Yesaya 14:1-3

14:1 The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob; ¹  he will again choose Israel as his special people ²  and restore ³  them to their land. Resident foreigners will join them and unite with the family ⁴  of Jacob. 14:2 Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Jacob will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord’s land. ⁵  They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them. 14:3 When the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety, ⁶  and from the hard labor which you were made to perform,

Yesaya 44:24-26

The Lord Empowers Cyrus

44:24 This is what the Lord, your protector, ⁷  says,

the one who formed you in the womb:

“I am the Lord, who made everything,

who alone stretched out the sky,

who fashioned the earth all by myself, ⁸ 

44:25 who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers ⁹ 

and humiliates ¹⁰  the omen readers,

who overturns the counsel of the wise men ¹¹ 

and makes their advice ¹²  seem foolish,

44:26 who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants ¹³ 

and brings to pass the announcements ¹⁴  of his messengers,

who says about Jerusalem, ¹⁵  ‘She will be inhabited,’

and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,

her ruins I will raise up,’

Yesaya 54:7-17

54:7 “For a short time I abandoned ¹⁶  you,

but with great compassion I will gather you.

54:8 In a burst ¹⁷  of anger I rejected you ¹⁸  momentarily,

but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”

says your protector, ¹⁹  the Lord.

54:9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time, ²⁰ 

when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood ²¹  would never again cover the earth.

In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.

54:10 Even if the mountains are removed

and the hills displaced,

my devotion will not be removed from you,

nor will my covenant of friendship ²²  be displaced,”

says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.

54:11 “O afflicted one, driven away, ²³  and unconsoled!

Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony

and I lay your foundation with lapis-lazuli.

54:12 I will make your pinnacles out of gems, ²⁴ 

your gates out of beryl, ²⁵ 

and your outer wall ²⁶  out of beautiful ²⁷  stones.

54:13 All your children will be followers of the Lord,

and your children will enjoy great prosperity. ²⁸ 

54:14 You will be reestablished when I vindicate you. ²⁹ 

You will not experience oppression; ³⁰ 

indeed, you will not be afraid.

You will not be terrified, ³¹ 

for nothing frightening ³²  will come near you.

54:15 If anyone dares to ³³  challenge you, it will not be my doing!

Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated. ³⁴ 

54:16 Look, I create the craftsman,

who fans the coals into a fire

and forges a weapon. ³⁵ 

I create the destroyer so he might devastate.

54:17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed;

you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you. ³⁶ 

This is what the Lord will do for his servants –

I will vindicate them,” ³⁷ 

says the Lord.

[14:1]  ¹ tn The sentence begins with כִּי (ki), which is understood as asseverative (“certainly”) in the translation. Another option is to translate, “For the Lord will have compassion.” In this case one of the reasons for Babylon’s coming demise (13:22b) is the Lord’s desire to restore his people.

[14:1]  ² tn The words “as his special people” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:1]  ³ tn Or “settle” (NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[14:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[14:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the house of Jacob will take possession of them [i.e., the nations], on the land of the Lord, as male servants and female servants.”

[14:3]  ⁶ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[44:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[44:24]  ⁸ tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has “Who [was] with me?” The marginal reading (Qere) is “from with me,” i.e., “by myself.” See BDB 87 s.v. II אֵת 4.c.

[44:25]  ⁹ tc The Hebrew text has בַּדִּים (baddim), perhaps meaning “empty talkers” (BDB 95 s.v. III בַּד). In the four other occurrences of this word (Job 11:3; Isa 16:6; Jer 48:30; 50:36) the context does not make the meaning of the term very clear. Its primary point appears to be that the words spoken are meaningless or false. In light of its parallelism with “omen readers,” some have proposed an emendation to בָּרִים (barim, “seers”). The Mesopotamian baru-priests were divination specialists who played an important role in court life. See R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 93-98. Rather than supporting an emendation, J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:189, n. 79) suggests that Isaiah used בַּדִּים purposively as a derisive wordplay on the Akkadian word baru (in light of the close similarity of the d and r consonants).

[44:25]  ¹⁰ tn Or “makes fools of” (NIV, NRSV); NAB and NASB both similar.

[44:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “who turns back the wise” (so NRSV); NIV “overthrows the learning of the wise”; TEV “The words of the wise I refute.”

[44:25]  ¹² tn Heb “their knowledge” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[44:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “the word of his servant.” The following context indicates that the Lord’s prophets are in view.

[44:26]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “counsel.” The Hebrew term עֵצָה (’etsah) probably refers here to the divine plan as announced by the prophets. See HALOT 867 s.v. I עֵצָה.

[44:26]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[54:7]  ¹⁶ tn Or “forsook” (NASB).

[54:8]  ¹⁷ tn According to BDB 1009 s.v. שֶׁטֶף the noun שֶׁצֶף here is an alternate form of שֶׁטֶף (shetef, “flood”). Some relate the word to an alleged Akkadian cognate meaning “strength.”

[54:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I hid my face from you.”

[54:8]  ¹⁹ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[54:9]  ²⁰ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “For [or “indeed”] the waters of Noah [is] this to me.” כִּי־מֵי (ki-me, “for the waters of”) should be emended to כְּמֵי (kÿmey, “like the days of”), which is supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and all the ancient versions except LXX.

[54:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “the waters of Noah” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[54:10]  ²² tn Heb “peace” (so many English versions); NLT “of blessing.”

[54:11]  ²³ tn Or, more literally, “windblown, storm tossed.”

[54:12]  ²⁴ tn Perhaps, “rubies” (so ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[54:12]  ²⁵ tn On the meaning of אֶקְדָּח (’eqdakh), which occurs only here, see HALOT 82 s.v.

[54:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “border” (so ASV); NASB “your entire wall.”

[54:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “delightful”; KJV “pleasant.”

[54:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and great [will be] the peace of your sons.”

[54:14]  ²⁹ tn Heb “in righteousness [or “vindication”] you will be established.” The precise meaning of צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) here is uncertain. It could mean “righteousness, justice,” indicating that the city will be a center for justice. But the context focuses on deliverance, suggesting that the term means “deliverance, vindication” here.

[54:14]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Be far from oppression!” The imperative is used here in a rhetorical manner to express certainty and assurance. See GKC 324 §110.c.

[54:14]  ³¹ tn Heb “from terror.” The rhetorical command, “be far” is understood by ellipsis here. Note the preceding context.

[54:14]  ³² tn Heb “it,” i.e., the “terror” just mentioned.

[54:15]  ³³ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb here for emphasis.

[54:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “will fall over you.” The expression נָפַל עַל (nafal ’al) can mean “attack,” but here it means “fall over to,” i.e., “surrender to.”

[54:16]  ³⁵ tn Heb “who brings out an implement for his work.”

[54:17]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and every tongue that rises up for judgment with you will prove to be guilty.”

[54:17]  ³⁷ tn Heb “this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me.”