Jeremiah 22:14

22:14 He says, “I will build myself a large palace

with spacious upper rooms.”

He cuts windows in its walls,

panels it ¹  with cedar, and paints its rooms red. ² 

Jeremiah 34:22

34:22 For I, the Lord, affirm that ³  I will soon give the order and bring them back to this city. They will fight against it and capture it and burn it down. I will also make the towns of Judah desolate so that there will be no one living in them.”’”

Jeremiah 37:8-10

37:8 Then the Babylonian forces ⁴  will return. They will attack the city and will capture it and burn it down. 37:9 Moreover, I, the Lord, warn you not to deceive yourselves into thinking that the Babylonian forces ⁵  will go away and leave you alone. For they will not go away. ⁶  37:10 For even if you were to defeat all the Babylonian forces ⁷  fighting against you so badly that only wounded men were left lying in their tents, they would get up and burn this city down.”’” ⁸ 

Jeremiah 38:23

38:23 “All your wives and your children will be turned over to the Babylonians. ⁹  You yourself will not escape from them but will be captured by the ¹⁰  king of Babylon. This city will be burned down.” ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 39:8-9

39:8 The Babylonians ¹²  burned down the royal palace, the temple of the Lord, and the people’s homes, ¹³  and they tore down the wall of Jerusalem. ¹⁴  39:9 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, ¹⁵  took captive the rest of the people who were left in the city. He carried them off to Babylon along with the people who had deserted to him. ¹⁶ 

Ezekiel 24:1-14

The Boiling Pot

24:1 The word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month ¹⁷ : 24:2 “Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege ¹⁸  to Jerusalem ¹⁹  this very day. 24:3 Recite a proverb to this rebellious house ²⁰  and say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Set on the pot, ²¹  set it on,

pour water in it too;

24:4 add the pieces of meat to it,

every good piece,

the thigh and the shoulder;

fill it with choice bones.

24:5 Take the choice bone of the flock,

heap up bones under it;

boil rapidly,

and boil its bones in it.

24:6 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:

Woe to the city of bloodshed,

the pot whose rot ²²  is in it,

whose rot has not been removed ²³  from it!

Empty it piece by piece.

No lot has fallen on it. ²⁴ 

24:7 For her blood was in it;

she poured it on an exposed rock;

she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.

24:8 To arouse anger, to take vengeance,

I have placed her blood on an exposed rock so that it cannot be covered up.

24:9 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:

Woe to the city of bloodshed!

I will also make the pile high.

24:10 Pile up the bones, kindle the fire;

cook the meat well, mix in the spices,

let the bones be charred.

24:11 Set the empty pot on the coals, ²⁵ 

until it becomes hot and its copper glows,

until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot ²⁶  is consumed.

24:12 It has tried my patience; ²⁷ 

yet its thick rot is not removed ²⁸  from it.

Subject its rot to the fire! ²⁹ 

24:13 You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct. ³⁰ 

I tried to cleanse you, ³¹  but you are not clean.

You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness ³² 

until I have exhausted my anger on you.

24:14 “‘I the Lord have spoken; judgment ³³  is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry! ³⁴  I will judge you ³⁵  according to your conduct ³⁶  and your deeds, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Amos 2:5

2:5 So I will set Judah on fire,

and it will consume Jerusalem’s fortresses.” ³⁷ 

Amos 3:10-11

3:10 “They do not know how to do what is right.” (The Lord is speaking.)

“They store up ³⁸  the spoils of destructive violence ³⁹  in their fortresses.

3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. ⁴⁰ 

He will take away your power; ⁴¹ 

your fortresses will be looted.”

Amos 6:11

6:11 Indeed, look! The Lord is giving the command. ⁴² 

He will smash the large house to bits,

and the small house into little pieces.

[22:14]  ¹ tc The MT should be emended to read חַלֹּנָיו וְסָפוֹן (khallonayv vÿsafon) instead of חַלֹּנָי וְסָפוּן (khallonay vÿsafon), i.e., the plural noun with third singular suffix rather than the first singular suffix and the infinitive absolute rather than the passive participle. The latter form then parallels the form for “paints” and functions in the same way (cf. GKC 345 §113.z for the infinitive with vav [ו] continuing a perfect). The errors in the MT involve reading the וְ once instead of twice (haplography) and reading the וּ (u) for the וֹ (o).

[22:14]  ² tn The word translated “red” only occurs here and in Ezek 23:14 where it refers to the pictures of the Babylonians on the wall of the temple. Evidently this was a favorite color for decoration. It is usually identified as vermilion, a mineral product from red ocher (cf. C. L. Wickwire, “Vermilion,” IDB 4:748).

[34:22]  ³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[37:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for the rendering “Babylonian.” The word “forces” is supplied in the translation here for the sake of clarity.

[37:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for the rendering “Babylonian.” The word “forces” is supplied in the translation here for the sake of clarity.

[37:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from against us” because they will not go away.’” The first person “I, the Lord,” has been used because the whole of vv. 7-8 has been a quote from the Lord and it would be confusing to go back and start a separate quote. The indirect quote has been used instead of the direct quote to avoid the proliferation of quote marks at the end and the possible confusion that creates.

[37:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “all the army of the Chaldeans.” For the rendering “Babylonian” in place of Chaldean see the study note on 21:4.

[37:10]  ¹⁰ tn The length and complexity of this English sentence violates the more simple style that has been used to conform such sentences to contemporary English style. However, there does not seem to be any alternative that would enable a simpler style and still retain the causal and conditional connections that give this sentence the rhetorical force that it has in the original. The condition is, of course, purely hypothetical and the consequence a poetic exaggeration. The intent is to assure Zedekiah that there is absolutely no hope of the city being spared.

[38:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[38:23]  ¹² tn Heb “you yourself will not escape from their hand but will be seized by [caught in] the hand of the king of Babylon.” Neither use of “hand” is natural to the English idiom.

[38:23]  ¹³ tc This translation follows the reading of the Greek version and a few Hebrew mss. The majority of the Hebrew mss read “and you will burn down this city.” This reading is accepted by the majority of modern commentaries and English versions. Few of the commentaries, however, bother to explain the fact that the particle אֶת (’et), which normally marks the accusative object, is functioning here as the subject. For this point of grammar see BDB 85 s.v. I אֵת 1.b. Or this may be another case where אֵת introduces a new subject (see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת 3.α and see usage in 27:8; 36:22).

[39:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “Chaldean.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[39:8]  ¹⁴ tc The reading here is based on an emendation following the parallels in Jer 52:13 and 2 Kgs 25:9. The Hebrew text here does not have “the temple of the Lord” and reads merely “house of the people.” The text here is probably corrupt. It reads וְאֶת־בֵּית הָעָם (vÿ’et-bet ha’am, “and the house of the people”), which many explain as a collective use of בַּיִת (bayit). However, no parallels are cited by any of the commentaries, grammars, or lexicons for such a use. It is more likely that the words יְהוָה וְאֶת־בָּתֵּי (yÿhvah vÿ’et-bate) have fallen out of the text due to similar beginnings. The words וְאֶת־בֵּית יהוה (vÿ’et-bet yhwh) are found in the parallel texts cited in the marginal note. The Greek version is no help here because vv. 4-13 are omitted, probably due to the similarities in ending of vv. 3, 13 (i.e., homoioteleuton of מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל, melekh bavel).

[39:8]  ¹⁵ sn According to the parallels in 2 Kgs 25:8-9; Jer 52:12-13 this occurred almost a month after the wall was breached and Zedekiah’s failed escape. It took place under the direction of Nebuzaradan, the captain of the king’s special guard who is mentioned in the next verse.

[39:9]  ¹⁵ tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.

[39:9]  ¹⁶ tc The translation is based on an emendation of the text which leaves out “the rest of the people who were left” as a double writing of the same phrase at the beginning of the verse. Some commentators emend the phrase “the rest of the people who were left” (הַנִּשְׁאָרִים וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָעָם, hannish’arim vÿ’et yeter ha’am) to read “the rest of the craftsmen who were left” (וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָאָמוֹן הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, vÿ’et yeter ha’amon hannish’arim) on the basis of the parallel in Jer 52:15 (which does not have הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, hannish’arim). However, it is easier to explain the phrase as a dittography of the phrase at the beginning (which is exactly the same except הָעִיר [ha’ir] follows it). The text is redundant because it refers twice to the same group of people. The Hebrew text reads: “And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to him and the rest of the people Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon.” The text has also been divided up to create two shorter sentences to better conform with contemporary English style.

[24:1]  ¹⁷ tn The date of this oracle was January 15, 588 b.c.

[24:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “lean on, put pressure on.”

[24:2]  ²⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[24:3]  ²¹ sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).

[24:3]  ²² sn See Ezek 11:3-12.

[24:6]  ²³ tn Or “rust.”

[24:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “has not gone out.”

[24:6]  ²⁵ tn Here “lot” may refer to the decision made by casting lots; it is not chosen at all.

[24:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “set it upon its coals, empty.”

[24:11]  ²⁶ tn Or “rust” (so also in v. 12).

[24:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “(with) toil she has wearied.” The meaning of the statement is unclear in the Hebrew text; some follow the LXX and delete it. The first word in the statement (rendered “toil” in the literal translation above) occurs only here in the OT, and the verb “she has wearied” lacks a stated object. Elsewhere the Hiphil of the verb refers to wearying someone or trying someone’s patience. The feminine subject is apparently the symbolic pot.

[24:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “does not go out.”

[24:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “in fire its rust.” The meaning of the expression is unclear. The translation understands the statement as a command to burn the rust away. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:768.

[24:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “in your uncleanness (is) obscene conduct.”

[24:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “because I cleansed you.” In this context (see especially the very next statement), the statement must refer to divine intention and purpose. Despite God’s efforts to cleanse his people, they resisted him and remained morally impure.

[24:13]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew text adds the word “again.”

[24:14]  ³¹ tn Heb “it”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:14]  ³² tn Or perhaps, “change my mind.”

[24:14]  ³³ tc Some medieval Hebrew mss and the major ancient versions read a first person verb here. Most Hebrew mss read have an indefinite subject, “they will judge you,” which could be translated, “you will be judged.”

[24:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “ways.”

[2:5]  ³³ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:10]  ³⁵ tn Heb “those who.”

[3:10]  ³⁶ tn Heb “violence and destruction.” The expression “violence and destruction” stand metonymically for the goods the oppressors have accumulated by their unjust actions.

[3:11]  ³⁷ tc The MT reads “an enemy and around the land.” It is also possible to take the MT as an exclamation (“an enemy, and all about the land!”; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 118; NJPS; cf. NLT).Most scholars and versions emend the text to יְסוֹבֵב (yÿsovev, Polel imperfect), “will encircle.”

[3:11]  ³⁸ tn Heb “He will bring down your power from you.” Some emend the text to read “Your power will be brought down from you.” The shift, however, from an active to a passive sense also appears at 3:14 (“I will destroy Bethel’s altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off.”) The pronouns (“your…you”) are feminine singular, indicating that the personified city of Samaria is addressed here. Samaria’s “power” here is her defenses and/or wealth.

[6:11]  ³⁹ tn Or “is issuing the decree.”