Isaiah 50:2

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call? ¹ 

Is my hand too weak ²  to deliver ³  you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout ⁴  I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water. ⁵ 

Isaiah 65:12

65:12 I predestine you to die by the sword, ⁶ 

all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, ⁷ 

because I called to you, and you did not respond,

I spoke and you did not listen.

You did evil before me; ⁸ 

you chose to do what displeases me.”

Isaiah 66:4

66:4 So I will choose severe punishment ⁹  for them;

I will bring on them what they dread,

because I called, and no one responded,

I spoke and they did not listen.

They did evil before me; ¹⁰ 

they chose to do what displeases me.”

Jeremiah 7:13

7:13 You also have done all these things, says the Lord, and I have spoken to you over and over again. ¹¹  But you have not listened! You have refused to respond when I called you to repent! ¹² 

Ezekiel 8:18

8:18 Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare ¹³  them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them.”

Zechariah 7:11-12

7:11 “But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear. 7:12 Indeed, they made their heart as hard as diamond, ¹⁴  so that they could not obey the Torah and the other words the Lord who rules over all had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, the Lord who rules over all had poured out great wrath.

Matthew 22:5-6

22:5 But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. 22:6 The ¹⁵  rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them.

Matthew 23:37-38

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ¹⁶  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ¹⁷  How often I have longed ¹⁸  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ¹⁹  you would have none of it! ²⁰  23:38 Look, your house is left to you desolate!

Hebrews 12:25-26

12:25 Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven? 12:26 Then his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven too.” ²¹ 

[50:2]  ¹ sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.

[50:2]  ² tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ³ tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “with my rebuke.”

[50:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”

[65:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “I assign you to the sword.” Some emend the Qal verb form מָנִיתִי (maniti, “I assign”) to the Piel מִנִּיתִי (minniti, “ I ordain”). The verb sounds like the name of the god Meni (מְנִי, mÿni, “Destiny, Fate”). The sound play draws attention to the irony of the statement. The sinners among God’s people worship the god Meni, apparently in an effort to ensure a bright destiny for themselves. But the Lord is the one who really determines their destiny and he has decreed their demise.

[65:12]  ⁷ tn Or “at the slaughter”; NIV “for the slaughter”; NLT “before the executioner.”

[65:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[66:4]  ⁹ tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”

[66:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[7:13]  ¹¹ tn This reflects a Hebrew idiom (e.g., 7:25; 11:7; 25:3, 4), i.e., an infinitive of a verb meaning “to do something early [or eagerly]” followed by an infinitive of another verb of action. Cf. HALOT 1384 s.v. שָׁכַם Hiph.2.

[7:13]  ¹² tn Heb “I called to you and you did not answer.” The words “to repent” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:18]  ¹³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[7:12]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew term שָׁמִיר (shamir) means literally “hardness” and since it is said in Ezek 3:9 to be harder than flint, many scholars suggest that it refers to diamond. It is unlikely that diamond was known to ancient Israel, however, so probably a hard stone like emery or corundum is in view. The translation nevertheless uses “diamond” because in modern times it has become proverbial for its hardness. A number of English versions use “flint” here (e.g., NASB, NIV).

[22:6]  ¹⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:37]  ¹⁶ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ¹⁷ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[23:37]  ¹⁸ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[23:37]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ²⁰ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[12:26]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Hag 2:6.