Jeremiah 4:10

4:10 In response to all this ¹  I said, “Ah, Lord God, ²  you have surely allowed ³  the people of Judah and Jerusalem ⁴  to be deceived by those who say, ‘You will be safe!’ ⁵  But in fact a sword is already at our throats.” ⁶ 

Jeremiah 5:12

5:12 “These people have denied what the Lord says. ⁷ 

They have said, ‘That is not so! ⁸ 

No harm will come to us.

We will not experience war and famine. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 14:13

14:13 Then I said, “Oh, Lord God, ¹⁰  look! ¹¹  The prophets are telling them that you said, ¹²  ‘You will not experience war or suffer famine. ¹³  I will give you lasting peace and prosperity in this land.’” ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 23:17

23:17 They continually say ¹⁵  to those who reject what the Lord has said, ¹⁶ 

‘Things will go well for you!’ ¹⁷ 

They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,

‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’

Jeremiah 28:3

28:3 Before two years are over, I will bring back to this place everything that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from it and carried away to Babylon.

Lamentations 2:14

נ (Nun)

2:14 Your prophets saw visions for you

that were worthless lies. ¹⁸ 

They failed to expose your sin

so as to restore your fortunes. ¹⁹ 

They saw oracles for you

that were worthless ²⁰  lies.

Ezekiel 13:22

13:22 This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life.

Micah 2:11

2:11 If a lying windbag should come and say, ²¹ 

‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ ²² 

he would be just the right preacher for these people! ²³ 

Micah 2:2

2:2 They confiscate the fields they desire,

and seize the houses they want. ²⁴ 

They defraud people of their homes, ²⁵ 

and deprive people of the land they have inherited. ²⁶ 

Micah 2:1

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ²⁷ 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ²⁸ 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ²⁹ 

because they have the power to do so.

Micah 2:1

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ³⁰ 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ³¹ 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ³² 

because they have the power to do so.

Micah 2:1

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ³³ 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ³⁴ 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ³⁵ 

because they have the power to do so.

[4:10]  ¹ tn The words “In response to all this” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to clarify the connection.

[4:10]  ² tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for God for the proper name Yahweh.

[4:10]  ³ tn Or “You have deceived.” The Hiphil of נָשָׁא (nasha’, “to deceive”) is understood in a tolerative sense here: “to allow [someone] to be deceived.” IBHS 446 §27.5c notes that this function of the hiphil describes caused activity that is welcome to the undersubject, but unacceptable or disagreeable to a third party. Jerusalem and Judah welcomed the assurances of false prophets who deceived them. Although this was detestable to God, he allowed it.

[4:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “this people and Jerusalem.”

[4:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’”; or “You have deceived the people of Judah and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace.’” The words “you will be safe” are, of course, those of the false prophets (cf., Jer 6:14; 8:11; 14:13; 23:16-17). It is difficult to tell whether the charge here is meant literally as the emotional outburst of the prophet (compare for example, Jer 15:18) or whether it is to be understood as a figure of speech in which a verb of direct causation is to be understood as permissive or tolerative, i.e., God did not command the prophets to say this but allowed them to do so. While it is not beyond God to use false prophets to accomplish his will (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 22:19-23), he elsewhere in the book of Jeremiah directly denies having sent the false prophets to say such things as this (cf., e.g., Jer 14:14-15; 23:21, 32). For examples of the use of this figure of speech, see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 571, 823 and compare Ezek 20:25. The translation given attempts to resolve the issue.

[4:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “touches the throat/soul.” For this use of the word usually translated “soul” or “life” cf. HALOT 672 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 1, 2 and compare the use in Ps 105:18.

[5:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “have denied the Lord.” The words “What…says” are implicit in what follows.

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Or “he will do nothing”; Heb “Not he [or it]!”

[5:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “we will not see the sword and famine.”

[14:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for God for the proper name Yahweh.

[14:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Behold.” See the translator’s note on usage of this particle in 1:6.

[14:13]  ¹² tn The words “that you said” are not in the text but are implicit from the first person in the affirmation that follows. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “You will not see sword and you will not have starvation [or hunger].”

[14:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will give you unfailing peace in this place.” The translation opts for “peace and prosperity” here for the word שָׁלוֹם (shalom) because in the context it refers both to peace from war and security from famine and plague. The word translated “lasting” (אֱמֶת, ’emet) is a difficult to render here because it has broad uses: “truth, reliability, stability, steadfastness,” etc. “Guaranteed” or “lasting” seem to fit the context the best.

[23:17]  ¹⁵ tn The translation reflects an emphatic construction where the infinitive absolute follows a participle (cf. GKC 343 §113.r).

[23:17]  ¹⁶ tc The translation follows the Greek version. The Hebrew text reads, “who reject me, ‘The Lord has spoken, “Things…”’” The Greek version is to be preferred here because of (1) the parallelism of the lines “reject what the Lord has said” // “follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts;” (2) the preceding context which speaks of “visions of their own imaginations not of what the Lord has given them;” (3) the following context which denies that they have ever had access to the Lord’s secrets; (4) the general contexts earlier regarding false prophecy where rejection of the Lord’s word is in view (6:14 [see there v. 10]; 8:11 [see there v. 9]); (5) the meter of the poetic lines (the Hebrew meter is 3/5/4/3; the meter presupposed by the translation is 5/3/4/3 with the 3’s being their words). The difference is one of vocalization of the same consonants. The vocalization of the MT is יְהוָה מְנַאֲצַי דִּבֶּר [mÿna’atsay dibber yÿhvah]; the Hebrew Vorlage behind the Greek would be vocalized as מְנַאֲצֵי דְּבַר יְהוָה (mÿna’atsey dÿvar yÿhvah).

[23:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “You will have peace.” But see the note on 14:13. See also 6:14 and 8:11.

[2:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “emptiness and whitewash.” The nouns שָׁוְא וְתָפֵל (shv’ vÿtafel) form a nominal hendiadys. The first noun functions adjectivally, modifying the second noun that retains its full nominal sense: “empty whitewash” or “empty deceptions” (see following translation note on meaning of תָּפֵל [tafel]). The noun תָּפֵל (tafel, “whitewash”) is used literally in reference to a white-washed wall (Ezek 13:10, 11, 14, 15) and figuratively in reference to false prophets (Ezek 22:28).

[2:14]  ¹⁹ tc The Kethib שְׁבִיתֵךְ (shÿvitekh) and Qere שְׁבוּתֵךְ (shÿvutekh), which is preserved in many medieval Hebrew mss here and elsewhere (Ps 85:1 Heb 85:2; 126:4; Job 42:10), are struggling with the root. The ancient versions take it from ָָשׁבָה (shavah) meaning “captivity.” Such a meaning is not tenable for the Job passage, which along with a similar phrase in the Sefire inscription suggest that the proper meaning is “to restore someone’s fortunes.”

[2:14]  ²⁰ tn The nouns שָׁוְא וּמַדּוּחִים (shav’ umaddukhim, lit., “emptiness and enticements”) form a nominal hendiadys. The first functions adjectivally, modifying the second noun that retains its nominal sense: “empty enticements” or “false deceptions.” The noun מַדּוּחַ (madduakh), meaning “enticement” or “transgression” is a hapax legomenon (term that appears only once in the Hebrew OT). It is related to the verb נָדָח (nadakh, “to entice, lead astray”) which is often used in reference to idolatry.

[2:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “if a man, coming [as] wind and falsehood, should lie”; NASB “walking after wind and falsehood”; NIV “a liar and a deceiver.”

[2:11]  ²² tn Heb “I will foam at the mouth concerning wine and beer.”

[2:11]  ²³ tn Heb “he would be the foamer at the mouth for this people.”

[2:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they desire fields and rob [them], and houses and take [them] away.”

[2:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and they oppress a man and his home.”

[2:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and a man and his inheritance.” The verb עָשַׁק (’ashaq, “to oppress”; “to wrong”) does double duty in the parallel structure and is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[2:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[2:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ³² tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[2:1]  ³³ tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”