Psalms 14:4

14:4 All those who behave wickedly ¹  do not understand – ² 

those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,

and do not call out to the Lord.

Isaiah 43:22

The Lord Rebukes His People

43:22 “But you did not call for me, O Jacob;

you did not long ³  for me, O Israel.

Isaiah 64:7

64:7 No one invokes ⁴  your name,

or makes an effort ⁵  to take hold of you.

For you have rejected us ⁶ 

and handed us over to our own sins. ⁷ 

Zephaniah 1:6

1:6 and those who turn their backs on ⁸  the Lord

and do not want the Lord’s help or guidance.” ⁹ 

[14:4]  ¹ tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8.

[14:4]  ² tn Heb “Do they not understand?” The rhetorical question (rendered in the translation as a positive affirmation) expresses the psalmist’s amazement at their apparent lack of understanding. This may refer to their lack of moral understanding, but it more likely refers to their failure to anticipate God’s defense of his people (see vv. 5-7).

[43:22]  ³ tn Or “strive”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “been weary of me.”

[64:7]  ⁴ tn Or “calls out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “calls on.”

[64:7]  ⁵ tn Or “rouses himself”; NASB “arouses himself.”

[64:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “for you have hidden your face from us.”

[64:7]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and you caused us to melt in the hand of our sin.” The verb וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ (vattÿmugenu) is a Qal preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the root מוּג (mug, “melt”). However, elsewhere the Qal of this verb is intransitive. If the verbal root מוּג (mug) is retained here, the form should be emended to a Polel pattern (וַתְּמֹגְגֵנוּ, vattÿmogÿgenu). The translation assumes an emendation to וַתְּמַגְּנֵנוּ (vattÿmaggÿnenu, “and you handed us over”). This form is a Piel preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the verbal root מִגֵּן (miggen, “hand over, surrender”; see HALOT 545 s.v. מגן and BDB 171 s.v. מָגָן). The point is that God has abandoned them to their sinful ways and no longer seeks reconciliation.

[1:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “turn back from [following] after.”

[1:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “who do not seek the Lord and do not inquire of him.” The present translation assumes the first verb refers to praying for divine help and the second to seeking his revealed will through an oracle. Note the usage of the two verbs in 2 Chr 20:3-4.