Isaiah 58:1

The Lord Desires Genuine Devotion

58:1 “Shout loudly! Don’t be quiet!

Yell as loud as a trumpet!

Confront my people with their rebellious deeds; ¹ 

confront Jacob’s family with their sin! ² 

Jeremiah 2:2

2:2 “Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: ³  ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have fond memories of you, ⁴  how devoted you were to me in your early years. ⁵  I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

Jeremiah 19:3

19:3 Say, ‘Listen to what the Lord says, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! ⁶  The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ⁷  says, “I will bring a disaster on this place ⁸  that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it ring! ⁹ 

Ezekiel 20:4

20:4 “Are you willing to pronounce judgment? ¹⁰  Are you willing to pronounce judgment, son of man? Then confront them with the abominable practices of their fathers,

Ezekiel 23:45

23:45 But upright men will punish them appropriately for their adultery and bloodshed, ¹¹  because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

Matthew 23:37-39

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ¹²  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ¹³  How often I have longed ¹⁴  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ¹⁵  you would have none of it! ¹⁶  23:38 Look, your house is left to you desolate! 23:39 For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” ¹⁷ 

Acts 7:51-53

7:51 “You stubborn ¹⁸  people, with uncircumcised ¹⁹  hearts and ears! ²⁰  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ²¹  did! 7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors ²²  not persecute? ²³  They ²⁴  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ²⁵  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ²⁶  7:53 You ²⁷  received the law by decrees given by angels, ²⁸  but you did not obey ²⁹  it.” ³⁰ 

Acts 7:2

7:2 So he replied, ³¹  “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our forefather ³²  Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,

Colossians 1:16

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ³³  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

[58:1]  ¹ tn Heb “declare to my people their rebellion.”

[58:1]  ² tn Heb “and to the house of Jacob their sin.” The verb “declare” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[2:2]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “I remember to/for you.”

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “the loyal love of your youth.”

[19:3]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[19:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”

[19:3]  ⁸ sn Careful comparison of the use of this term throughout this passage and comparison with 7:31-33 which is parallel to several verses in this passage will show that the reference is to the Valley of Ben Hinnom which will become a Valley of Slaughter (see v. 6 and 7:32).

[19:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “which everyone who hears it [or about it] his ears will ring.” This is proverbial for a tremendous disaster. See 1 Sam 3:11; 2 Kgs 21:12 for similar prophecies.

[20:4]  ¹⁰ 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.

[23:45]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and upright men will judge them (with) the judgment of adulteresses and the judgment of those who shed blood.”

[23:37]  ¹² sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[23:39]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 118:26.

[7:51]  ¹⁸ sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

[7:51]  ¹⁹ tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.

[7:51]  ²⁰ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

[7:51]  ²¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ²² tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ²³ sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.

[7:52]  ²⁴ tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[7:52]  ²⁵ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.

[7:52]  ²⁶ sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).

[7:53]  ²⁷ tn Grk “whose betrayers and murderers you have now become, who received the law” The two consecutive relative clauses make for awkward English style, so the second was begun as a new sentence with the pronoun “You” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun to make a complete sentence in English.

[7:53]  ²⁸ tn Traditionally, “as ordained by angels,” but εἰς (eis) with the accusative here should be understood as instrumental (a substitute for ἐν [en]); so BDAG 291 s.v. εἰς 9, BDF §206. Thus the phrase literally means “received the law by the decrees [orders] of angels” with the genitive understood as a subjective genitive, that is, the angels gave the decrees.

[7:53]  ²⁹ tn The Greek word φυλάσσω (fulassw, traditionally translated “keep”) in this context connotes preservation of and devotion to an object as well as obedience.

[7:53]  ³⁰ tn Or “did not obey it.”

[7:2]  ³¹ tn Grk “said.”

[7:2]  ³² tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”

[1:16]  ³³ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.