Yeremia 3:3

3:3 That is why the rains have been withheld,

and the spring rains have not come.

Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute. ¹ 

You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.

Yeremia 12:11

12:11 They will lay it waste.

It will lie parched ²  and empty before me.

The whole land will be laid waste.

But no one living in it will pay any heed. ³ 

Amos 4:8

4:8 People from ⁴  two or three cities staggered into one city to get ⁵  water,

but remained thirsty. ⁶ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Zakharia 14:17

14:17 But if any of the nations anywhere on earth refuse to go up to Jerusalem ⁷  to worship the King, the Lord who rules over all, they will get no rain.

[3:3]  ¹ tn Heb “you have the forehead of a prostitute.”

[12:11]  ² tn For the use of this verb see the notes on 12:4. Some understand the homonym here meaning “it [the desolated land] will mourn to me.” However, the only other use of the preposition עַל (’al) with this root means “to mourn over” not “to” (cf. Hos 10:5). For the use of the preposition here see BDB 753 s.v. עַל II.1.b and compare the use in Gen 48:7.

[12:11]  ³ tn Heb “But there is no man laying it to heart.” For the idiom here see BDB 525 s.v. לֵב II.3.d and compare the usage in Isa 42:25; 47:7.

[12:11]  sn There is a very interesting play on words and sounds in this verse that paints a picture of desolation and the pathos it evokes. Part of this is reflected in the translation. The same Hebrew word referring to a desolation or a waste (שְׁמֵמָה, shÿmemah) is repeated three times at the end of three successive lines and the related verb is found at the beginning of the fourth (נָשַׁמָּה, nashammah). A similar sounding word is found in the second of the three successive lines (שָׁמָהּ, shamah = “he [they] will make it”). This latter word is part of a further play because it is repeated in a different form in the last line (שָׁם, sham = “laying”); they lay it waste but no one lays it to heart. There is also an interesting contrast between the sorrow the Lord feels and the inattention of the people.

[4:8]  ⁴ tn The words “people from” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “to drink.”

[4:8]  ⁶ tn Or “were not satisfied.”

[14:17]  ⁷ sn The reference to any…who refuse to go up to Jerusalem makes clear the fact that the nations are by no means “converted” to the Lord but are under his compulsory domination.