Psalms 81:8

81:8 I said, ¹  ‘Listen, my people!

I will warn ²  you!

O Israel, if only you would obey me! ³ 

Isaiah 1:18

1:18 ⁴ Come, let’s consider your options,” ⁵  says the Lord.

“Though your sins have stained you like the color red,

you can become ⁶  white like snow;

though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet,

you can become ⁷  white like wool. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 2:4-5

The Lord Reminds Them of the Unfaithfulness of Their Ancestors

2:4 Now listen to what the Lord has to say, you descendants ⁹  of Jacob,

all you family groups from the nation ¹⁰  of Israel.

2:5 This is what the Lord says:

“What fault could your ancestors ¹¹  have possibly found in me

that they strayed so far from me? ¹² 

They paid allegiance to ¹³  worthless idols, and so became worthless to me. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 2:9

The Lord Charges Contemporary Israel with Spiritual Adultery

2:9 “So, once more I will state my case ¹⁵  against you,” says the Lord.

“I will also state it against your children and grandchildren. ¹⁶ 

Micah 6:1-8

The Lord Demands Justice, not Ritual

6:1 Listen to what the Lord says:

“Get up! Defend yourself ¹⁷  before the mountains! ¹⁸ 

Present your case before the hills!” ¹⁹ 

6:2 Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains,

you enduring foundations of the earth!

For the Lord has a case against his people;

he has a dispute with Israel! ²⁰ 

6:3 “My people, how have I wronged you? ²¹ 

How have I wearied you? Answer me!

6:4 In fact, I brought you up from the land of Egypt,

I delivered you from that place of slavery.

I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. ²² 

6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, ²³ 

how Balaam son of Beor responded to him.

Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal,

so you might acknowledge that the Lord has treated you fairly.” ²⁴ 

6:6 With what should I ²⁵  enter the Lord’s presence?

With what ²⁶  should I bow before the sovereign God? ²⁷ 

Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings,

with year-old calves?

6:7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams,

or ten thousand streams of olive oil?

Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion,

my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin? ²⁸ 

6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what the Lord really wants from you: ²⁹ 

He wants you to ³⁰  promote ³¹  justice, to be faithful, ³² 

and to live obediently before ³³  your God.

[81:8]  ¹ tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Verses 8-10 appear to recall what the Lord commanded the generation of Israelites that experienced the events described in v. 7. Note the statement in v. 11, “my people did not listen to me.”

[81:8]  ² tn Or perhaps “command.”

[81:8]  ³ tn The Hebrew particle אִם (“if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (GKC 321 §109.b). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.

[1:18]  ⁴ sn The Lord concludes his case against Israel by offering them the opportunity to be forgiven and by setting before them the alternatives of renewed blessing (as a reward for repentance) and final judgment (as punishment for persistence in sin).

[1:18]  ⁵ tn Traditionally, “let us reason together,” but the context suggests a judicial nuance. The Lord is giving the nation its options for the future.

[1:18]  ⁶ tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.

[1:18]  ⁷ tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.

[1:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “though your sins are like red, they will become white like snow; though they are red like scarlet, they will be like wool.” The point is not that the sins will be covered up, though still retained. The metaphorical language must be allowed some flexibility and should not be pressed into a rigid literalistic mold. The people’s sins will be removed and replaced by ethical purity. The sins that are now as obvious as the color red will be washed away and the ones who are sinful will be transformed.

[2:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “house.”

[2:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[2:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fathers.”

[2:5]  ¹² tn Or “I did not wrong your ancestors in any way. Yet they went far astray from me.” Both translations are an attempt to render the rhetorical question which demands a negative answer.

[2:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “They went/followed after.” This idiom is found most often in Deuteronomy or covenant contexts. It refers to loyalty to God and to his covenant or his commandments (e.g., 1 Kgs 14:8; 2 Chr 34:31) with the metaphor of a path or way underlying it (e.g., Deut 11:28; 28:14). To “follow other gods” was to abandon this way and this loyalty (i.e., to “abandon” or “forget” God, Judg 2:12; Hos 2:13) and to follow the customs or religious traditions of the pagan nations (e.g., 2 Kgs 17:15). The classic text on “following” God or another god is 1 Kgs 18:18, 21 where Elijah taunts the people with “halting between two opinions” whether the Lord was the true God or Baal was. The idiom is often found followed by “to serve and to worship” or “they served and worshiped” such and such a god or entity (see, e.g., Jer 8:2; 11:10; 13:10; 16:11; 25:6; 35:15).

[2:5]  ¹⁴ tn The words “to me” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context: Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless.” There is an obvious wordplay on the verb “became worthless” and the noun “worthless thing,” which is probably to be understood collectively and to refer to idols as it does in Jer 8:19; 10:8; 14:22; Jonah 2:8.

[2:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “bring charges against you.”

[2:9]  ¹⁶ tn The words “your children and” are supplied in the translation to bring out the idea of corporate solidarity implicit in the passage.

[6:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “plead your case” (NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “present your plea”; NLT “state your case.”

[6:1]  ¹⁸ sn As in some ancient Near Eastern treaties, the mountains are personified as legal witnesses that will settle the dispute between God and Israel.

[6:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “let the hills hear your voice.”

[6:2]  ²⁰ tn This verse briefly interrupts the Lord’s statement (see vv. 1, 3) as the prophet summons the mountains as witnesses. Because of this v. 2 has been placed in parentheses in the translation.

[6:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “My people, what have I done to you?”

[6:4]  ²² tn Heb “before you.”

[6:5]  ²³ tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”

[6:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “From Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the just acts of the Lord.” Something appears to be missing at the beginning of the line. The present translation supplies the words, “Recall how you went.” This apparently refers to how Israel crossed the Jordan River (see Josh 3:1; 4:19-24).

[6:6]  ²⁵ sn With what should I enter the Lord’s presence? The prophet speaks again, playing the role of an inquisitive worshiper who wants to know what God really desires from his followers.

[6:6]  ²⁶ tn The words “with what” do double duty in the parallelism and are supplied in the second line of the translation for clarification.

[6:6]  ²⁷ tn Or “the exalted God.”

[6:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person; here “the sin of my soul” = “my sin.”

[6:8]  ²⁹ sn What the Lord really wants from you. Now the prophet switches roles and answers the hypothetical worshiper’s question. He makes it clear that the Lord desires proper attitudes more than ritual and sacrifice.

[6:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ³² tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ³³ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”