6:26 “The time will come when38 the skies39 are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people40 sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you,41 and turn away from their sin because you punish42 them,
tnHeb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 26–27a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
39
tn Or “heavens” (also in v. 12). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
tn The Hebrew text reads “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (’anah, “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 (té’annem, “you afflict them”), a Piel verb form from the homonym עָנָה (“afflict”).