8:35 “The time will come when 1 the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people 2 sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, 3 and turn away from their sin because you punish 4 them,
8:37 “The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight and disease, or a locust 5 invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, 6 or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs.
8:46 “The time will come when your people 7 will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry with them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their own land, 8 whether far away or close by.
1 tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 35-36a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
4 tn The Hebrew text has “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (’anah, “to answer”). However, this reference to a divine answer is premature, since the next verse asks for God to intervene in mercy. It is better to revocalize the consonantal text as תְעַנֵּם (tÿ’annem, “you afflict them”), a Piel verb form from the homonym עָנָה (“to afflict”).
5 tn Actually two Hebrew terms appear here, both of which are usually taken as referring to locusts. Perhaps different stages of growth or different varieties are in view.
6 tn Heb “in the land, his gates.”
7 tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “the land of the enemy.”