¹ tn Heb “their”; the referent (Ammon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “will go into exile.”

³ tn Or “princes” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NLT); TEV “officers”; CEV “leaders.”

⁴ tn The words “will be carried off” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁵ tn Heb “cut off” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB “root out”; NCV “bring to an end.”

⁶ tn Heb “the leader [traditionally, “judge”] from her midst.”

⁷ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Or “princes” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NLT); TEV, CEV “leaders.”

⁹ tn Or “the most stouthearted” (NAB); NRSV “those who are stout of heart.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “those who.”

¹¹ tn Heb “violence and destruction.” The expression “violence and destruction” stand metonymically for the goods the oppressors have accumulated by their unjust actions.

¹² tn Heb “house.”

¹³ sn The following verses explain what it meant to seek the Lord. Israel was to abandon the mere formalism and distorted view of God and reality that characterized religious activity at the worship sites, as well as the social injustice that permeated Israelite society. Instead the people were to repent and promote justice in the land. This call to seek the Lord echoes the challenge in 4:13 to prepare to meet him as he truly is.

¹⁴ tn Heb “Those who”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity. In light of vv. 11-13, it is also possible that the words are directed at a more limited group within the nation – those with social and economic power.

¹⁵ tn There is an interesting wordplay here with the verb הָפַךְ (hafakh, “overturn, turn”). Israel “turns” justice into wormwood (cf. 6:12), while the Lord “turns” darkness into morning (v. 8; cf. 4:11; 8:10). Israel’s turning is for evil, whereas the Lord’s is to demonstrate his absolute power and sovereignty.

¹⁶ tn Heb “they throw righteousness.”

¹⁷ sn In v. 7 the prophet begins to describe the guilty Israelites, but then interrupts his word picture with a parenthetical, but powerful, description of the judge they must face (vv. 8-9). He resumes his description of the sinners in v. 10.

¹⁸ sn The expression pass through your midst alludes to Exod 12:12, where the Lord announced he would “pass through” Egypt and bring death to the Egyptian firstborn.

¹⁹ tn Heb “Will not the day of the Lord be.”

²⁰ tn Or “is issuing the decree.”

²¹ tn Or “changed his mind about this.”

²² tn Heb “from [following] after.”

²³ tn Heb “and the Lord said to me.”

²⁴ tn Or “swears.”

²⁵ sn In an oath one appeals to something permanent to emphasize one’s commitment to the promise. Here the Lord sarcastically swears by the arrogance of Jacob, which he earlier had condemned (6:8), something just as enduring as the Lord’s own life (see 6:8) or unchanging character (see 4:2). Other suggestions include that the Lord is swearing by the land, his most valuable possession (cf. Isa 4:2; Ps 47:4 [47:5 HT]); that this is a divine epithet analogous to “the Glory of Israel” (1 Sam 15:29); or that an ellipsis should be understood here, in which case the meaning is the same as that of 6:8 (“The Lord has sworn [by himself] against the arrogance of Jacob”).

²⁶ tn The words “I swear” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation because a self-imprecation is assumed in oaths of this type.

²⁷ tn Or “I will never forget all your deeds.”

²⁸ tn Heb “the.”

²⁹ tn Or “virgins.”

³⁰ tn Heb “the.”

³¹ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.