Psalms 34:14

34:14 Turn away from evil and do what is right! ¹ 

Strive for peace and promote it! ² 

Proverbs 3:7

3:7 Do not be wise in your own estimation; ³ 

fear the Lord and turn away from evil. ⁴ 

Proverbs 13:14

13:14 Instruction ⁵  from the wise ⁶  is like ⁷  a life-giving fountain, ⁸ 

to turn ⁹  a person ¹⁰  from deadly snares. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 16:17

16:17 The highway ¹²  of the upright is to turn ¹³  away from evil;

the one who guards ¹⁴  his way safeguards his life. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 1:16

1:16 ¹⁶ Wash! Cleanse yourselves!

Remove your sinful deeds ¹⁷ 

from my sight.

Stop sinning!

Isaiah 1:2

Obedience, not Sacrifice

1:2 Listen, O heavens,

pay attention, O earth! ¹⁸ 

For the Lord speaks:

“I raised children, ¹⁹  I brought them up, ²⁰ 

but ²¹  they have rebelled ²²  against me!

Isaiah 2:19

2:19 They ²³  will go into caves in the rocky cliffs

and into holes in the ground, ²⁴ 

trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord ²⁵ 

and his royal splendor,

when he rises up to terrify the earth. ²⁶ 

Isaiah 2:1

The Future Glory of Jerusalem

2:1 Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem ²⁷  that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz. ²⁸ 

Isaiah 3:11

3:11 Too bad for the wicked sinners!

For they will get exactly what they deserve. ²⁹ 

[34:14]  ¹ tn Or “do good.”

[34:14]  ² tn Heb “seek peace and pursue it.”

[3:7]  ³ tn Heb “in your own eyes” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.”

[3:7]  ⁴ sn The second colon clarifies the first. If one fears the Lord and turns away from evil, then he is depending on the Lord and not wise in his own eyes. There is a higher source of wisdom than human insight.

[13:14]  ⁵ tn The term תוֹרָה (torah) in legal literature means “law,” but in wisdom literature often means “instruction; teaching” (BDB 435 s.v.); cf. NAV, NIV, NRSV “teaching”; NLT “advice.”

[13:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “instruction of the wise.” The term חָכָם (khakham, “the wise”) is a genitive of source.

[13:14]  ⁷ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[13:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “fountain of life” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). The genitive חַיִּים (khayyim) functions as a genitive of material, similar to the expression “fountain of water.” The metaphor means that the teaching of the wise is life-giving. The second colon is the consequence of the first, explaining this metaphor.

[13:14]  ⁹ tn The infinitive construct with preposition לְ (lamed) gives the result (or, purpose) of the first statement. It could also be taken epexegetically, “by turning.”

[13:14]  ¹⁰ tn The term “person” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[13:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “snares of death” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The genitive מָוֶת (mavet) functions as an attributive adjective. The term “snares” makes an implied comparison with hunting; death is like a hunter. W. McKane compares the idea to the Ugaritic god Mot, the god of death, carrying people off to the realm of the departed (Proverbs [OTL], 455). The expression could also mean that the snares lead to death.

[16:17]  ¹² sn The point of righteous living is made with the image of a highway, a raised and well-graded road (a hypocatastasis, implying a comparison between a highway and the right way of living).

[16:17]  ¹³ tn The form סוּר (sur) is a Qal infinitive; it indicates that a purpose of the righteous life is to turn away from evil. “Evil” here has the sense of sinful living. So the first line asserts that the well-cared-for life avoids sin.

[16:17]  ¹⁴ sn The second half of the verse uses two different words for “guard”; this one is נֹצֵר (notser) “the one who guards his way,” and the first is שֹׁמֵר (shomer) “the one who guards his life” (the order of the words is reversed in the translation). The second colon then explains further the first (synthetic parallelism), because to guard one’s way preserves life.

[16:17]  ¹⁵ tc The LXX adds three lines after 17a and one after 17b: “The paths of life turn aside from evils, and the ways of righteousness are length of life; he who receives instruction will be prosperous, and he who regards reproofs will be made wise; he who guards his ways preserves his soul, and he who loves his life will spare his mouth.”

[1:16]  ¹⁶ sn Having demonstrated the people’s guilt, the Lord calls them to repentance, which will involve concrete action in the socio-economic realm, not mere emotion.

[1:16]  ¹⁷ sn This phrase refers to Israel’s covenant treachery (cf. Deut 28:10; Jer 4:4; 21:12; 23:2, 22; 25:5; 26:3; 44:22; Hos 9:15; Ps 28:4). In general, the noun ַמעַלְלֵיכֶם (ma’alleykhem) can simply be a reference to deeds, whether good or bad. However, Isaiah always uses it with a negative connotation (cf. 3:8, 10).

[1:2]  ¹⁸ sn The personified heavens and earth are summoned to God’s courtroom as witnesses against God’s covenant people. Long before this Moses warned the people that the heavens and earth would be watching their actions (see Deut 4:26; 30:19; 31:28; 32:1).

[1:2]  ¹⁹ tn Or “sons” (NAB, NASB).

[1:2]  ²⁰ sn The normal word pair for giving birth to and raising children is יָלַד (yalad, “to give birth to”) and גָּדַל (gadal, “to grow, raise”). The pair גָּדַל and רוּם (rum, “to raise up”) probably occur here to highlight the fact that Yahweh made something important of Israel (cf. R. Mosis, TDOT 2:403).

[1:2]  ²¹ sn Against the backdrop of Yahweh’s care for his chosen people, Israel’s rebellion represents abhorrent treachery. The conjunction prefixed to a nonverbal element highlights the sad contrast between Yahweh’s compassionate care for His people and Israel’s thankless rebellion.

[1:2]  ²² sn To rebel carries the idea of “covenant treachery.” Although an act of פֶּשַׁע (pesha’, “rebellion”) often signifies a breach of the law, the legal offense also represents a violation of an existing covenantal relationship (E. Carpenter and M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 3:707).

[2:19]  ²³ tn The identity of the grammatical subject is unclear. The “idols” could be the subject; they will “go” into the caves and holes when the idolaters throw them there in their haste to escape God’s judgment (see vv. 20-21). The picture of the idols, which represent the foreign deities worshiped by the people, fleeing from the Lord would be highly polemical and fit the overall mood of the chapter. However it seems more likely that the idolaters themselves are the subject, for v. 10 uses similar language in sarcastically urging them to run from judgment.

[2:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “dust”; ASV “into the holes of the earth.”

[2:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “from the dread of the Lord,” that is, from the dread that he produces in the objects of his judgment.” The words “trying to escape” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:19]  ²⁶ tn Or “land.” It is not certain if these verses are describing the judgment of Judah (see vv. 6-9) or a more universal judgment on all proud men.

[2:1]  ²⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the word which Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.”

[3:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “for the work of his hands will be done to him.”