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For this reason, when he came into the world, he said:[a]

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,(A)
    but a body you prepared for me;
holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in.
Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
    Behold, I come to do your will, O God.’”

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Footnotes

  1. 10:5–7 A passage from Ps 40:7–9 is placed in the mouth of the Son at his incarnation. As usual, the author follows the Septuagint text. There is a notable difference in Hb 10:5 (Ps 40:6), where the Masoretic text reads “ears you have dug for me” (“ears open to obedience you gave me,” NAB), but most Septuagint manuscripts have “a body you prepared for me,” a reading obviously more suited to the interpretation of Hebrews.

18 For you do not desire sacrifice[a] or I would give it;
    a burnt offering you would not accept.(A)
19 My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
    a contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn.

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Footnotes

  1. 51:18 For you do not desire sacrifice: the mere offering of the ritual sacrifice apart from good dispositions is not acceptable to God, cf. Ps 50.

22 Even though you bring me your burnt offerings and grain offerings
    I will not accept them;
Your stall-fed communion offerings,
    I will not look upon them.

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For it is loyalty that I desire, not sacrifice,
    and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.(A)

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11 What do I care for the multitude of your sacrifices?
    says the Lord.
I have had enough of whole-burnt rams
    and fat of fatlings;
In the blood of calves, lambs, and goats
    I find no pleasure.(A)
12 When you come to appear before me,
    who asks these things of you?
13 Trample my courts no more!
    To bring offerings is useless;
    incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath, calling assemblies—
    festive convocations with wickedness—
    these I cannot bear.(B)
14 Your new moons and festivals I detest;(C)
    they weigh me down, I tire of the load.
15 When you spread out your hands,
    I will close my eyes to you;
Though you pray the more,
    I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood![a](D)

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Footnotes

  1. 1:15–16 Hands…blood: oppression of the poor is likened to violence that bloodies the hands, which explains why the hands spread out in prayer (v. 15) are not regarded by the Lord. This climax of the accusations is followed by positive admonitions for reversing the evil situation.