Imamat 26:33

26:33 I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword ¹  after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.

Mazmur 95:10

95:10 For forty years I was continually disgusted ²  with that generation,

and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray; ³ 

they do not obey my commands.’ ⁴ 

Yeremia 10:21

10:21 For our leaders ⁵  are stupid.

They have not sought the Lord’s advice. ⁶ 

So they do not act wisely,

and the people they are responsible for ⁷  have all been scattered.

[26:33]  ¹ tn Heb “and I will empty sword” (see HALOT 1228 s.v. ריק 3).

[95:10]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite or an imperfect. If the latter, it emphasizes the ongoing nature of the condition in the past. The translation reflects this interpretation of the verbal form.

[95:10]  ³ tn Heb “a people, wanderers of heart [are] they.”

[95:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they do not know my ways.” In this context the Lord’s “ways” are his commands, viewed as a pathway from which his people, likened to wayward sheep (see v. 7), wander.

[10:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “the shepherds.”

[10:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “They have not sought the Lord.”

[10:21]  sn The idiom translated sought the Lord’s advice quite commonly refers to inquiring for the Lord’s guidance through a prophet. See for example Exod 18:15; 1 Sam 9:9; 1 Kgs 22:8. It would not exclude consulting the law.

[10:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “all their flock (or “pasturage”).”

[10:21]  sn This verse uses the figure of rulers as shepherds and the people they ruled as sheep. It is a common figure in the Bible. See Ezek 34 for an extended development of this metaphor.