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 58:2-6

58:2 They seek me day after day;

they want to know my requirements, ¹⁰ 

like a nation that does what is right

and does not reject the law of their God.

They ask me for just decrees;

they want to be near God.

58:3 They lament, ¹¹  ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast?

Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’

Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, ¹² 

you oppress your workers. ¹³ 

58:4 Look, your fasting is accompanied by ¹⁴  arguments, brawls,

and fistfights. ¹⁵ 

Do not fast as you do today,

trying to make your voice heard in heaven.

58:5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? ¹⁶ 

Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, ¹⁷ 

bowing their heads like a reed

and stretching out ¹⁸  on sackcloth and ashes?

Is this really what you call a fast,

a day that is pleasing to the Lord?

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. ¹⁹ 

I want you ²⁰  to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed, ²¹ 

and to break every burdensome yoke.

Yesaya 59:6-8

59:6 Their webs cannot be used for clothing;

they cannot cover themselves with what they make.

Their deeds are sinful;

they commit violent crimes. ²² 

59:7 They are eager to do evil, ²³ 

quick to shed innocent blood. ²⁴ 

Their thoughts are sinful;

they crush and destroy. ²⁵ 

59:8 They are unfamiliar with peace;

their deeds are unjust. ²⁶ 

They use deceitful methods,

and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace. ²⁷ 

Yesaya 64:5

64:5 You assist ²⁸  those who delight in doing what is right, ²⁹ 

who observe your commandments. ³⁰ 

Look, you were angry because we violated them continually.

How then can we be saved? ³¹ 

Yesaya 66:3-4

66:3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; ³² 

the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; ³³ 

the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; ³⁴ 

the one who offers incense also praises an idol. ³⁵ 

They have decided to behave this way; ³⁶ 

they enjoy these disgusting practices. ³⁷ 

66:4 So I will choose severe punishment ³⁸  for them;

I will bring on them what they dread,

because I called, and no one responded,

I spoke and they did not listen.

They did evil before me; ³⁹ 

they chose to do what displeases me.”

Yeremia 7:4-11

7:4 Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, ⁴⁰  “We are safe! ⁴¹  The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!” ⁴²  7:5 You must change ⁴³  the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. ⁴⁴  7:6 Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. ⁴⁵  Stop killing innocent people ⁴⁶  in this land. Stop paying allegiance to ⁴⁷  other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. ⁴⁸  7:7 If you stop doing these things, ⁴⁹  I will allow you to continue to live in this land ⁵⁰  which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession. ⁵¹ 

7:8 “‘But just look at you! ⁵²  You are putting your confidence in a false belief ⁵³  that will not deliver you. ⁵⁴  7:9 You steal. ⁵⁵  You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to ⁵⁶  other gods whom you have not previously known. 7:10 Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own ⁵⁷  and say, “We are safe!” You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins! ⁵⁸  7:11 Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own ⁵⁹  is to be a hideout for robbers? ⁶⁰  You had better take note! ⁶¹  I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord.

Mikha 3:2-4

3:2 yet you ⁶²  hate what is good, ⁶³ 

and love what is evil. ⁶⁴ 

You flay my people’s skin ⁶⁵ 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ⁶⁶ 

3:3 You ⁶⁷  devour my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and crush their bones.

You chop them up like flesh in a pot ⁶⁸  –

like meat in a kettle.

3:4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help, ⁶⁹ 

but he will not answer them.

He will hide his face from them at that time,

because they have done such wicked deeds.”

Matius 23:5

23:5 They ⁷⁰  do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries ⁷¹  wide and their tassels ⁷²  long.

Matius 23:14

23:14 [[EMPTY]] ⁷³ 

Roma 3:10-20

3:10 just as it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one,

3:11 there is no one who understands,

there is no one who seeks God.

3:12 All have turned away,

together they have become worthless;

there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” ⁷⁴ 

3:13 “Their throats are open graves, ⁷⁵ 

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.” ⁷⁶ 

3:14 “Their mouths are ⁷⁷  full of cursing and bitterness.” ⁷⁸ 

3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths,

3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.” ⁷⁹ 

3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ⁸⁰ 

3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under ⁸¹  the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him ⁸²  by the works of the law, ⁸³  for through the law comes ⁸⁴  the knowledge of sin.

Roma 10:2-3

10:2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God, ⁸⁵  but their zeal is not in line with the truth. ⁸⁶  10:3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

[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.

[58:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”

[58:3]  ¹¹ tn The words “they lament” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:3]  ¹² tn Heb “you find pleasure”; NASB “you find your desire.”

[58:3]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps, “debtors.” See HALOT 865 s.v. * עָצֵב.

[58:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you fast for” (so NASB); NRSV “you fast only to quarrel.”

[58:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and for striking with a sinful fist.”

[58:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”

[58:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “making [their] bed.”

[58:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6]  ²⁰ tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “crushed.”

[59:6]  ²² tn Heb “their deeds are deeds of sin, and the work of violence [is] in their hands.”

[59:7]  ²³ tn Heb “their feet run to evil.”

[59:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they quickly pour out innocent blood.”

[59:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “their thoughts are thoughts of sin, destruction and crushing [are] in their roadways.”

[59:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their pathways.”

[59:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “their paths they make crooked, everyone who walks in it does not know peace.”

[64:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “meet [with kindness].”

[64:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the one who rejoices and does righteousness.”

[64:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in your ways they remember you.”

[64:5]  ³¹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “look, you were angry and we sinned against them continually [or perhaps, “in ancient times”] and we were delivered.” The statement makes little sense as it stands. The first vav [ו] consecutive (“and we sinned”) must introduce an explanatory clause here (see Num 1:48 and Isa 39:1 for other examples of this relatively rare use of the vav [ו] consecutive). The final verb (if rendered positively) makes no sense in this context – God’s anger at their sin resulted in judgment, not deliverance. One of the alternatives involves an emendation to וַנִּרְשָׁע (vannirsha’, “and we were evil”; LXX, NRSV, TEV). The Vulgate and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a support the MT reading. One can either accept an emendation or cast the statement as a question (as above).

[66:3]  ³² tn Heb “one who slaughters a bull, one who strikes down a man.” Some understand a comparison here and in the following lines. In God’s sight the one who sacrifices is like (i.e., regarded as) a murderer or one whose worship is ritually defiled or idolatrous. The translation above assumes that the language is not metaphorical, but descriptive of the sinners’ hypocritical behavior. (Note the last two lines of the verse, which suggests they are guilty of abominable practices.) On the one hand, they act pious and offer sacrifices; but at the same time they commit violent crimes against men, defile their sacrifices, and worship other gods.

[66:3]  ³³ tn Heb “one who sacrifices a lamb, one who breaks a dog’s neck.” Some understand a comparison, but see the previous note.

[66:3]  sn The significance of breaking a dog’s neck is uncertain, though the structure of the statement when compared to the preceding and following lines suggests the action is viewed in a negative light. According to Exod 13:13 and 34:20, one was to “redeem” a firstborn donkey by offering a lamb; if one did not “redeem” the firstborn donkey in this way, then its neck must be broken. According to Deut 21:1-9 a heifer’s neck was to be broken as part of the atonement ritual to purify the land from the guilt of bloodshed. It is not certain if these passages relate in any way to the action described in Isa 66:3.

[66:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “one who offers an offering, pig’s blood.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line.

[66:3]  ³⁵ tn Heb “one who offers incense as a memorial offering, one who blesses something false.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line. אָוֶן (’aven), which has a wide variety of attested nuances, here refers metonymically to an idol. See HALOT 22 s.v. and BDB 20 s.v. 2.

[66:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “also they have chosen their ways.”

[66:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “their being [or “soul”] takes delight in their disgusting [things].”

[66:4]  ³⁸ tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”

[66:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[7:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Stop trusting in lying words which say.”

[7:4]  ⁴¹ tn The words “We are safe!” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these (i.e., these buildings).” Elsewhere triple repetition seems to mark a kind of emphasis (cf. Isa 6:3; Jer 22:29; Ezek 21:27 [32 HT]). The triple repetition that follows seems to be Jeremiah’s way of mocking the (false) sense of security that people had in the invincibility of Jerusalem because God dwelt in the temple. They appeared to be treating the temple as some kind of magical charm. A similar feeling had grown up around the ark in the time of the judges (cf. 1 Sam 3:3) and the temple and city of Jerusalem in Micah’s day (cf. Mic 3:11). It is reflected also in some of the Psalms (cf., e.g., Ps 46, especially v. 5).

[7:5]  ⁴³ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[7:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “you must do justice between a person and his fellow/neighbor.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[7:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Stop oppressing foreigner, orphan, and widow.”

[7:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Stop shedding innocent blood.”

[7:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “going/following after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

[7:6]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “going after other gods to your ruin.”

[7:7]  ⁴⁹ tn The translation uses imperatives in vv. 5-6 followed by the phrase, “If you do all this,” to avoid the long and complex sentence structure of the Hebrew sentence which has a series of conditional clauses in vv. 5-6 followed by a main clause in v. 7.

[7:7]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “live in this place, in this land.”

[7:7]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “gave to your fathers [with reference to] from ancient times even unto forever.”

[7:8]  ⁵² tn Heb “Behold!”

[7:8]  ⁵³ tn Heb “You are trusting in lying words.” See the similar phrase in v. 4 and the note there.

[7:8]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “not profit [you].”

[7:9]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “Will you steal…then say, ‘We are safe’?” Verses 9-10 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text.

[7:9]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “You go/follow after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

[7:10]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.

[7:10]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “‘We are safe!’ – safe, you think, to go on doing all those hateful things.” Verses 9-10 are all one long sentence in the Hebrew text. It has been broken up for English stylistic reasons. Somewhat literally it reads “Will you steal…then come and stand…and say, ‘We are safe’ so as to/in order to do…” The Hebrew of v. 9 has a series of infinitives which emphasize the bare action of the verb without the idea of time or agent. The effect is to place a kind of staccato like emphasis on the multitude of their sins all of which are violations of one of the Ten Commandments. The final clause in v. 8 expresses purpose or result (probably result) through another infinitive. This long sentence is introduced by a marker (ה interrogative in Hebrew) introducing a rhetorical question in which God expresses his incredulity that they could do these sins, come into the temple and claim the safety of his protection, and then go right back out and commit the same sins. J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 52) catches the force nicely: “What? You think you can steal, murder…and then come and stand…and say, ‘We are safe…’ just so that you can go right on…”

[7:11]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.

[7:11]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “Is this house…a den/cave of robbers in your eyes?”

[7:11]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “Behold!”

[3:2]  ⁶² tn Heb “the ones who.”

[3:2]  ⁶³ tn Or “good.”

[3:2]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “evil.”

[3:2]  ⁶⁵ 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]  ⁶⁶ 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]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “who.”

[3:3]  ⁶⁸ 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”).

[3:4]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “then they will cry out to the Lord.” The words “Someday these sinners” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[23:5]  ⁷⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:5]  ⁷¹ sn Phylacteries were small leather cases containing OT scripture verses, worn on the arm and forehead by Jews, especially when praying. The custom was derived from such OT passages as Exod 13:9; 16; Deut 6:8; 11:18.

[23:5]  ⁷² tn The term κράσπεδον (kraspedon) in some contexts could refer to the outer fringe of the garment (possibly in Mark 6:56). This edge could have been plain or decorated. L&N 6.180 states, “In Mt 23:5 κράσπεδον denotes the tassels worn at the four corners of the outer garment (see 6.194).”

[23:5]  sn Tassels refer to the tassels that a male Israelite was obligated to wear on the four corners of his outer garment according to the Mosaic law (Num 15:38; Deut 22:12).

[23:14]  ⁷³ tc The most important mss (א B D L Z Θ Ë¹ 33 892* pc and several versional witnesses) do not have 23:14 “Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ property, and as a show you pray long prayers! Therefore you will receive a more severe punishment.” Part or all of the verse is contained (either after v. 12 or after v. 13) in W 0102 0107 ˹³ Ï and several versions, but it is almost certainly not original. The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number as well, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations. Note also that Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 are very similar in wording and are not disputed textually.

[3:12]  ⁷⁴ sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3.

[3:13]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”

[3:13]  ⁷⁶ sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.

[3:14]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “whose mouth is.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:14]  ⁷⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.

[3:17]  ⁷⁹ sn Rom 3:15-17 is a quotation from Isa 59:7-8.

[3:18]  ⁸⁰ sn A quotation from Ps 36:1.

[3:19]  ⁸¹ tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”

[3:20]  ⁸² sn An allusion to Ps 143:2.

[3:20]  ⁸³ tn Grk “because by the works of the law no flesh is justified before him.” Some recent scholars have understood the phrase ἒργα νόμου (erga nomou, “works of the law”) to refer not to obedience to the Mosaic law generally, but specifically to portions of the law that pertain to things like circumcision and dietary laws which set the Jewish people apart from the other nations (e.g., J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC], 1:155). Other interpreters, like C. E. B. Cranfield (“‘The Works of the Law’ in the Epistle to the Romans,” JSNT 43 [1991]: 89-101) reject this narrow interpretation for a number of reasons, among which the most important are: (1) The second half of v. 20, “for through the law comes the knowledge of sin,” is hard to explain if the phrase “works of the law” is understood in a restricted sense; (2) the plural phrase “works of the law” would have to be understood in a different sense from the singular phrase “the work of the law” in 2:15; (3) similar phrases involving the law in Romans (2:13, 14; 2:25, 26, 27; 7:25; 8:4; and 13:8) which are naturally related to the phrase “works of the law” cannot be taken to refer to circumcision (in fact, in 2:25 circumcision is explicitly contrasted with keeping the law). Those interpreters who reject the “narrow” interpretation of “works of the law” understand the phrase to refer to obedience to the Mosaic law in general.

[3:20]  ⁸⁴ tn Grk “is.”

[10:2]  ⁸⁵ tn Grk “they have a zeal for God.”

[10:2]  ⁸⁶ tn Grk “in accord with knowledge.”

[10:2]  sn Their zeal is not in line with the truth means that the Jews’ passion for God was strong, but it ignored the true righteousness of God (v. 3; cf. also 3:21).