Zechariah 1:3

1:3 Therefore say to the people: ¹  The Lord who rules over all ²  says, “Turn ³  to me,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will turn to you,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Isaiah 1:16-19

1:16 ⁴ Wash! Cleanse yourselves!

Remove your sinful deeds ⁵ 

from my sight.

Stop sinning!

1:17 Learn to do what is right!

Promote justice!

Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! ⁶ 

Take up the cause of the orphan!

Defend the rights of the widow! ⁷ 

1:18 ⁸ Come, let’s consider your options,” ⁹  says the Lord.

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

you can become ¹⁰  white like snow;

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

you can become ¹¹  white like wool. ¹² 

1:19 If you have a willing attitude and obey, ¹³ 

then you will again eat the good crops of the land.

Isaiah 31:6

31:6 You Israelites! Return to the one against whom you have so blatantly rebelled! ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 3:12

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. ¹⁵  Tell them,

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

‘I will not continue to look on you with displeasure. ¹⁶ 

For I am merciful,’ says the Lord.

‘I will not be angry with you forever.

Jeremiah 7:3-7

7:3 The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹⁷  says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right. ¹⁸  If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land. ¹⁹  7:4 Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, ²⁰  “We are safe! ²¹  The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!” ²²  7:5 You must change ²³  the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. ²⁴  7:6 Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. ²⁵  Stop killing innocent people ²⁶  in this land. Stop paying allegiance to ²⁷  other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. ²⁸  7:7 If you stop doing these things, ²⁹  I will allow you to continue to live in this land ³⁰  which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession. ³¹ 

Jeremiah 18:11

18:11 So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem ³²  this: The Lord says, ‘I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you. ³³  So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing. ³⁴  Correct the way you have been living and do what is right.’ ³⁵ 

Ezekiel 18:30-32

18:30 “Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct, ³⁶  O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent ³⁷  and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity. ³⁸  18:31 Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! ³⁹  Why should you die, O house of Israel? 18:32 For I take no delight in the death of anyone, ⁴⁰  declares the sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

Ezekiel 33:11

33:11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior ⁴¹  and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! ⁴²  Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

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! ⁴³ 

Amos 5:13-15

5:13 For this reason whoever is smart ⁴⁴  keeps quiet ⁴⁵  in such a time,

for it is an evil ⁴⁶  time.

5:14 Seek good and not evil so you can live!

Then the Lord, the God who commands armies, just might be with you,

as you claim he is.

5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right!

Promote ⁴⁷  justice at the city gate! ⁴⁸ 

Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on ⁴⁹  those who are left from ⁵⁰  Joseph. ⁵¹ 

Amos 5:24

5:24 Justice must flow like torrents of water,

righteous actions ⁵²  like a stream that never dries up.

Matthew 3:8-10

3:8 Therefore produce fruit ⁵³  that proves your ⁵⁴  repentance, 3:9 and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 3:10 Even now the ax is laid at ⁵⁵  the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Acts 3:19

3:19 Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out,

Acts 26:20

26:20 but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, ⁵⁶  and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, ⁵⁷  performing deeds consistent with ⁵⁸  repentance.

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

[1:3]  ² 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]  ³ 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).

[1:16]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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).

[1:17]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The translation assumes an emendation of חָמוֹץ (khamots, “oppressor [?]”) to חָמוּץ (khamuts, “oppressed”), a passive participle from II חָמַץ (khamats, “oppress”; HALOT 329 s.v. II חמץ) and takes the verb II אָשַׁר (’ashar) in the sense of “make happy” (the delocutive Piel, meaning “call/pronounce happy,” is metonymic here, referring to actually effecting happiness). The parallelism favors this interpretation, for the next two lines speak of positive actions on behalf of the destitute. The other option is to retain the MT pointing and translate, “set right the oppressor,” but the nuance “set right” is not clearly attested elsewhere for the verb I אשׁר. This verb does appear as a participle in Isa 3:12 and 9:16 with the meaning “to lead or guide.” If it can mean to “lead” or “rebuke/redirect” in this verse, the prophet could be contrasting this appeal for societal reformation (v. 17c) with a command to reorder their personal lives (v. 17a-b). J. A. Motyer (The Prophecy of Isaiah, 47) suggests that these three statements (v. 17a-c) provide “the contrast between the two ends of imperfect society, the oppressor and the needy, the one inflicting and the other suffering the hurt. Isaiah looks for a transformed society wherever it needs transforming.”

[1:17]  ⁷ tn This word refers to a woman who has lost her husband, by death or divorce. The orphan and widow are often mentioned in the OT as epitomizing the helpless and impoverished who have been left without the necessities of life due to the loss of a family provider.

[1:18]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[1:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “listen”; KJV “obedient”; NASB “If you consent and obey.”

[31:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Return to the one [against] whom the sons of Israel made deep rebellion.” The syntax is awkward here. A preposition is omitted by ellipsis after the verb (see GKC 446 §138.f, n. 2), and there is a shift from direct address (note the second plural imperative “return”) to the third person (note “they made deep”). For other examples of abrupt shifts in person in poetic style, see GKC 462 §144.p.

[3:12]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I will not cause my face to fall on you.”

[7:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God Israel.”

[7:3]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” J. Bright’s translation (“Reform the whole pattern of your conduct”; Jeremiah [AB], 52) is excellent.

[7:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “place” but this might be misunderstood to refer to the temple.

[7:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Stop trusting in lying words which say.”

[7:4]  ²¹ tn The words “We are safe!” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:4]  ²² tn Heb “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these (i.e., these buildings).” Elsewhere triple repetition seems to mark a kind of emphasis (cf. Isa 6:3; Jer 22:29; Ezek 21:27 [32 HT]). The triple repetition that follows seems to be Jeremiah’s way of mocking the (false) sense of security that people had in the invincibility of Jerusalem because God dwelt in the temple. They appeared to be treating the temple as some kind of magical charm. A similar feeling had grown up around the ark in the time of the judges (cf. 1 Sam 3:3) and the temple and city of Jerusalem in Micah’s day (cf. Mic 3:11). It is reflected also in some of the Psalms (cf., e.g., Ps 46, especially v. 5).

[7:5]  ²³ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[7:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “you must do justice between a person and his fellow/neighbor.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[7:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Stop oppressing foreigner, orphan, and widow.”

[7:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Stop shedding innocent blood.”

[7:6]  ²⁷ tn Heb “going/following after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

[7:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “going after other gods to your ruin.”

[7:7]  ²⁹ tn The translation uses imperatives in vv. 5-6 followed by the phrase, “If you do all this,” to avoid the long and complex sentence structure of the Hebrew sentence which has a series of conditional clauses in vv. 5-6 followed by a main clause in v. 7.

[7:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “live in this place, in this land.”

[7:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “gave to your fathers [with reference to] from ancient times even unto forever.”

[18:11]  ³² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[18:11]  ³³ sn Heb “I am forming disaster and making plans against you.” The word translated “forming” is the same as that for “potter,” so there is a wordplay taking the reader back to v. 5. They are in his hands like the clay in the hands of the potter. Since they have not been pliable he forms new plans. He still offers them opportunity to repent; but their response is predictable.

[18:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Turn, each one from his wicked way.” See v. 8.

[18:11]  ³⁵ tn Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” See the same expression in 7:3, 5.

[18:30]  ³⁶ tn Heb “ways.”

[18:30]  ³⁷ tn The verbs and persons in this verse are plural whereas the individual has been the subject of the chapter.

[18:30]  ³⁸ tn Or “leading to punishment.”

[18:31]  ³⁹ sn In Ezek 11:19, 36:26 the new heart and new spirit are promised as future blessings.

[18:32]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the death of the one dying.”

[33:11]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “turn from his way.”

[33:11]  ⁴² tn Heb “ways.” This same word is translated “behavior” earlier in the verse.

[14:1]  ⁴³ tn Heb “For you have stumbled in your iniquity”; NASB, NRSV “because of your iniquity.”

[5:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “the wise”; or “the prudent.” Another option is to translate “the successful, prosperous” and understand this as a reference to the rich oppressors. See G. V. Smith, Amos, 169-70. In this case the following verb will also have a different nuance, that is, the wealthy remain silent before the abuses they perpetuate. See the note on the verb translated “keeps quiet” later in this verse.

[5:13]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “moans, laments,” from a homonymic verbal root. If the rich oppressors are in view, then the verb (whether translated “will be silenced” or “will lament”) describes the result of God’s judgment upon them. See G. V. Smith, Amos, 170.

[5:13]  ⁴⁶ tn If this is a judgment announcement against the rich, then the Hebrew phrase עֵת רָעָה (’et ra’ah) must be translated, “[a] disastrous time.” See G. V. Smith, Amos, 170.

[5:15]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “set up, establish.” In the ancient Near East it was the responsibility especially of the king to establish justice. Here the prophet extends that demand to local leaders and to the nation as a whole (cf. 5:24).

[5:15]  ⁴⁸ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate (see the note in v. 12). This repetition of this phrase serves to highlight a deliberate contrast to the injustices cited in vv. 11-13.

[5:15]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “will show favor to.”

[5:15]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “the remnant of” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “what’s left of your people.”

[5:15]  ⁵¹ sn Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[5:24]  ⁵² tn Traditionally, “righteousness.”

[3:8]  ⁵³ sn Fruit worthy of repentance refers to the deeds that indicate a change of attitude (heart) on the part of John’s hearers.

[3:8]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “fruit worthy of.”

[3:10]  ⁵⁵ sn Laid at the root. That is, placed and aimed, ready to begin cutting.

[26:20]  ⁵⁶ tn BDAG 1093-94 s.v. χώρα 2.b states, “of the provincial name (1 Macc 8:3) ἡ χώρα τῆς ᾿Ιουδαίας Ac 26:20.”

[26:20]  ⁵⁷ sn That they should repent and turn to God. This is the shortest summary of Paul’s message that he preached.

[26:20]  ⁵⁸ tn BDAG 93 s.v. ἄξιος 1.b, “καρποὶ ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας fruits in keeping with your repentance…Lk 3:8; Mt 3:8. For this ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας ἔργα Ac 26:20.” Note how Paul preached the gospel offer and the issue of response together, side by side.