Isaiah 5:18-19

5:18 Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead, ¹ 

who pull sin as with cart ropes. ² 

5:19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly, ³ 

so we can see;

let the plan of the Holy One of Israel ⁴  take shape ⁵  and come to pass,

then we will know it!”

Isaiah 28:15

28:15 For you say,

“We have made a treaty with death,

with Sheol ⁶  we have made an agreement. ⁷ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by ⁸ 

it will not reach us.

For we have made a lie our refuge,

we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” ⁹ 

Isaiah 28:17

28:17 I will make justice the measuring line,

fairness the plumb line;

hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge, ¹⁰ 

the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.

Isaiah 30:1

Egypt Will Prove Unreliable

30:1 “The rebellious ¹¹  children are as good as dead,” ¹²  says the Lord,

“those who make plans without consulting me, ¹³ 

who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, ¹⁴ 

and thereby compound their sin. ¹⁵ 

Job 22:13-14

22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?

Does he judge through such deep darkness? ¹⁶ 

22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, ¹⁷ 

as he goes back and forth

in the vault ¹⁸  of heaven.’ ¹⁹ 

Psalms 10:11-13

10:11 He says to himself, ²⁰ 

“God overlooks it;

he does not pay attention;

he never notices.” ²¹ 

10:12 Rise up, Lord! ²² 

O God, strike him down! ²³ 

Do not forget the oppressed!

10:13 Why does the wicked man reject God? ²⁴ 

He says to himself, ²⁵  “You ²⁶  will not hold me accountable.” ²⁷ 

Psalms 64:5-6

64:5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. ²⁸ 

They plan how to hide ²⁹  snares,

and boast, ³⁰  “Who will see them?” ³¹ 

64:6 They devise ³²  unjust schemes;

they disguise ³³  a well-conceived plot. ³⁴ 

Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered. ³⁵ 

Psalms 139:1-8

Psalm 139 ³⁶ 

For the music director, a psalm of David.

139:1 O Lord, you examine me ³⁷  and know.

139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;

even from far away you understand my motives.

139:3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest; ³⁸ 

you are aware of everything I do. ³⁹ 

139:4 Certainly ⁴⁰  my tongue does not frame a word

without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it. ⁴¹ 

139:5 You squeeze me in from behind and in front;

you place your hand on me.

139:6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension;

it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it. ⁴² 

139:7 Where can I go to escape your spirit?

Where can I flee to escape your presence? ⁴³ 

139:8 If I were to ascend ⁴⁴  to heaven, you would be there.

If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be. ⁴⁵ 

Jeremiah 23:24

23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself

where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. ⁴⁶ 

“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” ⁴⁷ 

the Lord asks. ⁴⁸ 

Ezekiel 8:12

8:12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? ⁴⁹  For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’”

Ezekiel 9:9

9:9 He said to me, “The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption, ⁵⁰  for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’ ⁵¹ 

Zephaniah 1:12

1:12 At that time I will search through Jerusalem with lamps.

I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin, ⁵² 

those who think to themselves, ⁵³ 

‘The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.’ ⁵⁴ 

Revelation 2:23

2:23 Furthermore, I will strike her followers ⁵⁵  with a deadly disease, ⁵⁶  and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will repay ⁵⁷  each one of you ⁵⁸  what your deeds deserve. ⁵⁹ 

[5:18]  ¹ sn See the note at v. 8.

[5:18]  ² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “Woe to those who pull evil with the ropes of emptiness, and, as [with] ropes of a cart, sin.” Though several textual details are unclear, the basic idea is apparent. The sinners are so attached to their sinful ways (compared here to a heavy load) that they strain to drag them along behind them. If שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness”) is retained, it makes a further comment on their lifestyle, denouncing it as one that is devoid of what is right and destined to lead to nothing but destruction. Because “emptiness” does not form a very tight parallel with “cart” in the next line, some emend שָׁוְא to שֶׂה (she, “sheep”) and עֲגָלָה (’agalah, “cart”) to עֵגֶל (’egel, “calf”): “Those who pull evil along with a sheep halter are as good as dead who pull sin with a calf rope” (following the lead of the LXX and improving the internal parallelism of the verse). In this case, the verse pictures the sinners pulling sin along behind them as one pulls an animal with a halter. For a discussion of this view, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:163, n. 1. Nevertheless, this emendation is unnecessary. The above translation emphasizes the folly of the Israelites who hold on to their sin (and its punishment) even while they hope for divine intervention.

[5:19]  ³ tn Heb “let his work hurry, let it hasten.” The pronoun “his” refers to God, as the parallel line makes clear. The reference to his “work” alludes back to v. 12, which refers to his ‘work” of judgment. With these words the people challenged the prophet’s warning of approaching judgment. They were in essence saying that they saw no evidence that God was about to work in such a way.

[5:19]  ⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[5:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “draw near” (so NASB); NRSV “hasten to fulfillment.”

[28:15]  ⁶ sn Sheol is the underworld, land of the dead, according to the OT world view.

[28:15]  ⁷ tn Elsewhere the noun חֹזֶה (khozeh) refers to a prophet who sees visions. In v. 18 the related term חָזוּת (khazut, “vision”) is used. The parallelism in both verses (note “treaty”) seems to demand a meaning “agreement” for both nouns. Perhaps חֹזֶה and חזוּת are used in a metonymic sense in vv. 15 and 18. Another option is to propose a homonymic root. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:514, and HALOT 301 s.v. II חֹזֶה.

[28:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).

[28:15]  ⁹ sn “Lie” and “deceitful word” would not be the terms used by the people. They would likely use the words “promise” and “reliable word,” but the prophet substitutes “lie” and “deceitful word” to emphasize that this treaty with death will really prove to be disappointing.

[28:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[the] refuge, [the] lie.” See v. 15.

[30:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “stubborn” (NCV); cf. NIV “obstinate.”

[30:1]  ¹² tn Heb “Woe [to] rebellious children.”

[30:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “making a plan, but not from me.”

[30:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and pouring out a libation, but not [from] my spirit.” This translation assumes that the verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “pour out,” and that the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה (massekhah) means “libation.” In this case “pouring out a libation” alludes to a ceremony that formally ratifies an alliance. Another option is to understand the verb נָסַךְ as a homonym meaning “weave,” and the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה as a homonym meaning “covering.” In this case forming an alliance is likened to weaving a garment.

[30:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “consequently adding sin to sin.”

[22:13]  ¹⁶ sn Eliphaz is giving to Job the thoughts and words of the pagans, for they say, “How does God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (see Ps 73:11; 94:11).

[22:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and he does not see.” The implied object is “us.”

[22:14]  ¹⁸ sn The word is “circle; dome”; here it is the dome that covers the earth, beyond which God sits enthroned. A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) suggests “on the arch of heaven” that covers the earth.

[22:14]  ¹⁹ sn The idea suggested here is that God is not only far off, but he is unconcerned as he strolls around heaven – this is what Eliphaz says Job means.

[10:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he says in his heart.” See v. 6.

[10:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “God forgets, he hides his face, he never sees.”

[10:12]  ²² sn Rise up, O Lord! The psalmist’s mood changes from lament to petition and confidence.

[10:12]  ²³ tn Heb “lift up your hand.” Usually the expression “lifting the hand” refers to praying (Pss 28:2; 134:2) or making an oath (Ps 106:26), but here it probably refers to “striking a blow” (see 2 Sam 18:28; 20:21). Note v. 15, where the psalmist asks the Lord to “break the arm of the wicked.” A less likely option is that the psalmist is requesting that the Lord declare by oath his intention to intervene.

[10:13]  ²⁴ tn The rhetorical question expresses the psalmist’s outrage that the wicked would have the audacity to disdain God.

[10:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he says in his heart” (see vv. 6, 11). Another option is to understand an ellipsis of the interrogative particle here (cf. the preceding line), “Why does he say in his heart?”

[10:13]  ²⁶ tn Here the wicked man addresses God directly.

[10:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “you will not seek.” The verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as generalizing about what is typical and translate, “you do not hold [people] accountable.”

[64:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”

[64:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “they report about hiding.”

[64:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “they say.”

[64:5]  ³¹ tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).

[64:6]  ³² tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”

[64:6]  ³³ tc The MT has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading טָמְנוּ (tomnu, “they hide”), a Qal perfect third common plural form from the verbal root טָמַן (taman).

[64:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.

[64:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots.

[139:1]  ³⁶ sn Psalm 139. The psalmist acknowledges that God, who created him, is aware of his every action and thought. He invites God to examine his motives, for he is confident they are pure.

[139:1]  ³⁷ tn The statement is understood as generalizing – the psalmist describes what God typically does.

[139:3]  ³⁸ tn Heb “my traveling and my lying down you measure.” The verb זָרָה (zarah, “to measure”) is probably here a denominative from זָרָת (zarat, “a span; a measure”), though some derive it from זָרָה (zarat, “to winnow; to sift”; see BDB 279-80 s.v. זָרָה).

[139:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “all my ways.”

[139:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “for.”

[139:4]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “look, O Lord, you know all of it.”

[139:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “too amazing [is this] knowledge for me, it is elevated, I cannot attain to it.”

[139:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Where can I go from your spirit, and where from your face can I flee?” God’s “spirit” may refer here (1) to his presence (note the parallel term, “your face,” and see Ps 104:29-30, where God’s “face” is his presence and his “spirit” is the life-giving breath he imparts) or (2) to his personal Spirit (see Ps 51:10).

[139:8]  ⁴⁴ tn The Hebrew verb סָלַק (salaq, “to ascend”) occurs only here in the OT, but the word is well-attested in Aramaic literature from different time periods and displays a wide semantic range (see DNWSI 2:788-90).

[139:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “look, you.”

[23:24]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:24]  ⁴⁷ tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:24]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[8:12]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “the room of his images.” The adjective “idolatrous” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “lawlessness” (NAB); “perversity” (NRSV). The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT, and its meaning is uncertain. The similar phrase in 7:23 has a common word for “violence.”

[9:9]  ⁵¹ sn The saying is virtually identical to that of the elders in Ezek 8:12.

[1:12]  ⁵² tn Heb “who thicken on their sediment.” The imagery comes from wine making, where the wine, if allowed to remain on the sediment too long, will thicken into syrup. The image suggests that the people described here were complacent in their sinful behavior and interpreted the delay in judgment as divine apathy.

[1:12]  ⁵³ tn Heb “who say in their hearts.”

[1:12]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “The Lord does not do good nor does he do evil.”

[2:23]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “her children,” but in this context a reference to this woman’s followers or disciples is more likely meant.

[2:23]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “I will kill with death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).

[2:23]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “I will give.” The sense of δίδωμι (didwmi) in this context is more “repay” than “give.”

[2:23]  ⁵⁸ sn This pronoun and the following one are plural in the Greek text.

[2:23]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “each one of you according to your works.”