^7:21The Lord said to the people of Judah,⁴⁹ “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all⁵⁰ says: ‘You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too!⁵¹^7:22Consider this:⁵² When I spoke to your ancestors after I brought them out of Egypt, I did not merely give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. ^7:23I also explicitly commanded them:⁵³ “Obey me. If you do, I⁵⁴ will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you⁵⁵ and things will go well with you.”

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Footnotes

49 The words “The Lord said to the people of Judah” are not in the text but are implicit in the shift in addressee between vv. 16–20 and vv. 21–26.
50 Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study notes on and .
51 Heb “Add your burnt offerings to your [other] sacrifices and eat the meat!” See the following for explanation. This is an example of the rhetorical use of the imperative for a sarcastic challenge. Cf. §110.a; cf. Amos 4:4, “Go to Bethel and sin!” All of the burnt offering, including the meat, was to be consumed on the altar (e.g., Lev 1:6–9). The meat of the other sacrifices could be eaten by the priest who offered the sacrifice and the person who brought it (e.g., Lev 7:16–18, 32). Since, however, the people of Judah were making a mockery of the sacrificial system by offering sacrifices while disobeying the law, the Lord rejected the sacrifices (cf. 6:20). Since they were violating the moral law they might as well go ahead and violate the cultic law by eating the meat dedicated to God because he rejected it anyway.
52 Heb “For” but this introduces a long explanation about the relative importance of sacrifice and obedience.
53 Verses 22–23a read in Hebrew, “I did not speak with your ancestors and I did not command them when I brought them out of Egypt about words/matters concerning burnt offering and sacrifice, but I commanded them this word:” Some modern commentators have explained this passage as an evidence for the lateness of the Pentateuchal instruction regarding sacrifice or a denial that sacrifice was practiced during the period of the wilderness wandering. However, it is better explained as an example of what R. de Vaux calls a dialectical negative, i.e., “not so much this as that” or “not this without that” (Ancient Israel, 454–56). For other examples of this same argument see Isa 1:10–17; Hos 6:4–6; Amos 5:21–25.
54 Heb “Obey me and I will be.” The translation is equivalent syntactically but brings out the emphasis in the command.
55 Heb “Walk in all the way that I command you.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“ ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices, and eat the meat yourselves, for when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak with them or command them concerning burnt offering and sacrifice. However, I did give them this command: ‘Obey me, and then I will be your God, and you will be my people. Follow every way I command you so that it may go well with you.’

NLTNew Living Translation

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Take your burnt offerings and your other sacrifices and eat them yourselves! When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them. This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For I did not speak with your ancestors, nor did I command them in the day of bringing them out from the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offering and sacrifice. But I only commanded them this word, saying, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be to you God, and you will be to me people, and you must walk in all of the way that I command you, so that it goes well with you.’

KJV 1900King James Version

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

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