14; Jer 3:21; 13:25; Ezek 23:35; Hos 2:15; 8:14; 13:6.

[22:12]  ⁵⁵ tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.

[22:13]  ⁵⁶ sn This gesture apparently expresses mourning and/or anger (see 6:11; 21:14, 17).

[22:13]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “the blood which was in you.”

[22:14]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “stand.” The heart here stands for the emotions; Jerusalem would panic in the face of God’s judgment.

[22:14]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “in the days when I act against you.”

[22:15]  ⁶⁰ sn The ultimate purpose of divine judgment is to purify the covenant community of its sins.

[22:16]  ⁶¹ tc Several ancient versions read the verb as first person, in which case the Lord refers to how his people’s sin brings disgrace upon him. For a defense of the Hebrew text, see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:712, n. 68, and M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:457-58.

[2:10]  ⁶² tn Heb “Arise and go!” These imperatives are rhetorical. Those who wrongly drove widows and orphans from their homes and land inheritances will themselves be driven out of the land (cf. Isa 5:8-17). This is an example of poetic justice.

[2:10]  ⁶³ tn Heb “for this is no resting place.” The Lord speaks to the oppressors.

[2:10]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “uncleanness will destroy, and destruction will be severe.”

[3:10]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “who.”

[3:10]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”

[3:10]  ⁶⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:11]  ⁶⁸ sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

[3:11]  ⁷² tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

[3:12]  ⁷³ tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.

[3:12]  ⁷⁴ tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).

[3:12]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[3:12]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”

[4:5]  ⁷⁷ sn The order of the second and third temptations differs in Luke’s account (4:5-12) from the order given in Matthew.

[4:5]  ⁷⁸ tn Grk “and he stood him.”

[4:5]  ⁷⁹ sn The highest point of the temple probably refers to the point on the temple’s southeast corner where it looms directly over a cliff some 450 ft (135 m) high. However, some have suggested the reference could be to the temple’s high gate.