9:6 “But if you or your sons ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, 1 and decide to serve and worship other gods, 2 9:7 then I will remove Israel from the land 3 I have given them, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, 4 and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed 5 among all the nations. 9:8 This temple will become a heap of ruins; 6 everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss out their scorn, 7 saying, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’ 9:9 Others will then answer, 8 ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who led their ancestors 9 out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. 10 That is why the Lord has brought all this disaster down on them.’”
1 tn Heb “which I placed before you.”
2 tn Heb “and walk and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
3 tn Heb “I will cut off Israel from upon the surface of the land.”
4 tn Heb “and the temple which I consecrated for my name I will send away from before my face.”
sn Instead of “I will send away,” the parallel text in 2 Chr 7:20 has “I will throw away.” The two verbs sound very similar in Hebrew, so the discrepancy is likely due to an oral transmissional error.
5 tn Heb “will become a proverb and a taunt,” that is, a proverbial example of destruction and an object of reproach.
6 tn Heb “and this house will be high [or elevated].” The statement makes little sense in this context, which predicts the desolation that judgment will bring. Some treat the clause as concessive, “Even though this temple is lofty [now].” Others, following the lead of several ancient versions, emend the text to, “this temple will become a heap of ruins.”
7 tn Heb “hiss,” or perhaps “whistle.” This refers to a derisive sound one would make when taunting an object of ridicule.
8 tn Heb “and they will say.”
9 tn Heb “fathers.”
10 tn Heb “and they took hold of other gods and bowed down to them and served them.”