Yesaya 44:22

44:22 I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,

the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. ¹ 

Come back to me, for I protect ²  you.”

Yeremia 26:3

26:3 Maybe they will pay attention and each of them will stop living the evil way they do. ³  If they do that, then I will forgo destroying them ⁴  as I had intended to do because of the wicked things they have been doing. ⁵ 

Yehezkiel 18:32

18:32 For I take no delight in the death of anyone, ⁶  declares the sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

[44:22]  ¹ tn Heb “I blot out like a cloud your rebellious deeds, and like a cloud your sins.” “Rebellious deeds” and “sins” stand by metonymy for the guilt they produce. Both עָב (’av) and עָנָן (’anan) refer to the clouds in the sky. It is tempting for stylistic purposes to translate the second with “fog” or “mist” (cf. NAB, NRSV “cloud…mist”; NIV “cloud…morning mist”; NLT “morning mists…clouds”), but this distinction between the synonyms is unwarranted here. The point of the simile seems to be this: The Lord forgives their sins, causing them to vanish just as clouds disappear from the sky (see Job 7:9; 30:15).

[44:22]  ² tn Heb “redeem.” See the note at 41:14.

[26:3]  ³ tn Heb “will turn from his wicked way.”

[26:3]  ⁴ tn For the idiom and translation of terms involved here see 18:8 and the translator’s note there.

[26:3]  sn The Lord is being consistent in the application of the principle laid down in Jer 18:7-8 that reformation of character will result in the withdrawal of the punishment of “uprooting, tearing down, destroying.” His prophecies of doom are conditional threats, open to change with change in behavior.

[26:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “because of the wickedness of their deeds.”

[18:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “the death of the one dying.”