Yesaya 9:12-13

9:12 Syria from the east,

and the Philistines from the west,

they gobbled up Israelite territory. ¹ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ² 

9:13 The people did not return to the one who struck them,

they did not seek reconciliation ³  with the Lord who commands armies.

Yesaya 9:17

9:17 So the sovereign master was not pleased ⁴  with their young men,

he took no pity ⁵  on their orphans and widows;

for the whole nation was godless ⁶  and did wicked things, ⁷ 

every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. ⁸ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁹ 

Yesaya 9:21

9:21 Manasseh fought against ¹⁰  Ephraim,

and Ephraim against Manasseh;

together they fought against Judah.

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ¹¹ 

Yesaya 10:4

10:4 You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,

or to fall among those who have been killed. ¹² 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ¹³ 

Imamat 26:14-46

The Consequences of Disobedience

26:14 “‘If, however, ¹⁴  you do not obey me and keep ¹⁵  all these commandments – 26:15 if you reject my statutes and abhor my regulations so that you do not keep ¹⁶  all my commandments and you break my covenant – 26:16 I for my part ¹⁷  will do this to you: I will inflict horror on you, consumption and fever, which diminish eyesight and drain away the vitality of life. ¹⁸  You will sow your seed in vain because ¹⁹  your enemies will eat it. ²⁰  26:17 I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you.

26:18 “‘If, in spite of all these things, ²¹  you do not obey me, I will discipline you seven times more on account of your sins. ²²  26:19 I will break your strong pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze. 26:20 Your strength will be used up in vain, your land will not give its yield, and the trees of the land ²³  will not produce their fruit.

26:21 “‘If you walk in hostility against me ²⁴  and are not willing to obey me, I will increase your affliction ²⁵  seven times according to your sins. 26:22 I will send the wild animals ²⁶  against you and they will bereave you of your children, ²⁷  annihilate your cattle, and diminish your population ²⁸  so that your roads will become deserted.

26:23 “‘If in spite of these things ²⁹  you do not allow yourselves to be disciplined and you walk in hostility against me, ³⁰  26:24 I myself will also walk in hostility against you and strike you ³¹  seven times on account of your sins. 26:25 I will bring on you an avenging sword, a covenant vengeance. ³²  Although ³³  you will gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you and you will be given into enemy hands. ³⁴  26:26 When I break off your supply of bread, ³⁵  ten women will bake your bread in one oven; they will ration your bread by weight, ³⁶  and you will eat and not be satisfied.

26:27 “‘If in spite of this ³⁷  you do not obey me but walk in hostility against me, ³⁸  26:28 I will walk in hostile rage against you ³⁹  and I myself will also discipline you seven times on account of your sins. 26:29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. ⁴⁰  26:30 I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars, ⁴¹  and I will stack your dead bodies on top of the lifeless bodies of your idols. ⁴²  I will abhor you. ⁴³  26:31 I will lay your cities waste ⁴⁴  and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will refuse to smell your soothing aromas. 26:32 I myself will make the land desolate and your enemies who live in it will be appalled. 26:33 I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword ⁴⁵  after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.

26:34 “‘Then the land will make up for ⁴⁶  its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land will rest and make up its Sabbaths. 26:35 All the days of the desolation it will have the rest it did not have ⁴⁷  on your Sabbaths when you lived on it.

26:36 “‘As for ⁴⁸  the ones who remain among you, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a blowing leaf will pursue them, and they will flee as one who flees the sword and fall down even though there is no pursuer. 26:37 They will stumble over each other as those who flee before a sword, though ⁴⁹  there is no pursuer, and there will be no one to take a stand ⁵⁰  for you before your enemies. 26:38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will consume you.

Restoration through Confession and Repentance

26:39 “‘As for the ones who remain among you, they will rot away because of ⁵¹  their iniquity in the lands of your enemies, and they will also rot away because of their ancestors’ ⁵²  iniquities which are with them. 26:40 However, when ⁵³  they confess their iniquity and their ancestors’ iniquity which they committed by trespassing against me, ⁵⁴  by which they also walked ⁵⁵  in hostility against me ⁵⁶  26:41 (and I myself will walk in hostility against them and bring them into the land of their enemies), and ⁵⁷  then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled and they make up for ⁵⁸  their iniquity, 26:42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, ⁵⁹  and I will remember the land. 26:43 The land will be abandoned by them ⁶⁰  in order that it may make up for ⁶¹  its Sabbaths while it is made desolate ⁶²  without them, ⁶³  and they will make up for their iniquity because ⁶⁴  they have rejected my regulations and have abhorred ⁶⁵  my statutes. 26:44 In spite of this, however, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them and abhor them to make a complete end of them, to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. 26:45 I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors ⁶⁶  whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

Summary Colophon

26:46 These are the statutes, regulations, and instructions which the Lord established ⁶⁷  between himself and the Israelites at Mount Sinai through ⁶⁸  Moses.

Mazmur 78:38

78:38 Yet he is compassionate.

He forgives sin and does not destroy.

He often holds back his anger,

and does not stir up his fury. ⁶⁹ 

Daniel 9:16

9:16 O Lord, according to all your justice, ⁷⁰  please turn your raging anger ⁷¹  away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. For due to our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people are mocked by all our neighbors.

Hosea 14:4

Divine Promise to Relent from Judgment and to Restore Blessings

14:4 “I will heal their waywardness ⁷² 

and love them freely, ⁷³ 

for my anger will turn ⁷⁴  away from them.

[9:12]  ¹ tn Heb “and they devoured Israel with all the mouth”; NIV “with open mouth”; NLT “With bared fangs.”

[9:12]  ² 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.)

[9:13]  ³ tn This verse describes the people’s response to the judgment described in vv. 11-12. The perfects are understood as indicating simple past.

[9:17]  ⁴ tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has לא יחמול (“he did not spare”) which is an obvious attempt to tighten the parallelism (note “he took no pity” in the next line). Instead of taking שָׂמַח (samakh) in one of its well attested senses (“rejoice over, be pleased with”), some propose, with support from Arabic, a rare homonymic root meaning “be merciful.”

[9:17]  ⁵ tn The translation understands the prefixed verbs יִשְׂמַח (yismakh) and יְרַחֵם (yÿrakhem) as preterites without vav (ו) consecutive. (See v. 11 and the note on “he stirred up.”)

[9:17]  ⁶ tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “profaned”; NIV “ungodly.”

[9:17]  ⁷ tn מֵרַע (mera’) is a Hiphil participle from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil”). The intransitive Hiphil has an exhibitive force here, indicating that they exhibited outwardly the evidence of an inward condition by committing evil deeds.

[9:17]  ⁸ tn Or “foolishness” (NASB), here in a moral-ethical sense.

[9:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”

[9:17]  sn See the note at 9:12.

[9:21]  ¹⁰ tn The words “fought against” are supplied in the translation both here and later in this verse for stylistic reasons.

[9:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched” (KJV and ASV both similar); NIV “his hand is still upraised.”

[9:21]  sn See the note at 9:12.

[10:4]  ¹² tn Heb “except one kneels in the place of the prisoner, and in the place of the slain [who] fall.” On the force of בִּלְתִּי (bilti, “except”) and its logical connection to what precedes, see BDB 116 s.v. בֵלֶת. On the force of תַּחַת (takhat, “in the place of”) here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:258, n. 6.

[10:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “in all this his anger was not turned, and still his hand was outstretched”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “his had is stretched out still.”

[10:4]  sn See the note at 9:12.

[26:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “And if.”

[26:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and do not do.”

[26:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to not do.”

[26:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or “I also” (see HALOT 76 s.v. אַף 6.b).

[26:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “soul.” These expressions may refer either to the physical effects of consumption and fever as the rendering in the text suggests (e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452, 454, “diminishing eyesight and loss of appetite”), or perhaps the more psychological effects, “which exhausts the eyes” because of anxious hope “and causes depression” (Heb “causes soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] to pine away”), e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 185.

[26:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have causal force here.

[26:16]  ²⁰ tn That is, “your enemies will eat” the produce that grows from the sown seed.

[26:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “And if until these.”

[26:18]  ²² tn Heb “I will add to discipline you seven [times] on your sins.”

[26:20]  ²³ tn Heb “the tree of the land will not give its fruit.” The collective singular has been translated as a plural. Tg. Onq., some medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, LXX, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “the field” as in v. 4, rather than “the land.”

[26:21]  ²⁴ tn Heb “hostile with me,” but see the added preposition בְּ (bet) on the phrase “in hostility” in v. 24 and 27.

[26:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “your blow, stroke”; cf. TEV “punishment”; NLT “I will inflict you with seven more disasters.”

[26:22]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the animal of the field.” This collective singular has been translated as a plural. The expression “animal of the field” refers to a wild (i.e., nondomesticated) animal.

[26:22]  ²⁷ tn The words “of your children” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[26:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and diminish you.”

[26:23]  ²⁹ tn Heb “And if in these.”

[26:23]  ³⁰ tn Heb “with me,” but see the added preposition בְּ (bet) on the phrase “in hostility” in vv. 24 and 27.

[26:24]  ³¹ tn Heb “and I myself will also strike you.”

[26:25]  ³² tn Heb “vengeance of covenant”; cf. NAB “the avenger of my covenant.”

[26:25]  ³³ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has a concessive force in this context.

[26:25]  ³⁴ tn Heb “in hand of enemy,” but Tg. Ps.-J. and Tg. Neof. have “in the hands of your enemies” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 454).

[26:26]  ³⁵ tn Heb “When I break to you staff of bread” (KJV, ASV, and NASB all similar).

[26:26]  ³⁶ tn Heb “they will return your bread in weight.”

[26:27]  ³⁷ tn Heb “And if in this.”

[26:27]  ³⁸ tn Heb “with me.”

[26:28]  ³⁹ tn Heb “in rage of hostility with you”; NASB “with wrathful hostility”; NRSV “I will continue hostile to you in fury”; CEV “I’ll get really furious.”

[26:29]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and the flesh of your daughters you will eat.” The phrase “you will eat” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[26:30]  ⁴¹ sn Regarding these cultic installations, see the remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 188, and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:903. The term rendered “incense altars” might better be rendered “sanctuaries [of foreign deities]” or “stelae.”

[26:30]  ⁴² tn The translation reflects the Hebrew wordplay “your corpses…the corpses of your idols.” Since idols, being lifeless, do not really have “corpses,” the translation uses “dead bodies” for people and “lifeless bodies” for the idols.

[26:30]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and my soul will abhor you.”

[26:31]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “And I will give your cities a waste”; NLT “make your cities desolate.”

[26:33]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and I will empty sword” (see HALOT 1228 s.v. ריק 3).

[26:34]  ⁴⁶ tn There are two Hebrew roots רָצָה (ratsah), one meaning “to be pleased with; to take pleasure” (HALOT 1280-81 s.v. רצה; cf. “enjoy” in NASB, NIV, NRSV, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452), and the other meaning “to restore” (HALOT 1281-82 s.v. II רצה; cf. NAB “retrieve” and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 189).

[26:35]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “it shall rest which it did not rest.”

[26:36]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “And.”

[26:37]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) is used in a concessive sense here.

[26:37]  ⁵⁰ tn The term rendered “to stand up” is a noun, not an infinitive. It occurs only here and appears to designate someone who would take a powerful stand for them against their enemies.

[26:39]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “in” (so KJV, ASV; also later in this verse).

[26:39]  ⁵² tn Heb “fathers’” (also in the following verse).

[26:40]  ⁵³ tn Heb “And.” Many English versions take this to be a conditional clause (“if…”) though there is no conditional particle (see, e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV; but see the very different rendering in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 190). The temporal translation offered here (“when”) takes into account the particle אָז (’az, “then”), which occurs twice in v. 41. The obvious contextual contrast between vv. 39 and 40 is expressed by “however” in the translation.

[26:40]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “in their trespassing which they trespassed in me.” See the note on Lev 5:15, although the term is used in a more technical sense there in relation to the “guilt offering.”

[26:40]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and also which they walked.”

[26:40]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “with me.”

[26:41]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “or then,” although the LXX has “then” and the Syriac “and then.”

[26:41]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and then they make up for.” On the verb “make up for” see the note on v. 34 above.

[26:42]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “my covenant with Abraham I will remember.” The phrase “I will remember” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[26:43]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “from them.” The preposition “from” refers here to the agent of the action (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 455).

[26:43]  ⁶¹ tn The jussive form of the verb with the simple vav (ו) here calls for a translation that expresses purpose.

[26:43]  ⁶² tn The verb is the Hophal infinitive construct with the third feminine singular suffix (GKC 182 §67.y; cf. v. 34).

[26:43]  ⁶³ tn Heb “from them.”

[26:43]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “because and in because,” a double expression, which is used only here and in Ezek 13:10 (without the vav) for emphasis (GKC 492 §158.b).

[26:43]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “and their soul has abhorred.”

[26:45]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “covenant of former ones.”

[26:45]  sn For similar expressions referring back to the ancestors who refused to follow the stipulations of the Mosaic covenant see, for example, Deut 19:14, Jer 11:10, and Ps 79:8 (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 192, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 471).

[26:46]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “gave” (so NLT); KJV, ASV, NCV “made.”

[26:46]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “by the hand of” (so KJV).

[78:38]  ⁶⁹ tn One could translate v. 38 in the past tense (“he was compassionate…forgave sin and did not destroy…held back his anger, and did not stir up his fury”), but the imperfect verbal forms are probably best understood as generalizing. Verse 38 steps back briefly from the narrational summary of Israel’s history and lays the theological basis for v. 39, which focuses on God’s mercy toward sinful Israel.

[9:16]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “righteousness.”

[9:16]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “your anger and your rage.” The synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of God’s anger. This is best expressed in English by making one of the terms adjectival (cf. NLT “your furious anger”; CEV “terribly angry”).

[14:4]  ⁷² sn The noun מְשׁוּבָתָה (mÿshuvatah, “waywardness”; cf. KJV “backsliding”) is from the same root as שׁוּבָה (shuvah, “return!”) in 14:1[2]. This repetition of שׁוּב (shuv) creates a wordplay which emphasizes reciprocity: if Israel will return (שׁוּבָה, shuvah) to the Lord, he will cure her of the tendency to turn away (מְשׁוּבָתָה) from him.

[14:4]  ⁷³ tn The noun נְדָבָה (nÿdavah, “voluntariness; free-will offering”) is an adverbial accusative of manner: “freely, voluntarily” (BDB 621 s.v. נְדָבָה 1). Cf. CEV “without limit”; TEV “with all my heart”; NLT “my love will know no bounds.”

[14:4]  ⁷⁴ sn The verb שָׁב, shav, “will turn” (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular from שׁוּב, shuv, “to turn”) continues the wordplay on שׁוּב in 14:1-4[2-5]. If Israel will “return” (שׁוּב) to the Lord, he will heal Israel’s tendency to “turn away” (מְשׁוּבָתָה, mÿshuvatah) and “turn” (שָׁב) from his anger.