2:22 You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent.
You can use as much soap as you want.
But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,” 1
says the Lord God. 2
2:25 Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out
and your throats become dry. 3
But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me
because I love those foreign gods 4 and want to pursue them!’
1 tn Heb “Even if you wash with natron/lye, and use much soap, your sin is a stain before me.”
2 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” For an explanation of this title see the study notes on 1:6.
3 tn Heb “Refrain your feet from being bare and your throat from being dry/thirsty.”
4 tn Heb “It is useless! No!” For this idiom, see Jer 18:12; NEB “No; I am desperate.”