Yeremia 6:20

6:20 I take no delight ¹  when they offer up to me ² 

frankincense that comes from Sheba

or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land.

I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me.

I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.’ ³ 

Amos 5:21-22

5:21 “I absolutely despise ⁴  your festivals!

I get no pleasure ⁵  from your religious assemblies!

5:22 Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, ⁶  I will not be satisfied;

I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves. ⁷ 

[6:20]  ¹ tn Heb “To what purpose is it to me?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

[6:20]  ² tn The words “when they offer up to me” are not in the text but are implicit from the following context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:20]  ³ tn Heb “Your burnt offerings are not acceptable and your sacrifices are not pleasing to me.” “The shift from “your” to “their” is an example of the figure of speech (apostrophe) where the speaker turns from talking about someone to addressing him/her directly. Though common in Hebrew style, it is not common in English. The shift to the third person in the translation is an accommodation to English style.

[5:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “I hate”; “I despise.”

[5:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will not smell.” These verses are full of vivid descriptions of the Lord’s total rejection of Israelite worship. In the first half of this verse two verbs are used together for emphasis. Here the verb alludes to the sense of smell, a fitting observation since offerings would have been burned on the altar ideally to provide a sweet aroma to God (see, e.g., Lev 1:9, 13, 17; Num 29:36). Other senses that are mentioned include sight and hearing in vv. 22-23.

[5:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “burnt offerings and your grain offerings.”

[5:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “Peace offering[s], your fattened calves, I will not look at.”