Yesaya 1:10

1:10 Listen to the Lord’s word,

you leaders of Sodom! ¹ 

Pay attention to our God’s rebuke, ² 

people of Gomorrah!

Yesaya 29:17

Changes are Coming

29:17 In just a very short time ³ 

Lebanon will turn into an orchard,

and the orchard will be considered a forest. ⁴ 

Yesaya 36:13

36:13 The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect, ⁵  “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria.

Yesaya 57:14

57:14 He says, ⁶ 

“Build it! Build it! Clear a way!

Remove all the obstacles out of the way of my people!”

[1:10]  ¹ sn Building on the simile of v. 9, the prophet sarcastically addresses the leaders and people of Jerusalem as if they were leaders and residents of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. The sarcasm is appropriate, for if the judgment is comparable to Sodom’s, that must mean that the sin which prompted the judgment is comparable as well.

[1:10]  ² tn Heb “to the instruction of our God.” In this context, which is highly accusatory and threatening, תּוֹרָה (torah, “law, instruction”) does not refer to mere teaching, but to corrective teaching and rebuke.

[29:17]  ³ tn The Hebrew text phrases this as a rhetorical question, “Is it not yet a little, a short [time]?”

[29:17]  ⁴ sn The meaning of this verse is debated, but it seems to depict a reversal in fortunes. The mighty forest of Lebanon (symbolic of the proud and powerful, see 2:13; 10:34) will be changed into a common orchard, while the common orchard (symbolic of the oppressed and lowly) will grow into a great forest. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:538.

[36:13]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text includes “and he said.”

[57:14]  ⁶ tn Since God is speaking throughout this context, perhaps we should emend the text to “and I say.” However, divine speech is introduced in v. 15.