Yesaya 9:19-21

9:19 Because of the anger of the Lord who commands armies, the land was scorched, ¹ 

and the people became fuel for the fire. ² 

People had no compassion on one another. ³ 

9:20 They devoured ⁴  on the right, but were still hungry,

they ate on the left, but were not satisfied.

People even ate ⁵  the flesh of their own arm! ⁶ 

9:21 Manasseh fought against ⁷  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. ⁸ 

Yesaya 11:13

11:13 Ephraim’s jealousy will end, ⁹ 

and Judah’s hostility ¹⁰  will be eliminated.

Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah,

and Judah will no longer be hostile toward Ephraim.

Yeremia 9:3-8

The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them

9:3 The Lord says, ¹¹ 

“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.

Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. ¹² 

They have become powerful in the land,

but they have not done so by honest means. ¹³ 

Indeed, they do one evil thing after another ¹⁴ 

and do not pay attention to me. ¹⁵ 

9:4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.

He must not even trust any of his relatives. ¹⁶ 

For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. ¹⁷ 

And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

9:5 One friend deceives another

and no one tells the truth.

These people have trained themselves ¹⁸  to tell lies.

They do wrong and are unable to repent.

9:6 They do one act of violence after another,

and one deceitful thing after another. ¹⁹ 

They refuse to pay attention to me,” ²⁰ 

says the Lord.

9:7 Therefore the Lord who rules over all says, ²¹ 

“I will now purify them in the fires of affliction ²²  and test them.

The wickedness of my dear people ²³  has left me no choice.

What else can I do? ²⁴ 

9:8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows. ²⁵ 

They are always telling lies. ²⁶ 

Friendly words for their neighbors come from their mouths.

But their minds are thinking up ways to trap them. ²⁷ 

Yeremia 22:17

22:17 But you are always thinking and looking

for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.

Your eyes and your heart are set

on killing some innocent person

and committing fraud and oppression. ²⁸ 

Yehezkiel 22:6-7

22:6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. ²⁹  22:7 They have treated father and mother with contempt ³⁰  within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow ³¹  within you.

Yehezkiel 22:12

22:12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; ³²  you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, ³³  declares the sovereign Lord. ³⁴ 

Amos 4:1

4:1 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan ³⁵  who live on Mount Samaria!

You ³⁶  oppress the poor;

you crush the needy.

You say to your ³⁷  husbands,

“Bring us more to drink!” ³⁸ 

Mikha 3:1-3

God Will Judge Judah’s Sinful Leaders

3:1 I said,

“Listen, you leaders ³⁹  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ⁴⁰  of Israel!

You ought to know what is just, ⁴¹ 

3:2 yet you ⁴²  hate what is good, ⁴³ 

and love what is evil. ⁴⁴ 

You flay my people’s skin ⁴⁵ 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ⁴⁶ 

3:3 You ⁴⁷  devour my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and crush their bones.

You chop them up like flesh in a pot ⁴⁸  –

like meat in a kettle.

Mikha 3:11

3:11 Her ⁴⁹  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ⁵⁰ 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ⁵¹  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ⁵² 

Disaster will not overtake ⁵³  us!”

Zakharia 7:9-11

7:9 “The Lord who rules over all said, ‘Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other. 7:10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.’

7:11 “But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear.

Maleakhi 3:5

3:5 “I ⁵⁴  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ⁵⁵  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ⁵⁶  who refuse to help ⁵⁷  the immigrant ⁵⁸  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Yakobus 2:6

2:6 But you have dishonored the poor! ⁵⁹  Are not the rich oppressing you and dragging you into the courts?

Yakobus 5:4

5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

[9:19]  ¹ tn The precise meaning of the verb עְתַּם (’ÿtam), which occurs only here, is uncertain, though the context strongly suggests that it means “burn, scorch.”

[9:19]  ² sn The uncontrollable fire of the people’s wickedness (v. 18) is intensified by the fire of the Lord’s judgment (v. 19). God allows (or causes) their wickedness to become self-destructive as civil strife and civil war break out in the land.

[9:19]  ³ tn Heb “men were not showing compassion to their brothers.” The idiom “men to their brothers” is idiomatic for reciprocity. The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav (ו) consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.

[9:20]  ⁴ tn Or “cut.” The verb גָּזַר (gazar) means “to cut.” If it is understood here, then one might paraphrase, “They slice off meat on the right.” However, HALOT 187 s.v. I גזר, proposes here a rare homonym meaning “to devour.”

[9:20]  ⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.

[9:20]  ⁶ tn Some suggest that זְרֹעוֹ (zÿro’o, “his arm”) be repointed זַרְעוֹ (zar’o, “his offspring”). In either case, the metaphor is that of a desperately hungry man who resorts to an almost unthinkable act to satisfy his appetite. He eats everything he can find to his right, but still being unsatisfied, then turns to his left and eats everything he can find there. Still being desperate for food, he then resorts to eating his own flesh (or offspring, as this phrase is metaphorically understood by some English versions, e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT). The reality behind the metaphor is the political turmoil of the period, as the next verse explains. There was civil strife within the northern kingdom; even the descendants of Joseph were at each other’s throats. Then the northern kingdom turned on their southern brother, Judah.

[9:21]  ⁷ tn The words “fought against” are supplied in the translation both here and later in this verse for stylistic reasons.

[9:21]  ⁸ 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.

[11:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “turn aside”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “depart.”

[11:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “hostile ones of Judah.” Elsewhere when the substantival participle of צָרָר (tsarar) takes a pronominal suffix or appears in a construct relationship, the following genitive is objective. (For a list of texts see BDB 865 s.v. III צָרַר) In this case the phrase “hostile ones of Judah” means “those who are hostile toward Judah,” i.e., Judah’s enemies. However, the parallel couplet that follows suggests that Judah’s hostility toward Ephraim is in view. In this case “hostile ones of Judah” means “hostile ones from Judah.” The translation above assumes the latter, giving the immediate context priority over general usage.

[9:3]  ¹¹ tn The words “The Lord says” have been moved up from the end of the verse to make clear that a change in speaker has occurred.

[9:3]  ¹² tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”

[9:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “but not through honesty.”

[9:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”

[9:3]  ¹⁵ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” BASOR 181 [1966]: 31-37).

[9:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Be on your guard…Do not trust.” The verbs are second masculine plural of direct address and there seems no way to translate literally and not give the mistaken impression that Jeremiah is being addressed. This is another example of the tendency in Hebrew style to turn from description to direct address (a figure of speech called apostrophe).

[9:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “cheating, each of them will cheat.”

[9:4]  sn There is perhaps an intentional pun and allusion here to Gen 27:36 and the wordplay on the name Jacob there. The text here reads עָקוֹב יַעְקֹב (’aqob ya’qob).

[9:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “their tongues.” However, this is probably not a natural idiom in contemporary English and the tongue may stand as a part for the whole anyway.

[9:6]  ¹⁹ tc An alternate reading for vv. 5d-6b is: “They wear themselves out doing wrong. Jeremiah, you live in the midst of deceitful people. They deceitfully refuse to take any thought of/acknowledge me.” The translation which has been adopted is based on a redivision of the lines, a redivision of some of the words, and a revocalization of some of the consonants. The MT reads literally “doing wrong they weary themselves. Your sitting in the midst of deceit; in deceit they refuse to know me” (הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ׃ שִׁבְתְּךָ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְמָה בְּמִרְמָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת־אוֹתִי). The Greek version reads literally “they do wrong and they do not cease to turn themselves around. Usury upon usury and deceit upon deceit. They do not want to know me.” This suggests that one should read the Hebrew text as שֻׁב׃ תֹּךְ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְ־מָה בְּמִרְ־מָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת אוֹתִי הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ, which translated literally yields “doing evil [= “they do evil” using the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ff)] they are not able [cf. KBL 468 s.v. לָאָה Niph.3 and see Exod 7:18 for parallel use] to repent. Oppression on oppression [cf. BDB 1067 s.v. תֹּךְ, II תּוֹךְ]; deceit on deceit. They refuse to know me.” This reading has ancient support and avoids the introduction of an unexpected second masculine suffix into the context. It has been adopted here along with a number of modern commentaries (cf., e.g., W. McKane, Jeremiah [ICC], 1:201) and English versions as the more likely reading.

[9:6]  ²⁰ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” See the note on the phrase “do not take any thought of me” in 9:3.

[9:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[9:7]  sn For the significance of this title see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.

[9:7]  ²² tn Heb “I will refine/purify them.” The words “in the fires of affliction” are supplied in the translation to give clarity to the metaphor.

[9:7]  ²³ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[9:7]  ²⁴ tc Heb “For how else shall I deal because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people.” The MT does not have the word “wickedness.” The word, however, is read in the Greek version. This is probably a case of a word dropping out because of its similarities to the consonants preceding or following it (i.e., haplography). The word “wickedness” (רַעַת, ra’at) has dropped out before the words “my dear people” (בַּת־עַמִּי, bat-’ammi). The causal nuance which is normal for מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne) does not make sense without some word like this, and the combination of רַעַת מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne ra’at) does occur in Jer 7:12 and one very like it occurs in Jer 26:3.

[9:8]  ²⁵ tc This reading follows the Masoretic consonants (the Kethib, a Qal active participle from שָׁחַט, shakhat). The Masoretes preferred to read “a sharpened arrow” (the Qere, a Qal passive participle from the same root or a homonym, meaning “hammered, beaten”). See HALOT 1354 s.v. II שָׁחַט for discussion. The exact meaning of the word makes little difference to the meaning of the metaphor itself.

[9:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “They speak deceit.”

[9:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “With his mouth a person speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets an ambush for him.”

[22:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Your eyes and your heart do not exist except for dishonest gain and for innocent blood to shed [it] and for fraud and for oppression to do [them].” The sentence has been broken up to conform more to English style and the significance of “eyes” and “heart” explained before they are introduced into the translation.

[22:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Look! The princes of Israel, each according to his arm, were in you in order to shed blood.”

[22:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “treated lightly, cursed.”

[22:7]  ³¹ tn Widows and orphans are often coupled together in the OT (Deut 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:19-21; 26:12-13; Jer 7:6; 22:3). They represented all who were poor and vulnerable to economic exploitation.

[22:12]  ³² tn Heb “usury and interest you take.” See 18:13, 17. This kind of economic exploitation violated the law given in Lev 25:36.

[22:12]  ³³ sn Forgetting the Lord is also addressed in Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14; Jer 3:21; 13:25; Ezek 23:35; Hos 2:15; 8:14; 13:6.

[22:12]  ³⁴ tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.

[4:1]  ³⁵ sn The expression cows of Bashan is used by the prophet to address the wealthy women of Samaria, who demand that their husbands satisfy their cravings. The derogatory language perhaps suggests that they, like the livestock of Bashan, were well fed, ironically in preparation for the coming slaughter. This phrase is sometimes cited to critique the book’s view of women.

[4:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the ones who” (three times in this verse).

[4:1]  ³⁷ tn Heb “their.”

[4:1]  ³⁸ sn Some commentators relate this scene to the description of the marzeah feast of 6:3-6, in which drinking played a prominent part (see the note at 6:6).

[3:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “heads.”

[3:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[3:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”

[3:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “the ones who.”

[3:2]  ⁴³ tn Or “good.”

[3:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “evil.”

[3:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the Lord as the speaker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”

[3:2]  sn Micah compares the social injustice perpetrated by the house of Jacob/Israel to cannibalism, because it threatens the very lives of the oppressed.

[3:3]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “who.”

[3:3]  ⁴⁸ tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”).

[3:11]  ⁴⁹ sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11]  ⁵² tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

[3:11]  ⁵³ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

[3:5]  ⁵⁴ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

[3:5]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”

[2:6]  ⁵⁹ tn This is singular: “the poor person,” perhaps referring to the hypothetical one described in vv. 2-3.