Yesaya 1:3

1:3 An ox recognizes its owner,

a donkey recognizes where its owner puts its food; ¹ 

but Israel does not recognize me, ² 

my people do not understand.”

Yesaya 10:18

10:18 The splendor of his forest and his orchard

will be completely destroyed, ³ 

as when a sick man’s life ebbs away. ⁴ 

Yesaya 11:6

11:6 A wolf will reside ⁵  with a lamb,

and a leopard will lie down with a young goat;

an ox and a young lion will graze together, ⁶ 

as a small child leads them along.

Yesaya 14:19

14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave

like a shoot that is thrown away. ⁷ 

You lie among ⁸  the slain,

among those who have been slashed by the sword,

among those headed for ⁹  the stones of the pit, ¹⁰ 

as if you were a mangled corpse. ¹¹ 

Yesaya 16:9

16:9 So I weep along with Jazer ¹² 

over the vines of Sibmah.

I will saturate you ¹³  with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh,

for the conquering invaders shout triumphantly

over your fruit and crops. ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 18:6

18:6 They will all be left ¹⁵  for the birds of the hills

and the wild animals; ¹⁶ 

the birds will eat them during the summer,

and all the wild animals will eat them during the winter.

Yesaya 36:17

36:17 until I come and take you to a land just like your own – a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

Yesaya 40:11

40:11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;

he gathers up the lambs with his arm;

he carries them close to his heart; ¹⁷ 

he leads the ewes along.

Yesaya 44:12

44:12 A blacksmith works with his tool ¹⁸ 

and forges metal over the coals.

He forms it ¹⁹  with hammers;

he makes it with his strong arm.

He gets hungry and loses his energy; ²⁰ 

he drinks no water and gets tired.

Yesaya 44:20

44:20 He feeds on ashes; ²¹ 

his deceived mind misleads him.

He cannot rescue himself,

nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ ²² 

Yesaya 64:2

64:2 (64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood,

or fire makes water boil,

let your adversaries know who you are, ²³ 

and may the nations shake at your presence!

[1:3]  ¹ tn Heb “and the donkey the feeding trough of its owner.” The verb in the first line does double duty in the parallelism.

[1:3]  ² tn Although both verbs have no object, the parallelism suggests that Israel fails to recognize the Lord as the one who provides for their needs. In both clauses, the placement of “Israel” and “my people” at the head of the clause focuses the reader’s attention on the rebellious nation (C. van der Merwe, J. Naudé, J. Kroeze, A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar, 346-47).

[10:18]  ³ tn Heb “from breath to flesh it will destroy.” The expression “from breath to flesh” refers to the two basic components of a person, the immaterial (life’s breath) and the material (flesh). Here the phrase is used idiomatically to indicate totality.

[10:18]  ⁴ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. מָסַס (masas), which is used elsewhere of substances dissolving or melting, may here mean “waste away” or “despair.” נָסַס (nasas), which appears only here, may mean “be sick” or “stagger, despair.” See BDB 651 s.v. I נָסַס and HALOT 703 s.v. I נסס. One might translate the line literally, “like the wasting away of one who is sick” (cf. NRSV “as when an invalid wastes away”).

[11:6]  ⁵ tn The verb גּוּר (gur) normally refers to living as a dependent, resident alien in another society.

[11:6]  ⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads, “and an ox, and a young lion, and a fatling together.” Since the preceding lines refer to two animals and include a verb, many emend וּמְרִיא (umÿri’, “and the fatling”) to an otherwise unattested verb יִמְרְאוּ (yimrÿ’u, “they will graze”); cf. NAB, TEV, CEV. One of the Qumran copies of Isaiah confirms this suggestion (1QIsa^a). The present translation assumes this change.

[14:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “like a shoot that is abhorred.” The simile seems a bit odd; apparently it refers to a small shoot that is trimmed from a plant and tossed away. Some prefer to emend נֵצֶר (netser, “shoot”); some propose נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”). In this case one might paraphrase: “like a horrible-looking fetus that is delivered when a woman miscarries.”

[14:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “are clothed with.”

[14:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “those going down to.”

[14:19]  ¹⁰ tn בּוֹר (bor) literally means “cistern”; cisterns were constructed from stones. On the metaphorical use of “cistern” for the underworld, see the note at v. 15.

[14:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.

[16:9]  ¹² tn Heb “So I weep with the weeping of Jazer.” Once more the speaker (the Lord? – see v. 10b) plays the role of a mourner (see 15:5).

[16:9]  ¹³ tc The form אֲרַיָּוֶךְ (’arayyavekh) should be emended to אֲרַוָּיֶךְ (’aravvayekh; the vav [ו] and yod [י] have been accidentally transposed) from רָוָה (ravah, “be saturated”).

[16:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for over your fruit and over your harvest shouting has fallen.” The translation assumes that the shouting is that of the conqueror (Jer 51:14). Another possibility is that the shouting is that of the harvesters (see v. 10b, as well as Jer 25:30), in which case one might translate, “for the joyful shouting over the fruit and crops has fallen silent.”

[18:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they will be left together” (so NASB).

[18:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the beasts of the earth” (so KJV, NASB).

[40:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in his bosom” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV), an expression which reflects closeness and protective care.

[44:12]  ¹⁸ tn The noun מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.

[44:12]  ¹⁹ tn Some English versions take the pronoun “it” to refer to an idol being fashioned by the blacksmith (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV). NLT understands the referent to be “a sharp tool,” which is then used by the carpenter in the following verse to carve an idol from wood.

[44:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and there is no strength”; NASB “his strength fails.”

[44:20]  ²¹ tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”

[44:20]  ²² tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”

[64:2]  ²³ tn Heb “to make known your name to your adversaries.” Perhaps the infinitive construct with preposition -לְ (lamed) should be construed with “come down” in v. 1a, or subordinated to the following line: “To make known your name to your adversaries, let the nations shake from before you.”