Isaiah 55:7

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ¹ 

and sinful people their plans. ² 

They should return ³  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ⁴ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ⁵ 

Isaiah 57:18

57:18 I have seen their behavior, ⁶ 

but I will heal them and give them rest,

and I will once again console those who mourn. ⁷ 

Hosea 14:4

Divine Promise to Relent from Judgment and to Restore Blessings

14:4 “I will heal their waywardness ⁸ 

and love them freely, ⁹ 

for my anger will turn ¹⁰  away from them.

Micah 7:18-19

7:18 There is no other God like you! ¹¹ 

You ¹²  forgive sin

and pardon ¹³  the rebellion

of those who remain among your people. ¹⁴ 

You do not remain angry forever, ¹⁵ 

but delight in showing loyal love.

7:19 You will once again ¹⁶  have mercy on us;

you will conquer ¹⁷  our evil deeds;

you will hurl our ¹⁸  sins into the depths of the sea. ¹⁹ 

[55:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ² tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ³ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ⁴ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ⁵ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

[57:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “his ways” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); TEV “how they acted.”

[57:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “and I will restore consolation to him, to his mourners.”

[14:4]  ⁸ sn The noun מְשׁוּבָתָה (mÿshuvatah, “waywardness”; cf. KJV “backsliding”) is from the same root as שׁוּבָה (shuvah, “return!”) in 14:1[2]. This repetition of שׁוּב (shuv) creates a wordplay which emphasizes reciprocity: if Israel will return (שׁוּבָה, shuvah) to the Lord, he will cure her of the tendency to turn away (מְשׁוּבָתָה) from him.

[14:4]  ⁹ tn The noun נְדָבָה (nÿdavah, “voluntariness; free-will offering”) is an adverbial accusative of manner: “freely, voluntarily” (BDB 621 s.v. נְדָבָה 1). Cf. CEV “without limit”; TEV “with all my heart”; NLT “my love will know no bounds.”

[14:4]  ¹⁰ sn The verb שָׁב, shav, “will turn” (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular from שׁוּב, shuv, “to turn”) continues the wordplay on שׁוּב in 14:1-4[2-5]. If Israel will “return” (שׁוּב) to the Lord, he will heal Israel’s tendency to “turn away” (מְשׁוּבָתָה, mÿshuvatah) and “turn” (שָׁב) from his anger.

[7:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Who is a God like you?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!”

[7:18]  ¹² tn Heb “one who.” The prayer moves from direct address (second person) in v. 18a to a descriptive (third person) style in vv. 18b-19a and then back to direct address (second person) in vv. 19b-20. Due to considerations of English style and the unfamiliarity of the modern reader with alternation of persons in Hebrew poetry, the entire section has been rendered as direct address (second person) in the translation.

[7:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “pass over.”

[7:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “of the remnant of his inheritance.”

[7:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he does not keep hold of his anger forever.”

[7:19]  ¹⁶ tn The verb יָשׁוּב (yashuv, “he will return”) is here used adverbially in relation to the following verb, indicating that the Lord will again show mercy.

[7:19]  ¹⁷ tn Some prefer to read יִכְבֹּס (yikhbos, “he will cleanse”; see HALOT 459 s.v. כבס pi). If the MT is taken as it stands, sin is personified as an enemy that the Lord subdues.

[7:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “their sins,” but the final mem (ם) may be enclitic rather than a pronominal suffix. In this case the suffix from the preceding line (“our”) may be understood as doing double duty.

[7:19]  ¹⁹ sn In this metaphor the Lord disposes of Israel’s sins by throwing them into the waters of the sea (here symbolic of chaos).