Yesaya 3:24

3:24 A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices, ¹ 

a rope will replace a belt,

baldness will replace braided locks of hair,

a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe,

and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.

Yesaya 5:2

5:2 He built a hedge around it, ²  removed its stones,

and planted a vine.

He built a tower in the middle of it,

and constructed a winepress.

He waited for it to produce edible grapes,

but it produced sour ones instead. ³ 

Yesaya 6:5

6:5 I said, “Too bad for me! I am destroyed, ⁴  for my lips are contaminated by sin, ⁵  and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin. ⁶  My eyes have seen the king, the Lord who commands armies.” ⁷ 

Yesaya 7:4

7:4 Tell him, ‘Make sure you stay calm! ⁸  Don’t be afraid! Don’t be intimidated ⁹  by these two stubs of smoking logs, ¹⁰  or by the raging anger of Rezin, Syria, and the son of Remaliah.

Yesaya 7:20

7:20 At that time ¹¹  the sovereign master will use a razor hired from the banks of the Euphrates River, ¹²  the king of Assyria, to shave the head and the pubic hair; ¹³  it will also shave off the beard.

Yesaya 14:25

14:25 I will break Assyria ¹⁴  in my land,

I will trample them ¹⁵  underfoot on my hills.

Their yoke will be removed from my people,

the burden will be lifted from their shoulders. ¹⁶ 

Yesaya 14:29

14:29 Don’t be so happy, all you Philistines,

just because the club that beat you has been broken! ¹⁷ 

For a viper will grow out of the serpent’s root,

and its fruit will be a darting adder. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 17:6

17:6 There will be some left behind,

like when an olive tree is beaten –

two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top,

four or five on its fruitful branches,”

says the Lord God of Israel.

Yesaya 22:11

22:11 You made a reservoir between the two walls

for the water of the old pool –

but you did not trust in ¹⁹  the one who made it; ²⁰ 

you did not depend on ²¹  the one who formed it long ago!

Yesaya 24:23

24:23 The full moon will be covered up, ²² 

the bright sun ²³  will be darkened; ²⁴ 

for the Lord who commands armies will rule ²⁵ 

on Mount Zion in Jerusalem ²⁶ 

in the presence of his assembly, in majestic splendor. ²⁷ 

Yesaya 28:4

28:4 The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,

situated at the head of a rich valley,

will be like an early fig before harvest –

as soon as someone notices it,

he grabs it and swallows it. ²⁸ 

Yesaya 28:13

28:13 So the Lord’s word to them will sound like

meaningless gibberish,

senseless babbling,

a syllable here, a syllable there. ²⁹ 

As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, ³⁰ 

and be injured, ensnared, and captured. ³¹ 

Yesaya 28:16

28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says:

“Look, I am laying ³²  a stone in Zion,

an approved ³³  stone,

set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ³⁴ 

The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ³⁵ 

Yesaya 29:13

29:13 The sovereign master ³⁶  says,

“These people say they are loyal to me; ³⁷ 

they say wonderful things about me, ³⁸ 

but they are not really loyal to me. ³⁹ 

Their worship consists of

nothing but man-made ritual. ⁴⁰ 

Yesaya 30:29

30:29 You will sing

as you do in the evening when you are celebrating a festival.

You will be happy like one who plays a flute

as he goes to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock who shelters Israel. ⁴¹ 

Yesaya 33:20

33:20 Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals!

You ⁴²  will see Jerusalem, ⁴³ 

a peaceful settlement,

a tent that stays put; ⁴⁴ 

its stakes will never be pulled up;

none of its ropes will snap in two.

Yesaya 43:23

43:23 You did not bring me lambs for your burnt offerings;

you did not honor me with your sacrifices.

I did not burden you with offerings;

I did not make you weary by demanding ⁴⁵  incense.

Yesaya 44:15

44:15 A man uses it to make a fire; ⁴⁶ 

he takes some of it and warms himself.

Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.

Then he makes a god and worships it;

he makes an idol and bows down to it. ⁴⁷ 

Yesaya 45:1

45:1 This is what the Lord says to his chosen ⁴⁸  one,

to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold ⁴⁹ 

in order to subdue nations before him,

and disarm kings, ⁵⁰ 

to open doors before him,

so gates remain unclosed:

Yesaya 45:18

45:18 For this is what the Lord says,

the one who created the sky –

he is the true God, ⁵¹ 

the one who formed the earth and made it;

he established it,

he did not create it without order, ⁵² 

he formed it to be inhabited –

“I am the Lord, I have no peer.

Yesaya 45:21

45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence! ⁵³ 

Let them consult with one another!

Who predicted this in the past?

Who announced it beforehand?

Was it not I, the Lord?

I have no peer, there is no God but me,

a God who vindicates and delivers; ⁵⁴ 

there is none but me.

Yesaya 45:23

45:23 I solemnly make this oath ⁵⁵  –

what I say is true and reliable: ⁵⁶ 

‘Surely every knee will bow to me,

every tongue will solemnly affirm; ⁵⁷ 

Yesaya 47:6

47:6 I was angry at my people;

I defiled my special possession

and handed them over to you.

You showed them no mercy; ⁵⁸ 

you even placed a very heavy burden on old people. ⁵⁹ 

Yesaya 51:3

51:3 Certainly the Lord will console Zion;

he will console all her ruins.

He will make her wilderness like Eden,

her desert like the Garden of the Lord.

Happiness and joy will be restored to ⁶⁰  her,

thanksgiving and the sound of music.

Yesaya 57:11

57:11 Whom are you worried about?

Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully

and not remember me

or think about me? ⁶¹ 

Because I have been silent for so long, ⁶² 

you are not afraid of me. ⁶³ 

Yesaya 58:13

58:13 You must ⁶⁴  observe the Sabbath ⁶⁵ 

rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. ⁶⁶ 

You must look forward to the Sabbath ⁶⁷ 

and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. ⁶⁸ 

You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,

and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. ⁶⁹ 

Yesaya 60:9

60:9 Indeed, the coastlands ⁷⁰  look eagerly for me,

the large ships ⁷¹  are in the lead,

bringing your sons from far away,

along with their silver and gold,

to honor the Lord your God, ⁷² 

the Holy One of Israel, ⁷³  for he has bestowed honor on you.

Yesaya 60:17

60:17 Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold,

instead of iron, I will bring you silver,

instead of wood, I will bring you ⁷⁴  bronze,

instead of stones, I will bring you ⁷⁵  iron.

I will make prosperity ⁷⁶  your overseer,

and vindication your sovereign ruler. ⁷⁷ 

Yesaya 65:9

65:9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains.

My chosen ones will take possession of the land; ⁷⁸ 

my servants will live there.

[3:24]  ¹ tn Heb “and it will be in place of spices there will be a stench.” The nouns for “spices” and “stench” are right next to each other in the MT for emphatic contrast. The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[5:2]  ² tn Or, “dug it up” (so NIV); KJV “fenced it.’ See HALOT 810 s.v. עזק.

[5:2]  ³ tn Heb “wild grapes,” i.e., sour ones (also in v. 4).

[5:2]  sn At this point the love song turns sour as the Lord himself breaks in and completes the story (see vv. 3-6). In the final line of v. 2 the love song presented to the Lord becomes a judgment speech by the Lord.

[6:5]  ⁴ tn Isaiah uses the suffixed (perfect) form of the verb for rhetorical purposes. In this way his destruction is described as occurring or as already completed. Rather than understanding the verb as derived from דָּמַה (damah, “be destroyed”), some take it from a proposed homonymic root דמה, which would mean “be silent.” In this case, one might translate, “I must be silent.”

[6:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man unclean of lips am I.” Isaiah is not qualified to praise the king. His lips (the instruments of praise) are “unclean” because he has been contaminated by sin.

[6:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “and among a nation unclean of lips I live.”

[6:5]  ⁷ tn Perhaps in this context, the title has a less militaristic connotation and pictures the Lord as the ruler of the heavenly assembly. See the note at 1:9.

[7:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “guard yourself and be quiet,” but the two verbs should be coordinated.

[7:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “and let not your heart be weak”; ASV “neither let thy heart be faint.”

[7:4]  ¹⁰ sn The derogatory metaphor indicates that the power of Rezin and Pekah is ready to die out.

[7:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in that day” (so ASV, NASB); KJV “In the same day.”

[7:20]  ¹² tn Heb “the river” (so KJV); NASB “the Euphrates.” The name of the river has been supplied in the present translation for clarity.

[7:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “the hair of the feet.” The translation assumes that the word “feet” is used here as a euphemism for the genitals. See BDB 920 s.v. רֶגֶל.

[14:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to break Assyria.”

[14:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “him.” This is a collective singular referring to the nation, or a reference to the king of Assyria who by metonymy stands for the entire nation.

[14:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and his [i.e., Assyria’s] yoke will be removed from them [the people?], and his [Assyria’s] burden from his [the nation’s?] shoulder will be removed.” There are no antecedents in this oracle for the suffixes in the phrases “from them” and “from his shoulder.” Since the Lord’s land and hills are referred to in the preceding line and the statement seems to echo 10:27, it is likely that God’s people are the referents of the suffixes; the translation uses “my people” to indicate this.

[14:29]  ¹⁷ sn The identity of this “club” (also referred to as a “serpent” in the next line) is uncertain. It may refer to an Assyrian king, or to Ahaz. For discussion see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:331-32. The viper/adder referred to in the second half of the verse is his successor.

[14:29]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “flying burning one.” The designation “burning one” may allude to the serpent’s appearance or the effect of its poisonous bite. (See the note at 6:2.) The qualifier “flying” probably refers to the serpent’s quick, darting movements, though one might propose a homonym here, meaning “biting.” (See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:332, n. 18.) Some might think in terms of a mythological flying, fire breathing dragon (cf. NAB “a flying saraph”; CEV “a flying fiery dragon”), but this proposal does not make good sense in 30:6, where the phrase “flying burning one” appears again in a list of desert animals.

[22:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “look at”; NAB, NRSV “did not look to.”

[22:11]  ²⁰ tn The antecedent of the third feminine singular suffix here and in the next line is unclear. The closest feminine noun is “pool” in the first half of the verse. Perhaps this “old pool” symbolizes the entire city, which had prospered because of God’s provision and protection through the years.

[22:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “did not see.”

[24:23]  ²² tn Heb “will be ashamed.”

[24:23]  ²³ tn Or “glow of the sun.”

[24:23]  ²⁴ tn Heb “will be ashamed” (so NCV).

[24:23]  ²⁵ tn Or “take his throne,” “become king.”

[24:23]  ²⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[24:23]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and before his elders [in] splendor.”

[28:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “which the one seeing sees, while still it is in his hand he swallows it.”

[28:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord will be to them, ‘tsahv latsahv,’ etc.” See the note at v. 10. In this case the “Lord’s word” is not the foreigner’s strange sounding words (as in v. 10), but the Lord’s repeated appeals to them (like the one quoted in v. 12). As time goes on, the Lord’s appeals through the prophets will have no impact on the people; they will regard prophetic preaching as gibberish.

[28:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “as a result they will go and stumble backward.” Perhaps an infant falling as it attempts to learn to walk is the background image here (cf. v. 9b). The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) could be taken as indicating purpose (“in order that”), rather than simple result. In this case the people’s insensitivity to the message is caused by the Lord as a means of expediting their downfall.

[28:13]  ³¹ sn When divine warnings and appeals become gibberish to the spiritually insensitive, they have no guidance and are doomed to destruction.

[28:16]  ³² tc The Hebrew text has a third person verb form, which does not agree with the first person suffix that precedes. The form should be emended to יֹסֵד (yosed), a Qal active participle used in a present progressive or imminent future sense.

[28:16]  ³³ tn Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.

[28:16]  ³⁴ sn The reality behind the metaphor is not entirely clear from the context. The stone appears to represent someone or something that gives Zion stability. Perhaps the ideal Davidic ruler is in view (see 32:1). Another option is that the image of beginning a building project by laying a precious cornerstone suggests that God is about to transform Zion through judgment and begin a new covenant community that will experience his protection (see 4:3-6; 31:5; 33:20-24; 35:10).

[28:16]  ³⁵ tn Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.

[29:13]  ³⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[29:13]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Because these people draw near to me with their mouth.”

[29:13]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and with their lips they honor me.”

[29:13]  ³⁹ tn Heb “but their heart is far from me.” The heart is viewed here as the seat of the will, from which genuine loyalty derives.

[29:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught.”

[30:29]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “[you will have] joy of heart, like the one going with a flute to enter the mountain of the Lord to the Rock of Israel.” The image here is not a foundational rock, but a rocky cliff where people could hide for protection (for example, the fortress of Masada).

[33:20]  ⁴² tn Heb “your eyes” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[33:20]  ⁴³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[33:20]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “that does not travel”; NASB “which shall not be folded.”

[43:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “with.” The words “by demanding” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[44:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and it becomes burning [i.e., firewood] for a man”; NAB “to serve man for fuel.”

[44:15]  ⁴⁷ tn Or perhaps, “them.”

[45:1]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “anointed” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “his appointed king.”

[45:1]  ⁴⁹ sn The “right hand” is a symbol of activity and strength; the Lord directs Cyrus’ activities and assures his success.

[45:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and the belts of kings I will loosen”; NRSV “strip kings of their robes”; NIV “strip kings of their armor.”

[45:18]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.

[45:18]  ⁵² tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.

[45:21]  ⁵³ tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.

[45:21]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”

[45:23]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “I swear by myself”; KJV, NASB “have sworn.”

[45:23]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “a word goes out from my mouth [in] truth and will not return.”

[45:23]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “swear” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “confess allegiance.”

[47:6]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “compassion.”

[47:6]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “on the old you made very heavy your yoke.”

[51:3]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “found in” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[57:11]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “you do not place [it] on your heart.”

[57:11]  ⁶² tn Heb “Is it not [because] I have been silent, and from long ago?”

[57:11]  ⁶³ sn God’s patience with sinful Israel has caused them to think that they can sin with impunity and suffer no consequences.

[58:13]  ⁶⁴ tn Lit., “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 13-14 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in v. 13), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 14.

[58:13]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”

[58:13]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”

[58:13]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”

[58:13]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “and [call] the holy [day] of the Lord honored.” On קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy”) as indicating a time period, see BDB 872 s.v. 2.e (cf. also Neh 8:9-11).

[58:13]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “and you honor it [by refraining] from accomplishing your ways, from finding your desire and speaking a word.” It is unlikely that the last phrase (“speaking a word”) is a prohibition against talking on the Sabbath; instead it probably refers to making transactions or plans (see Hos 10:4). Some see here a reference to idle talk (cf. 2 Sam 19:30).

[60:9]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”

[60:9]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.

[60:9]  ⁷² tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”

[60:9]  ⁷³ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[60:17]  ⁷⁴ tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding lines).

[60:17]  ⁷⁵ tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the first two lines of the verse).

[60:17]  ⁷⁶ tn Or “peace” (KJV and many other English versions).

[60:17]  ⁷⁷ tn The plural indicates degree. The language is ironic; in the past Zion was ruled by oppressive tyrants, but now personified prosperity and vindication will be the only things that will “dominate” the city.

[65:9]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to the land which contains the aforementioned mountains.