Hosea 7:16

7:16 They turn to Baal; ¹ 

they are like an unreliable bow.

Their leaders will fall by the sword

because their prayers to Baal ²  have made me angry.

So people will disdain them in the land of Egypt. ³ 

Mazmur 14:4

14:4 All those who behave wickedly ⁴  do not understand – ⁵ 

those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,

and do not call out to the Lord.

Yesaya 9:12

9:12 Syria from the east,

and the Philistines from the west,

they gobbled up Israelite territory. ⁶ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁷ 

Zefanya 1:6

1:6 and those who turn their backs on ⁸  the Lord

and do not want the Lord’s help or guidance.” ⁹ 

[7:16]  ¹ tc The MT reads the enigmatic יָשׁוּבוּ לֹא עָל (yashuvu lo’ ’al) which is taken variously: “they turn, but not upward” (NASB); “they do not turn to the Most High” (NIV); “they return, but not to the most High” (KJV). The BHS editors suggest יָשׁוּבוּ לַבַּעַל (yashuvu labba’al, “they turn to Baal”; so RSV) or יָשׁוּבוּ לַבְּלִיַּעַל (yashuvu labbÿliyya’al, “they turn to Belial”) which is reflected by the LXX.

[7:16]  ² tn Heb “because their tongue.” The term “tongue” is used figuratively, as a metonymy of cause (tongue) for the effect (prayers to Baal).

[7:16]  ³ tn Heb “this [will] be for scorn in the land of Egypt”; NIV “they will be ridiculed (NAB shall be mocked) in the land of Egypt.”

[14:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8.

[14:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “Do they not understand?” The rhetorical question (rendered in the translation as a positive affirmation) expresses the psalmist’s amazement at their apparent lack of understanding. This may refer to their lack of moral understanding, but it more likely refers to their failure to anticipate God’s defense of his people (see vv. 5-7).

[9:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they devoured Israel with all the mouth”; NIV “with open mouth”; NLT “With bared fangs.”

[9:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.” One could translate in the past tense here (and in 9:17b and 21b), but the appearance of the refrain in 10:4b, where it follows a woe oracle prophesying a future judgment, suggests it is a dramatic portrait of the judge which did not change throughout this period of past judgment and will remain unchanged in the future. The English present tense is chosen to best reflect this dramatic mood. (See also 5:25b, where the refrain appears following a dramatic description of coming judgment.)

[1:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “turn back from [following] after.”

[1:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “who do not seek the Lord and do not inquire of him.” The present translation assumes the first verb refers to praying for divine help and the second to seeking his revealed will through an oracle. Note the usage of the two verbs in 2 Chr 20:3-4.