James 4:3

4:3 you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.

Proverbs 15:8

15:8 The Lord abhors ¹  the sacrifices ²  of the wicked, ³ 

but the prayer ⁴  of the upright pleases him. ⁵ 

Proverbs 21:27

21:27 The wicked person’s sacrifice ⁶  is an abomination;

how much more ⁷  when he brings it with evil intent! ⁸ 

Isaiah 1:15

1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way; ⁹ 

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen,

because your hands are covered with blood. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 58:3-4

58:3 They lament, ¹¹  ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast?

Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’

Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, ¹² 

you oppress your workers. ¹³ 

58:4 Look, your fasting is accompanied by ¹⁴  arguments, brawls,

and fistfights. ¹⁵ 

Do not fast as you do today,

trying to make your voice heard in heaven.

[15:8]  ¹ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.” Cf. NIV “the Lord detests”; NCV, NLT “the Lord hates”; CEV “the Lord is disgusted.”

[15:8]  ² tn Heb “sacrifice” (so many English versions).

[15:8]  ³ sn The sacrifices of the wicked are hated by the Lord because the worshipers are insincere and blasphemous (e.g., Prov 15:29; 21:3; 28:9; Ps 40:6-8; Isa 1:10-17). In other words, the spiritual condition of the worshiper determines whether or not the worship is acceptable to God.

[15:8]  ⁴ sn J. H. Greenstone notes that if God will accept the prayers of the upright, he will accept their sacrifices; for sacrifice is an outer ritual and easily performed even by the wicked, but prayer is a private and inward act and not usually fabricated by unbelievers (Proverbs, 162).

[15:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “[is] his pleasure.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix functions as a subjective genitive: “he is pleased.” God is pleased with the prayers of the upright.

[21:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “the sacrifice of the wicked” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This is a subjective genitive. The foundational clause states that ritual acts of worship brought by the wicked (thus a subjective genitive) are detestable to God. The “wicked” refers here to people who are not members of the covenant (no faith) and are not following after righteousness (no acceptable works). But often they participate in sanctuary ritual, which amounts to hypocrisy.

[21:27]  ⁷ sn This rhetorical device shows that if the act is abomination, the wicked heart is an even greater sin. It argues from the lesser to the greater.

[21:27]  ⁸ tn The noun זִמָּה (zimmah) means “plan; device; wickedness”; here it indicates that the person is coming to the ritual with “sinful purpose.” Some commentators suggest that this would mean he comes with the sacrifice as a bribe to pacify his conscience for a crime committed, over which he has little remorse or intent to cease (cf. NLT “with ulterior motives”). In this view, people in ancient Israel came to think that sacrifices could be given for any reason without genuine submission to God.

[1:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

[1:15]  ¹⁰ sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.

[58:3]  ¹¹ tn The words “they lament” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:3]  ¹² tn Heb “you find pleasure”; NASB “you find your desire.”

[58:3]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps, “debtors.” See HALOT 865 s.v. * עָצֵב.

[58:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you fast for” (so NASB); NRSV “you fast only to quarrel.”

[58:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and for striking with a sinful fist.”