Jeremiah 6:19

6:19 Hear this, you peoples of the earth: ¹ 

‘Take note! ²  I am about to bring disaster on these people.

It will come as punishment for their scheming. ³ 

For they have paid no attention to what I have said, ⁴ 

and they have rejected my law.

Jeremiah 7:13

7:13 You also have done all these things, says the Lord, and I have spoken to you over and over again. ⁵  But you have not listened! You have refused to respond when I called you to repent! ⁶ 

Jeremiah 7:24-26

7:24 But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better. ⁷  7:25 From the time your ancestors departed the land of Egypt until now, ⁸  I sent my servants the prophets to you again and again, ⁹  day after day. ¹⁰  7:26 But your ancestors ¹¹  did not listen to me nor pay attention to me. They became obstinate ¹²  and were more wicked than even their own forefathers.’”

Jeremiah 25:3-7

25:3 “For the last twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was ruling in Judah ¹³  until now, the Lord has been speaking to me. I told you over and over again ¹⁴  what he said. ¹⁵  But you would not listen. 25:4 Over and over again ¹⁶  the Lord has sent ¹⁷  his servants the prophets to you. But you have not listened or paid attention. ¹⁸  25:5 He said through them, ¹⁹  ‘Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and stop doing the evil things you are doing. ²⁰  If you do, I will allow you to continue to live here in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors as a lasting possession. ²¹  25:6 Do not pay allegiance to ²²  other gods and worship and serve them. Do not make me angry by the things that you do. ²³  Then I will not cause you any harm.’ 25:7 So, now the Lord says, ²⁴  ‘You have not listened to me. But ²⁵  you have made me angry by the things that you have done. ²⁶  Thus you have brought harm on yourselves.’

Jeremiah 26:5

26:5 You must pay attention to the exhortations of my servants the prophets. I have sent them to you over and over again. ²⁷  But you have not paid any attention to them.

Jeremiah 32:33

32:33 They have turned away from me instead of turning to me. ²⁸  I tried over and over again ²⁹  to instruct them, but they did not listen and respond to correction. ³⁰ 

Jeremiah 34:17

34:17 So I, the Lord, say: “You have not really obeyed me and granted freedom to your neighbor and fellow countryman. ³¹  Therefore, I will grant you freedom, the freedom ³²  to die in war, or by starvation or disease. I, the Lord, affirm it! ³³  I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to you. ³⁴ 

Jeremiah 35:14-16

35:14 Jonadab son of Rechab ordered his descendants not to drink wine. His orders have been carried out. ³⁵  To this day his descendants have drunk no wine because they have obeyed what their ancestor commanded them. But I ³⁶  have spoken to you over and over again, ³⁷  but you have not obeyed me! 35:15 I sent all my servants the prophets to warn you over and over again. They said, “Every one of you, stop doing the evil things you have been doing and do what is right. ³⁸  Do not pay allegiance to other gods ³⁹  and worship them. Then you can continue to live in this land that I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you did not pay any attention or listen to me. 35:16 Yes, ⁴⁰  the descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the orders that their ancestor gave them. But you people ⁴¹  have not obeyed me!

Jeremiah 44:4-5

44:4 I sent my servants the prophets to you people over and over ⁴²  again warning you not to do this disgusting thing I hate. ⁴³  44:5 But the people of Jerusalem and Judah ⁴⁴  would not listen or pay any attention. They would not stop the wickedness they were doing nor quit sacrificing to other gods. ⁴⁵ 

Zechariah 1:4-6

1:4 “Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets called out, saying, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “Turn now from your evil wickedness,”’ but they would by no means obey me,” says the Lord. 1:5 “As for your ancestors, where are they? And did the prophets live forever? 1:6 But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? ⁴⁶  Then they paid attention ⁴⁷  and confessed, ‘The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.’”

Zechariah 7:11-13

7:11 “But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear. 7:12 Indeed, they made their heart as hard as diamond, ⁴⁸  so that they could not obey the Torah and the other words the Lord who rules over all had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, the Lord who rules over all had poured out great wrath.

7:13 “‘It then came about that just as I ⁴⁹  cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,’ the Lord Lord who rules over all had said.

Hebrews 12:25

12:25 Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven?

[6:19]  ¹ tn Heb “earth.”

[6:19]  ² tn Heb “Behold!”

[6:19]  ³ tn Heb “disaster on these people, the fruit of their schemes.”

[6:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “my word.”

[7:13]  ⁵ tn This reflects a Hebrew idiom (e.g., 7:25; 11:7; 25:3, 4), i.e., an infinitive of a verb meaning “to do something early [or eagerly]” followed by an infinitive of another verb of action. Cf. HALOT 1384 s.v. שָׁכַם Hiph.2.

[7:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “I called to you and you did not answer.” The words “to repent” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:24]  ⁷ tn Or “They went backward and not forward”; Heb “They were to the backward and not to the forward.” The two phrases used here appear nowhere else in the Bible and the latter preposition plus adverb elsewhere is used temporally meaning “formerly” or “previously.” The translation follows the proposal of J. Bright, Jeremiah (AB), 57. Another option is “they turned their backs to me, not their faces,” understanding the line as a variant of a line in 2:27.

[7:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “from the day your ancestors…until this very day.” However, “day” here is idiomatic for “the present time.”

[7:25]  ⁹ tn On the Hebrew idiom see the note at 7:13.

[7:25]  ¹⁰ tc There is some textual debate about the legitimacy of this expression here. The text reads merely “day” (יוֹם, yom). BHS suggests the word is to be deleted as a dittography of the plural ending of the preceding word. The word is in the Greek and Latin, and the Syriac represents the typical idiom “day after day” as though the noun were repeated. Either יוֹם has dropped out by haplography or a ם (mem) has been left out, i.e., reading יוֹמָם (yomam, “daily”).

[7:26]  ¹¹ tn Or “But your predecessors…”; Heb “But they….” There is a confusing interchange in the pronouns in vv. 25-26 which has led to some leveling in the ancient versions and the modern English versions. What is involved here are four levels of referents, the “you” of the present generation (vv. 21-22a), the ancestors who were delivered from Egypt (i.e., the “they” of vv. 22b-24), the “you” of v. 25 which involves all the Israelites from the Exodus to the time of speaking, and the “they” of v. 26 which cannot be the ancestors of vv. 22-24 (since they cannot be more wicked than themselves) but must be an indefinite entity which is a part of the “you” of v. 25, i.e., the more immediate ancestors of the present generation. If this is kept in mind, there is no need to level the pronouns to “they” and “them” or to “you” and “your” as some of the ancient versions and modern English versions have done.

[7:26]  ¹² tn Heb “hardened [or made stiff] their neck.”

[25:3]  ¹³ sn The year referred to would be 627 b.c. The same year is referred to in 1:2 in reference to his call to be a prophet.

[25:3]  ¹⁴ tn For the idiom involved here see the notes at 7:13 and 11:7.

[25:3]  ¹⁵ tn The words “what he said” are not in the text but are implicit. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[25:4]  ¹⁶ tn For the idiom involved here see the notes at 7:13 and 11:7.

[25:4]  ¹⁷ tn The vav consecutive with the perfect in a past narrative is a little unusual. Here it is probably indicating repeated action in past time in keeping with the idiom that precedes and follows it. See GKC 332 §112.f for other possible examples.

[25:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “inclined your ear to hear.” This is idiomatic for “paying attention.” It is often parallel with “listen” as here or with “pay attention” (see, e.g., Prov 4:20; 51:1).

[25:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “saying.” The infinitive goes back to “he sent”; i.e., “he sent, saying.”

[25:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Turn [masc. pl.] each person from his wicked way and from the evil of your [masc. pl.] doings.” See the same demand in 23:22.

[25:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “gave to you and your fathers with reference to from ancient times even unto forever.” See the same idiom in 7:7.

[25:6]  ²² tn Heb “follow after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for this idiom.

[25:6]  ²³ tn Heb “make me angry with the work of your hands.” The term “work of your own hands” is often interpreted as a reference to idolatry as is clearly the case in Isa 2:8; 37:19. However, the parallelism in 25:14 and the context in 32:30 show that it is more general and refers to what they have done. That is likely the meaning here as well.

[25:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[25:7]  ²⁵ tn This is a rather clear case where the Hebrew particle לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) introduces a consequence and not a purpose, contrary to the dictum of BDB 775 s.v. מַעַן note 1. They have not listened to him in order to make him angry but with the result that they have made him angry by going their own way. Jeremiah appears to use this particle for result rather than purpose on several other occasions (see, e.g., 7:18, 19; 27:10, 15; 32:29).

[25:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “make me angry with the work of your hands.” The term “work of your own hands” is often interpreted as a reference to idolatry as is clearly the case in Isa 2:8; 37:19. However, the parallelism in 25:14 and the context in 32:30 show that it is more general and refers to what they have done. That is likely the meaning here as well.

[26:5]  ²⁷ tn See the translator’s note on 7:13 for the idiom here.

[32:33]  ²⁸ tn Heb “they have turned [their] backs to me, not [their] faces.” Compare the same idiom in 2:27.

[32:33]  ²⁹ tn For the idiom involved here see the translator’s note on 7:13. The verb that introduces this clause is a Piel infinitive absolute which is functioning in place of the finite verb (see, e.g., GKC 346 §113.ff and compare usage in Jer 8:15; 14:19. This grammatical point means that the versions cited in BHS fn a may not be reading a different text after all, but may merely be interpreting the form as syntactically equivalent to a finite verb as the present translation has done.).

[32:33]  ³⁰ tn Heb “But they were not listening so as to accept correction.”

[34:17]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew text has a compound object, the two terms of which have been synonyms in vv. 14, 15. G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 189) make the interesting observation that these two terms (Heb “brother” and “neighbor”) emphasize the relationships that should have taken precedence over their being viewed as mere slaves.

[34:17]  ³² sn This is, of course, a metaphorical and ironical use of the term “to grant freedom to.” It is, however, a typical statement of the concept of talionic justice which is quite often operative in God’s judgments in the OT (cf., e.g., Obad 15).

[34:17]  ³³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[34:17]  ³⁴ sn Compare Jer 15:4; 24:9; 29:18.

[35:14]  ³⁵ tn Heb “The words of Jonadab son of Rechab which he commanded his descendants not to drink wine have been carried out.” (For the construction of the accusative of subject after a passive verb illustrated here see GKC 388 §121.b.) The sentence has been broken down and made more direct to better conform to contemporary English style.

[35:14]  ³⁶ tn The vav (ו) plus the independent pronoun before the verb is intended to mark a sharp contrast. It is difficult, if not impossible to mark this in English other than “But I.”

[35:14]  ³⁷ tn On this idiom (which occurs again in the following verse) see the translator’s note on 7:13 for this idiom and compare its use in 7:13, 25; 11:7; 25:3, 4; 26:5; 29:19; 32:33; 35:14, 15; 44:9.

[35:15]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Turn, each of you, from his [= your] wicked way and make good your deeds.” Compare 18:11 where the same idiom occurs with the added term of “make good your ways.”

[35:15]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Don’t go after/follow other gods.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom and see 11:10; 13:10; 25:6 for the same idiom.

[35:16]  ⁴⁰ tn This is an attempt to represent the particle כִּי (ki) which is probably not really intensive here (cf. BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e) but is one of those causal uses of כִּי that BDB discusses on 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c where the cause is really the failure of the people of Judah and Jerusalem to listen/obey. I.e., the causal particle is at the beginning of the sentence so as not to interrupt the contrast drawn.

[35:16]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “this people.” However, the speech is addressed to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, so the second person is retained in English. In addition to the stylistic difference that Hebrew exhibits in the rapid shift between persons (second to third and third to second, which have repeatedly been noted and documented from GKC 462 §144.p) there may be a subtle rhetorical reason for the shift here. The shift from direct address to indirect address which characterizes this verse and the next may reflect the Lord’s rejection of the people he is addressing. A similar shift takes place in Wisdom’s address to the simple minded, fools, and mockers in Prov 1:28-32 after the direct address of 1:22-27.

[44:4]  ⁴² tn See 7:13 for an explanation of this idiom and compare 7:25; 25:4; 26:5; 29:19; 35:15 for similar references to the persistent warnings of the prophets.

[44:4]  ⁴³ tn Heb “sent…over again, saying, ‘Do not do this terrible thing that I hate.’” The indirect quote has been used to shorten the sentence and eliminate one level of embedded quotes.

[44:5]  ⁴⁴ tn There appears to be a deliberate shift in the pronouns used in vv. 2-5. “You” refers to the people living in Egypt who are being addressed (v. 2) and to the people of present and past generations to whom the Lord persistently sent the prophets (v. 4). “They” refers to the people of Jerusalem and the towns of Judah who have suffered disaster (v. 2) because of the wickedness of sacrificing to other gods (vv. 3, 5). The referents have been explicitly identified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[44:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “They did not listen or incline their ear [= pay attention] by turning from their wickedness by not sacrificing to other gods.” The לְ (lamed) + the negative + the infinitive is again epexegetical. The sentence has been restructured and more idiomatic English expressions have been used to better conform with contemporary English style but an attempt has been made to retain the basic relationships of subordination.

[1:6]  ⁴⁶ tc BHS suggests אֶתְכֶם (’etkhem, “you”) for the MT אֲבֹתֵיכֶם (’avotekhem, “your fathers”) to harmonize with v. 4. In v. 4 the ancestors would not turn but in v. 6 they appear to have done so. The subject in v. 6, however, is to be construed as Zechariah’s own listeners.

[1:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “they turned” (so ASV). Many English versions have “they repented” here; cf. CEV “they turned back to me.”

[7:12]  ⁴⁸ tn The Hebrew term שָׁמִיר (shamir) means literally “hardness” and since it is said in Ezek 3:9 to be harder than flint, many scholars suggest that it refers to diamond. It is unlikely that diamond was known to ancient Israel, however, so probably a hard stone like emery or corundum is in view. The translation nevertheless uses “diamond” because in modern times it has become proverbial for its hardness. A number of English versions use “flint” here (e.g., NASB, NIV).

[7:13]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “he.” Since the third person pronoun refers to the Lord, it has been translated as a first person pronoun (“I”) to accommodate English style, which typically does not exhibit switches between persons of pronouns in the same immediate context as Hebrew does.