Leviticus 26:40-42

26:40 However, when ¹  they confess their iniquity and their ancestors’ iniquity which they committed by trespassing against me, ²  by which they also walked ³  in hostility against me ⁴  26:41 (and I myself will walk in hostility against them and bring them into the land of their enemies), and ⁵  then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled and they make up for ⁶  their iniquity, 26:42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, ⁷  and I will remember the land.

Deuteronomy 4:29-31

4:29 But if you seek the Lord your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul. ⁸  4:30 In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, ⁹  if you return to the Lord your God and obey him ¹⁰  4:31 (for he ¹¹  is a merciful God), he will not let you down ¹²  or destroy you, for he cannot ¹³  forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them.

Deuteronomy 30:1-4

The Results of Covenant Reaffirmation

30:1 “When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses ¹⁴  I have set before you, you will reflect upon them ¹⁵  in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you. 30:2 Then if you and your descendants ¹⁶  turn to the Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being ¹⁷  just as ¹⁸  I am commanding you today, 30:3 the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he ¹⁹  has scattered you. 30:4 Even if your exiles are in the most distant land, ²⁰  from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.

Deuteronomy 30:1

The Results of Covenant Reaffirmation

30:1 “When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses ²¹  I have set before you, you will reflect upon them ²²  in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you.

Deuteronomy 8:1

The Lord’s Provision in the Desert

8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments ²³  I am giving ²⁴  you today so that you may live, increase in number, ²⁵  and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. ²⁶ 

Nehemiah 1:8-9

1:8 Please recall the word you commanded your servant Moses: ‘If you act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the nations. ²⁷  1:9 But if you repent ²⁸  and obey ²⁹  my commandments and do them, then even if your dispersed people are in the most remote location, ³⁰  I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for my name to reside.’

Isaiah 55:6-7

55:6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; ³¹ 

call to him while he is nearby!

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ³² 

and sinful people their plans. ³³ 

They should return ³⁴  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ³⁵ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ³⁶ 

Jeremiah 3:12-14

The Lord Calls on Israel and Judah to Repent

3:12 “Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north. ³⁷  Tell them,

‘Come back to me, wayward Israel,’ says the Lord.

‘I will not continue to look on you with displeasure. ³⁸ 

For I am merciful,’ says the Lord.

‘I will not be angry with you forever.

3:13 However, you must confess that you have done wrong, ³⁹ 

and that you have rebelled against the Lord your God.

You must confess ⁴⁰  that you have given yourself to ⁴¹  foreign gods under every green tree,

and have not obeyed my commands,’ says the Lord.

3:14 “Come back to me, my wayward sons,” says the Lord, “for I am your true master. ⁴²  If you do, ⁴³  I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion.

Jeremiah 3:22

3:22 Come back to me, you wayward people.

I want to cure your waywardness. ⁴⁴ 

Say, ⁴⁵  ‘Here we are. We come to you

because you are the Lord our God.

Ezekiel 18:30-32

18:30 “Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct, ⁴⁶  O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent ⁴⁷  and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity. ⁴⁸  18:31 Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! ⁴⁹  Why should you die, O house of Israel? 18:32 For I take no delight in the death of anyone, ⁵⁰  declares the sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

Hosea 14:1

Prophetic Call to Genuine Repentance

14:1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,

for your sin has been your downfall! ⁵¹ 

Zechariah 1:3

1:3 Therefore say to the people: ⁵²  The Lord who rules over all ⁵³  says, “Turn ⁵⁴  to me,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will turn to you,” says the Lord who rules over all.

James 4:8

4:8 Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded. ⁵⁵ 

[26:40]  ¹ tn Heb “And.” Many English versions take this to be a conditional clause (“if…”) though there is no conditional particle (see, e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV; but see the very different rendering in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 190). The temporal translation offered here (“when”) takes into account the particle אָז (’az, “then”), which occurs twice in v. 41. The obvious contextual contrast between vv. 39 and 40 is expressed by “however” in the translation.

[26:40]  ² tn Heb “in their trespassing which they trespassed in me.” See the note on Lev 5:15, although the term is used in a more technical sense there in relation to the “guilt offering.”

[26:40]  ³ tn Heb “and also which they walked.”

[26:40]  ⁴ tn Heb “with me.”

[26:41]  ⁵ tn Heb “or then,” although the LXX has “then” and the Syriac “and then.”

[26:41]  ⁶ tn Heb “and then they make up for.” On the verb “make up for” see the note on v. 34 above.

[26:42]  ⁷ tn Heb “my covenant with Abraham I will remember.” The phrase “I will remember” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[4:29]  ⁸ tn Or “mind and being.” See Deut 6:5.

[4:30]  ⁹ sn The phrase is not used here in a technical sense for the eschaton, but rather refers to a future time when Israel will be punished for its sin and experience exile. See Deut 31:29.

[4:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “hear his voice.” The expression is an idiom meaning “obey,” occurring in Deut 8:20; 9:23; 13:18; 21:18, 20; 26:14, 17; 27:10; 28:1-2, 15, 45, 62; 30:2, 8, 10, 20.

[4:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 4:3.

[4:31]  ¹² tn Heb “he will not drop you,” i.e., “will not abandon you” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[4:31]  ¹³ tn Or “will not.” The translation understands the imperfect verbal form to have an added nuance of capability here.

[30:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the blessing and the curse.”

[30:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and you bring (them) back to your heart.”

[30:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “children.”

[30:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “heart and soul” (also in vv. 6, 10).

[30:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “according to all.”

[30:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[30:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “are at the farthest edge of the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[30:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “the blessing and the curse.”

[30:1]  ²² tn Heb “and you bring (them) back to your heart.”

[8:1]  ²³ tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).

[8:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).

[8:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”

[8:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).

[1:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “peoples.”

[1:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “turn to me.”

[1:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

[1:9]  ³⁰ tn Heb “at the end of the heavens.”

[55:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “while he allows himself to be found.” The Niphal form has a tolerative force here.

[55:7]  ³² tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ³³ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ³⁵ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ³⁶ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

[3:12]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Go and proclaim these words to the north.” The translation assumes that the message is directed toward the exiles of northern Israel who have been scattered in the provinces of Assyria to the north.

[3:12]  ³⁸ tn Heb “I will not cause my face to fall on you.”

[3:13]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Only acknowledge your iniquity.”

[3:13]  ⁴⁰ tn The words “You must confess” are repeated to convey the connection. The Hebrew text has an introductory “that” in front of the second line and a coordinative “and” in front of the next two lines.

[3:13]  ⁴¹ tc MT reads דְּרָכַיִךְ (dÿrakhayikh, “your ways”), but the BHS editors suggest דּוֹדַיִךְ (dodayikh, “your breasts”) as an example of orthographic confusion. While the proposal makes sense, it remains a conjectural emendation since it is not supported by any actual manuscripts or ancient versions.

[3:14]  ⁴² tn Or “I am your true husband.”

[3:14]  ⁴³ tn The words, “If you do” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection of the Hebrew verb with the preceding.

[3:22]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “I will forgive your apostasies.” Heb “I will [or want to] heal your apostasies.” For the use of the verb “heal” (רָפָא, rafa’) to refer to spiritual healing and forgiveness see Hos 14:4.

[3:22]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “They say.” There is an obvious ellipsis of a verb of saying here since the preceding words are those of the Lord and the following are those of the people. However, there is debate about whether these are the response of the people to the Lord’s invitation, a response which is said to be inadequate according to the continuation in 4:1-4, or whether these are the Lord’s model for Israel’s confession of repentance to which he adds further instructions about the proper heart attitude that should accompany it in 4:1-4. The former implies a dialogue with an unmarked twofold shift in speaker between 3:22b-25 and 4:1-4:4 while the latter assumes the same main speaker throughout with an unmarked instruction only in 3:22b-25. This disrupts the flow of the passage less and appears more likely.

[18:30]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “ways.”

[18:30]  ⁴⁷ tn The verbs and persons in this verse are plural whereas the individual has been the subject of the chapter.

[18:30]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “leading to punishment.”

[18:31]  ⁴⁹ sn In Ezek 11:19, 36:26 the new heart and new spirit are promised as future blessings.

[18:32]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “the death of the one dying.”

[14:1]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “For you have stumbled in your iniquity”; NASB, NRSV “because of your iniquity.”

[1:3]  ⁵² tn Heb “to them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:3]  ⁵³ sn The epithet Lord who rules over all occurs frequently as a divine title throughout Zechariah (53 times total). This name (יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, yÿhvah tsÿva’ot), traditionally translated “Lord of hosts” (so KJV, NAB, NASB; cf. NIV, NLT “Lord Almighty”; NCV, CEV “Lord All-Powerful”), emphasizes the majestic sovereignty of the Lord, an especially important concept in the postexilic world of great human empires and rulers. For a thorough study of the divine title, see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 123-57.

[1:3]  ⁵⁴ tn The Hebrew verb שׁוּב (shuv) is common in covenant contexts. To turn from the Lord is to break the covenant and to turn to him (i.e., to repent) is to renew the covenant relationship (cf. 2 Kgs 17:13).

[4:8]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “two-minded” (the same description used in 1:8).