Yesaya 1:11-15

1:11 “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?” ¹ 

says the Lord.

“I am stuffed with ²  burnt sacrifices

of rams and the fat from steers.

The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats

I do not want. ³ 

1:12 When you enter my presence,

do you actually think I want this –

animals trampling on my courtyards? ⁴ 

1:13 Do not bring any more meaningless ⁵  offerings;

I consider your incense detestable! ⁶ 

You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,

but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! ⁷ 

1:14 I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies;

they are a burden

that I am tired of carrying.

1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way; ⁸ 

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen,

because your hands are covered with blood. ⁹ 

Yesaya 29:13

29:13 The sovereign master ¹⁰  says,

“These people say they are loyal to me; ¹¹ 

they say wonderful things about me, ¹² 

but they are not really loyal to me. ¹³ 

Their worship consists of

nothing but man-made ritual. ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 48:1-2

The Lord Appeals to the Exiles

48:1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, ¹⁵ 

you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’

and are descended from Judah, ¹⁶ 

who take oaths in the name of the Lord,

and invoke ¹⁷  the God of Israel –

but not in an honest and just manner. ¹⁸ 

48:2 Indeed, they live in the holy city; ¹⁹ 

they trust in ²⁰  the God of Israel,

whose name is the Lord who commands armies.

Ulangan 5:28-29

5:28 When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he ²¹  said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you – they have spoken well. 5:29 If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey ²²  all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever.

Ulangan 5:1

The Opening Exhortation

5:1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: ²³  “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them!

1 Samuel 15:21-25

15:21 But the army took from the plunder some of the sheep and cattle – the best of what was to be slaughtered – to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

15:22 Then Samuel said,

“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as he does in obedience? ²⁴ 

Certainly, ²⁵  obedience ²⁶  is better than sacrifice;

paying attention is better than ²⁷  the fat of rams.

15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,

and presumption is like the evil of idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

he has rejected you as ²⁸  king.”

15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded ²⁹  and what you said as well. ³⁰  For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes. ³¹  15:25 Now please forgive my sin! Go back with me so I can worship ³²  the Lord.”

Amsal 15:8

15:8 The Lord abhors ³³  the sacrifices ³⁴  of the wicked, ³⁵ 

but the prayer ³⁶  of the upright pleases him. ³⁷ 

Yehezkiel 33:30-33

33:30 “But as for you, son of man, your people ³⁸  (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, ³⁹  ‘Come hear the word that comes ⁴⁰  from the Lord.’ 33:31 They come to you in crowds, ⁴¹  and they sit in front of you as ⁴²  my people. They hear your words, but do not obey ⁴³  them. For they talk lustfully, ⁴⁴  and their heart is set on ⁴⁵  their own advantage. ⁴⁶  33:32 Realize ⁴⁷  that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice and skilled musician. ⁴⁸  They hear your words, but they do not obey them. ⁴⁹  33:33 When all this comes true – and it certainly will ⁵⁰  – then they will know that a prophet was among them.”

Matius 15:7-9

15:7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,

15:8 ‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart ⁵¹  is far from me,

15:9 and they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” ⁵² 

Markus 4:16-17

4:16 These are the ones sown on rocky ground: As soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy. 4:17 But ⁵³  they have no root in themselves and do not endure. ⁵⁴  Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away.

Markus 6:20

6:20 because Herod stood in awe of ⁵⁵  John and protected him, since he knew that John ⁵⁶  was a righteous and holy man. When Herod ⁵⁷  heard him, he was thoroughly baffled, ⁵⁸  and yet ⁵⁹  he liked to listen to John. ⁶⁰ 

Yohanes 5:35

5:35 He was a lamp that was burning and shining, ⁶¹  and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time ⁶²  in his light.

Titus 1:16

1:16 They profess to know God but with their deeds they deny him, since they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

Ibrani 6:4-6

6:4 For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 6:5 tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, 6:6 and then have committed apostasy, ⁶³  to renew them again to repentance, since ⁶⁴  they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again ⁶⁵  and holding him up to contempt.

[1:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Why to me the multitude of your sacrifices?” The sarcastic rhetorical question suggests that their many sacrifices are of no importance to the Lord. This phrase answers the possible objection that an Israelite could raise in response to God’s indictment: “But we are offering the sacrifices you commanded!”

[1:11]  sn In this section the Lord refutes a potential objection that his sinful people might offer in their defense. He has charged them with rebellion (vv. 2-3), but they might respond that they have brought him many sacrifices. So he points out that he requires social justice first and foremost, not empty ritual.

[1:11]  ² tn The verb שָׂבַע (sava’, “be satisfied, full”) is often used of eating and/or drinking one’s fill. See BDB 959 s.v. שָׂבַע. Here sacrifices are viewed, in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion, as food for the deity. God here declares that he has eaten and drunk, as it were, his fill.

[1:11]  ³ sn In the chiastic structure of the verse, the verbs at the beginning and end highlight God’s displeasure, while the heaping up of references to animals, fat, and blood in the middle lines hints at why God wants no more of their sacrifices. They have, as it were, piled the food on his table and he needs no more.

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “When you come to appear before me, who requires this from your hand, trampling of my courtyards?” The rhetorical question sarcastically makes the point that God does not require this parade of livestock. The verb “trample” probably refers to the eager worshipers and their sacrificial animals walking around in the temple area.

[1:13]  ⁵ tn Or “worthless” (NASB, NCV, CEV); KJV, ASV “vain.”

[1:13]  ⁶ sn Notice some of the other practices that Yahweh regards as “detestable”: homosexuality (Lev 18:22-30; 20:13), idolatry (Deut 7:25; 13:15), human sacrifice (Deut 12:31), eating ritually unclean animals (Deut 14:3-8), sacrificing defective animals (Deut 17:1), engaging in occult activities (Deut 18:9-14), and practicing ritual prostitution (1 Kgs 14:23).

[1:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “sin and assembly” (these two nouns probably represent a hendiadys). The point is that their attempts at worship are unacceptable to God because the people’s everyday actions in the socio-economic realm prove they have no genuine devotion to God (see vv. 16-17).

[1:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

[1:15]  ⁹ sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.

[29:13]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[29:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Because these people draw near to me with their mouth.”

[29:13]  ¹² tn Heb “and with their lips they honor me.”

[29:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “but their heart is far from me.” The heart is viewed here as the seat of the will, from which genuine loyalty derives.

[29:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught.”

[48:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”

[48:1]  ¹⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and from the waters of Judah came out.” מִמֵּי (mimme) could be a corruption of מִמְּעֵי (mimmÿ’e, “from the inner parts of”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT, NRSV) as suggested in the above translation. Some translations (ESV, NKJV) retain the MT reading because the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.

[48:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”

[48:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”

[48:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they call themselves [or “are called”] from the holy city.” The precise meaning of the statement is uncertain. The Niphal of קָרָא (qara’) is combined with the preposition מִן (min) only here. When the Qal of קָרָא is used with מִן, the preposition often indicates the place from which one is summoned (see 46:11). So one could translate, “from the holy city they are summoned,” meaning that they reside there.

[48:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “lean on” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “rely on.”

[5:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “He” in 5:3.

[5:29]  ²² tn Heb “keep” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[5:1]  ²³ tn Heb “and Moses called to all Israel and he said to them”; NAB, NASB, NIV “Moses summoned (convened NRSV) all Israel.”

[15:22]  ²⁴ tn Heb “as [in] listening to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:22]  ²⁵ tn Heb “look.”

[15:22]  ²⁶ tn Heb “listening.”

[15:22]  ²⁷ tn The expression “is better” is understood here by ellipsis (see the immediately preceding statement).

[15:23]  ²⁸ tn Or “from [being].”

[15:24]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.”

[15:24]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and your words.”

[15:24]  ³¹ tn Heb “and I listened to their voice.”

[15:25]  ³² tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

[15:8]  ³³ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.” Cf. NIV “the Lord detests”; NCV, NLT “the Lord hates”; CEV “the Lord is disgusted.”

[15:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “sacrifice” (so many English versions).

[15:8]  ³⁵ sn The sacrifices of the wicked are hated by the Lord because the worshipers are insincere and blasphemous (e.g., Prov 15:29; 21:3; 28:9; Ps 40:6-8; Isa 1:10-17). In other words, the spiritual condition of the worshiper determines whether or not the worship is acceptable to God.

[15:8]  ³⁶ sn J. H. Greenstone notes that if God will accept the prayers of the upright, he will accept their sacrifices; for sacrifice is an outer ritual and easily performed even by the wicked, but prayer is a private and inward act and not usually fabricated by unbelievers (Proverbs, 162).

[15:8]  ³⁷ tn Heb “[is] his pleasure.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix functions as a subjective genitive: “he is pleased.” God is pleased with the prayers of the upright.

[33:30]  ³⁸ tn Heb “sons of your people.”

[33:30]  ³⁹ tn Heb “one to one, a man to his brother.”

[33:30]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “comes out.”

[33:31]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “as people come.” Apparently this is an idiom indicating that they come in crowds. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:264.

[33:31]  ⁴² tn The word “as” is supplied in the translation.

[33:31]  ⁴³ tn Heb “do.”

[33:31]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “They do lust with their mouths.”

[33:31]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “goes after.”

[33:31]  ⁴⁶ tn The present translation understands the term often used for “unjust gain” in a wider sense, following M. Greenberg, who also notes that the LXX uses a term which can describe either sexual or ritual pollution. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:687.

[33:32]  ⁴⁷ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[33:32]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “one who makes playing music well.”

[33:32]  ⁴⁹ sn Similar responses are found in Isa 29:13; Matt 21:28-32; James 1:22-25.

[33:33]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “behold it is coming.”

[15:8]  ⁵¹ tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.

[15:9]  ⁵² sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

[4:17]  ⁵³ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[4:17]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “are temporary.”

[6:20]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “was fearing,” “was respecting”; the imperfect tense connotes an ongoing fear or respect for John.

[6:20]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:20]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:20]  ⁵⁸ tc In place of ἠπόρει (hporei, “he was baffled”) the majority of mss (A C D ˹ 33 Ï lat sy) have ἐποίει (epoiei, “he did”; cf. KJV’s “he did many things.”) The best mss (א B L [W] Θ 2427 co) support the reading followed in the translation. The variation may be no more than a simple case of confusion of letters, since the two readings look very much alike. The verb ποιέω (poiew, “I do”) certainly occurs more frequently than ἀπορέω (aporew, “I am at a loss”), so a scribe would be more likely to write a more familiar word. Further, even though the reading ἐποίει is the harder reading in terms of the sense, it is virtually nonsensical here, rendering it most likely an unintentional corruption.

[6:20]  tn Or “terribly disturbed,” “rather perplexed.” The verb ἀπορέω (aporew) means “to be in perplexity, with the implication of serious anxiety” (L&N 32.9).

[6:20]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “and yet” to indicate the concessive nature of the final clause.

[6:20]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:35]  ⁶¹ sn He was a lamp that was burning and shining. Sir 48:1 states that the word of Elijah was “a flame like a torch.” Because of the connection of John the Baptist with Elijah (see John 1:21 and the note on John’s reply, “I am not”), it was natural for Jesus to apply this description to John.

[5:35]  ⁶² tn Grk “for an hour.”

[6:6]  ⁶³ tn Or “have fallen away.”

[6:6]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “while”; Grk “crucifying…and holding.” The Greek participles here (“crucifying…and holding”) can be understood as either causal (“since”) or temporal (“while”).

[6:6]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “recrucifying the son of God for themselves.”