Jeremiah 5:3

5:3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness. ¹ 

But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. ² 

Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.

They have become as hardheaded as a rock. ³ 

They refuse to change their ways. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 6:15

6:15 Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things?

No, they are not at all ashamed.

They do not even know how to blush!

So they will die, just like others have died. ⁵ 

They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,”

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 8:12

8:12 Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things?

No, they are not at all ashamed!

They do not even know how to blush!

So they will die just like others have died. ⁶ 

They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 44:16-17

44:16 “We will not listen to what you claim the Lord has spoken to us! ⁷  44:17 Instead we will do everything we vowed we would do. ⁸  We will sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the goddess called the Queen of Heaven ⁹  just as we and our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders previously did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and had no troubles. ¹⁰ 

Ezekiel 3:7

3:7 But the house of Israel is unwilling to listen to you, ¹¹  because they are not willing to listen to me, ¹²  for the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. ¹³ 

Ezekiel 16:30-34

16:30 “‘How sick is your heart, declares the sovereign Lord, when you perform all of these acts, the deeds of a bold prostitute. 16:31 When you built your chamber at the head of every street and put up your pavilion in every public square, you were not like a prostitute, because you scoffed at payment. ¹⁴ 

16:32 “‘Adulterous wife, who prefers strangers instead of her own husband! 16:33 All prostitutes receive payment, ¹⁵  but instead you give gifts to every one of your lovers. You bribe them to come to you from all around for your sexual favors! 16:34 You were different from other prostitutes ¹⁶  because no one solicited you. When you gave payment and no payment was given to you, you became the opposite!

Zephaniah 3:5

3:5 The just Lord resides ¹⁷  within her;

he commits no unjust acts. ¹⁸ 

Every morning he reveals ¹⁹  his justice.

At dawn he appears without fail. ²⁰ 

Yet the unjust know no shame.

[5:3]  ¹ tn Heb “O Lord, are your eyes not to faithfulness?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[5:3]  ² tn Commentaries and lexicons debate the meaning of the verb here. The MT is pointed as though from a verb meaning “to writhe in anguish or contrition” (חוּל [khul]; see, e.g., BDB 297 s.v. חוּל 2.c), but some commentaries and lexicons repoint the text as though from a verb meaning “to be sick,” thus “to feel pain” (חָלָה [khalah]; see, e.g., HALOT 304 s.v. חָלָה 3). The former appears more appropriate to the context.

[5:3]  ³ tn Heb “They made their faces as hard as a rock.”

[5:3]  ⁴ tn Or “to repent”; Heb “to turn back.”

[6:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”

[8:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”

[44:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “the word [or message] you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord.” For an explanation of the rendering of “in the name of the Lord” see the study notes on 10:25 and 23:27.

[44:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “that went out of our mouth.” I.e., everything we said, promised, or vowed.

[44:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” The expressions have been combined to simplify and shorten the sentence. The same combination also occurs in vv. 18, 19.

[44:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “saw [or experienced] no disaster/trouble/harm.”

[3:7]  ¹¹ sn Moses (Exod 3:19) and Isaiah (Isa 6:9-10) were also told that their messages would not be received.

[3:7]  ¹² sn A similar description of Israel’s disobedience is given in 1 Sam 8:7.

[3:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “hard of forehead and stiff of heart.”

[16:31]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew term, which also occurs in vv. 34 and 41 of this chapter, always refers to the payment of a prostitute (Deut 23:19; Isa 23:17; Hos 9:1; Mic 1:7).

[16:33]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.

[16:34]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “With you it was opposite of women in your prostitution.”

[3:5]  ¹⁷ tn The word “resides” is supplied for clarification.

[3:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “he does no injustice.”

[3:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “gives”; or “dispenses.”

[3:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “at the light he is not missing.” Note that NASB (which capitalizes pronouns referring to Deity) has divided the lines differently: “Every morning He brings His justice to light; // He does not fail.”