Yesaya 1:11

1:11 “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?” ¹ 

says the Lord.

“I am stuffed with ²  burnt sacrifices

of rams and the fat from steers.

The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats

I do not want. ³ 

Yesaya 9:1

9:1 (8:23) ⁴  The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious. ⁵ 

In earlier times he ⁶  humiliated

the land of Zebulun,

and the land of Naphtali; ⁷ 

but now he brings honor ⁸ 

to the way of the sea,

the region beyond the Jordan,

and Galilee of the nations. ⁹ 

Yesaya 26:19

26:19 ¹⁰ Your dead will come back to life;

your corpses will rise up.

Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! ¹¹ 

For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, ¹² 

and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits. ¹³ 

Yesaya 30:23

30:23 He will water the seed you plant in the ground,

and the ground will produce crops in abundance. ¹⁴ 

At that time ¹⁵  your cattle will graze in wide pastures.

Yesaya 32:6

32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things; ¹⁶ 

his mind plans out sinful deeds. ¹⁷ 

He commits godless deeds ¹⁸ 

and says misleading things about the Lord;

he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite ¹⁹ 

and gives the thirsty nothing to drink. ²⁰ 

Yesaya 37:33

37:33 So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

‘He will not enter this city,

nor will he shoot an arrow here. ²¹ 

He will not attack it with his shielded warriors, ²² 

nor will he build siege works against it.

Yesaya 49:18

49:18 Look all around you! ²³ 

All of them gather to you.

As surely as I live,” says the Lord,

“you will certainly wear all of them like jewelry;

you will put them on as if you were a bride.

Yesaya 53:2

53:2 He sprouted up like a twig before God, ²⁴ 

like a root out of parched soil; ²⁵ 

he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, ²⁶ 

no special appearance that we should want to follow him. ²⁷ 

Yesaya 54:1

Zion Will Be Secure

54:1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth!

Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor!

For the children of the desolate one are more numerous

than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.

Yesaya 58:5

58:5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? ²⁸ 

Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, ²⁹ 

bowing their heads like a reed

and stretching out ³⁰  on sackcloth and ashes?

Is this really what you call a fast,

a day that is pleasing to the Lord?

Yesaya 63:11

63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. ³¹ 

Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,

along with the shepherd of ³²  his flock?

Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, ³³ 

Yesaya 65:7-8

65:7 for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,” ³⁴  says the Lord.

“Because they burned incense on the mountains

and offended ³⁵  me on the hills,

I will punish them in full measure.” ³⁶ 

65:8 This is what the Lord says:

“When ³⁷  juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,

someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ ³⁸ 

So I will do for the sake of my servants –

I will not destroy everyone. ³⁹ 

Yesaya 65:25

65:25 A wolf and a lamb will graze together; ⁴⁰ 

a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, ⁴¹ 

and a snake’s food will be dirt. ⁴² 

They will no longer injure or destroy

on my entire royal mountain,” ⁴³  says the Lord.

Yesaya 66:14

66:14 When you see this, you will be happy, ⁴⁴ 

and you will be revived. ⁴⁵ 

The Lord will reveal his power to his servants

and his anger to his enemies. ⁴⁶ 

[1:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Why to me the multitude of your sacrifices?” The sarcastic rhetorical question suggests that their many sacrifices are of no importance to the Lord. This phrase answers the possible objection that an Israelite could raise in response to God’s indictment: “But we are offering the sacrifices you commanded!”

[1:11]  sn In this section the Lord refutes a potential objection that his sinful people might offer in their defense. He has charged them with rebellion (vv. 2-3), but they might respond that they have brought him many sacrifices. So he points out that he requires social justice first and foremost, not empty ritual.

[1:11]  ² tn The verb שָׂבַע (sava’, “be satisfied, full”) is often used of eating and/or drinking one’s fill. See BDB 959 s.v. שָׂבַע. Here sacrifices are viewed, in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion, as food for the deity. God here declares that he has eaten and drunk, as it were, his fill.

[1:11]  ³ sn In the chiastic structure of the verse, the verbs at the beginning and end highlight God’s displeasure, while the heaping up of references to animals, fat, and blood in the middle lines hints at why God wants no more of their sacrifices. They have, as it were, piled the food on his table and he needs no more.

[9:1]  ⁴ sn In the Hebrew text (BHS) the chapter division comes one verse later than in the English Bible; 9:1 (8:23 HT). Thus 9:2-21 in the English Bible = 9:1-20 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[9:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads, “Indeed there is no gloom for the one to whom there was anxiety for her.” The feminine singular pronominal suffix “her” must refer to the land (cf. vv. 22a, 23b). So one could translate, “Indeed there will be no gloom for the land which was anxious.” In this case the statement introduces the positive message to follow. Some assume an emendation of לֹא (lo’, “no”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”) and of לָהּ (lah, “to her”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”), yielding this literal reading: “indeed there is gloom for him, for the one to whom there was anxiety for him.” In this case the statement concludes the preceding description of judgment.

[9:1]  ⁶ tn The Lord must be understood as the subject of the two verbs in this verse.

[9:1]  ⁷ sn The statement probably alludes to the Assyrian conquest of Israel in ca. 734-733 b.c., when Tiglath-pileser III annexed much of Israel’s territory and reduced Samaria to a puppet state.

[9:1]  ⁸ tn Heb Just as in earlier times he humiliated…, [in] the latter times he has brought honor.” The main verbs in vv. 1b-4 are Hebrew perfects. The prophet takes his rhetorical stance in the future age of restoration and describes future events as if they have already occurred. To capture the dramatic effect of the original text, the translation uses the English present or present perfect.

[9:1]  ⁹ sn These three geographical designations may refer to provinces established by the Assyrians in 734-733 b.c. The “way of the sea” is the province of Dor, along the Mediterranean coast, the “region beyond the Jordan” is the province of Gilead in Transjordan, and “Galilee of the nations” (a title that alludes to how the territory had been overrun by foreigners) is the province of Megiddo located west of the Sea of Galilee. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 374.

[26:19]  ¹⁰ sn At this point the Lord (or prophet) gives the people an encouraging oracle.

[26:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “dust” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[26:19]  ¹² tn Heb “for the dew of lights [is] your dew.” The pronominal suffix on “dew” is masculine singular, like the suffixes on “your dead” and “your corpses” in the first half of the verse. The statement, then, is addressed to collective Israel, the speaker in verse 18. The plural form אוֹרֹת (’orot) is probably a plural of respect or magnitude, meaning “bright light” (i.e., morning’s light). Dew is a symbol of fertility and life. Here Israel’s “dew,” as it were, will soak the dust of the ground and cause the corpses of the dead to spring up to new life, like plants sprouting up from well-watered soil.

[26:19]  ¹³ sn It is not certain whether the resurrection envisioned here is intended to be literal or figurative. A comparison with 25:8 and Dan 12:2 suggests a literal interpretation, but Ezek 37:1-14 uses resurrection as a metaphor for deliverance from exile and the restoration of the nation (see Isa 27:12-13).

[30:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he will give rain for your seed which you plant in the ground, and food [will be] the produce of the ground, and it will be rich and abundant.”

[30:23]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[32:6]  ¹⁶ tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.

[32:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”

[32:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”

[32:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”

[32:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”

[37:33]  ²¹ tn Heb “there” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). In terms of English style “here” is expected in collocation with “this” in the previous line.

[37:33]  ²² tn Heb “[with] a shield” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[49:18]  ²³ tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see.”

[53:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “before him.” Some suggest an emendation to “before us.” If the third singular suffix of the Hebrew text is retained, it probably refers to the Lord (see v. 1b). For a defense of this reading, see R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 173-74.

[53:2]  ²⁵ sn The metaphor in this verse suggests insignificance.

[53:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “that we might see him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.

[53:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “that we should desire him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.

[58:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”

[58:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:5]  ³⁰ tn Or “making [their] bed.”

[63:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “and he remembered the days of antiquity, Moses, his people.” The syntax of the statement is unclear. The translation assumes that “his people” is the subject of the verb “remembered.” If original, “Moses” is in apposition to “the days of antiquity,” more precisely identifying the time period referred to. However, the syntactical awkwardness suggests that “Moses” may have been an early marginal note (perhaps identifying “the shepherd of his flock” two lines later) that has worked its way into the text.

[63:11]  ³² tn The Hebrew text has a plural form, which if retained and taken as a numerical plural, would probably refer to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite tribal leaders at the time of the Exodus. Most prefer to emend the form to the singular (רָעָה, ra’ah) and understand this as a reference just to Moses.

[63:11]  ³³ sn See the note at v. 10.

[65:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the iniquities of your fathers.”

[65:7]  ³⁵ tn Or perhaps, “taunted”; KJV “blasphemed”; NAB “disgraced”; NASB “scorned”; NIV “defied”; NRSV “reviled.”

[65:7]  ³⁶ tn Heb “I will measure out their pay [from the] beginning into their lap,” i.e., he will give them everything they have earned.

[65:8]  ³⁷ tn Heb “just as.” In the Hebrew text the statement is one long sentence, “Just as…, so I will do….”

[65:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “for a blessing is in it.”

[65:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “by not destroying everyone.”

[65:25]  ⁴⁰ sn A similar statement appears in 11:6.

[65:25]  ⁴¹ sn These words also appear in 11:7.

[65:25]  ⁴² sn Some see an allusion to Gen 3:14 (note “you will eat dirt”). The point would be that even in this new era the snake (often taken as a symbol of Satan) remains under God’s curse. However, it is unlikely that such an allusion exists. Even if there is an echo of Gen 3:14, the primary allusion is to 11:8, where snakes are pictured as no longer dangerous. They will no longer attack other living creatures, but will be content to crawl along the ground. (The statement “you will eat dirt” in Gen 3:14 means “you will crawl on the ground.” In the same way the statement “dirt will be its food” in Isa 65:25 means “it will crawl on the ground.”)

[65:25]  ⁴³ tn Heb “in all my holy mountain.” These same words appear in 11:9. See the note there.

[65:25]  sn As in 11:1-9 the prophet anticipates a time when the categories predator-prey no longer exist. See the note at the end of 11:8.

[66:14]  ⁴⁴ tn “and you will see and your heart will be happy.”

[66:14]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and your bones like grass will sprout.”

[66:14]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, and anger to his enemies.”