Yesaya 1:16

1:16 ¹ Wash! Cleanse yourselves!

Remove your sinful deeds ² 

from my sight.

Stop sinning!

Yesaya 14:4

14:4 you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: ³ 

“Look how the oppressor has met his end!

Hostility ⁴  has ceased!

Yesaya 22:4

22:4 So I say:

“Don’t look at me! ⁵ 

I am weeping bitterly.

Don’t try ⁶  to console me

concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.” ⁷ 

Yesaya 28:11

28:11 For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue

he will speak to these people. ⁸ 

Yesaya 28:20

28:20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,

and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself. ⁹ 

Yesaya 32:9

The Lord Will Give True Security

32:9 You complacent ¹⁰  women,

get up and listen to me!

You carefree ¹¹  daughters,

pay attention to what I say!

Yesaya 36:9

36:9 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. ¹² 

Yesaya 45:22

45:22 Turn to me so you can be delivered, ¹³ 

all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!

For I am God, and I have no peer.

Yesaya 48:2

48:2 Indeed, they live in the holy city; ¹⁴ 

they trust in ¹⁵  the God of Israel,

whose name is the Lord who commands armies.

Yesaya 48:7

48:7 Now they come into being, ¹⁶  not in the past;

before today you did not hear about them,

so you could not say,

‘Yes, ¹⁷  I know about them.’

Yesaya 48:10

48:10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have purified you ¹⁸  in the furnace of misery.

Yesaya 51:14

51:14 The one who suffers ¹⁹  will soon be released;

he will not die in prison, ²⁰ 

he will not go hungry. ²¹ 

Yesaya 61:5

61:5 ²² “Foreigners will take care of ²³  your sheep;

foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards.

[1:16]  ¹ sn Having demonstrated the people’s guilt, the Lord calls them to repentance, which will involve concrete action in the socio-economic realm, not mere emotion.

[1:16]  ² sn This phrase refers to Israel’s covenant treachery (cf. Deut 28:10; Jer 4:4; 21:12; 23:2, 22; 25:5; 26:3; 44:22; Hos 9:15; Ps 28:4). In general, the noun ַמעַלְלֵיכֶם (ma’alleykhem) can simply be a reference to deeds, whether good or bad. However, Isaiah always uses it with a negative connotation (cf. 3:8, 10).

[14:4]  ³ tn Heb “you will lift up this taunt over the king of Babylon, saying.”

[14:4]  ⁴ tc The word in the Hebrew text (מַדְהֵבָה, madhevah) is unattested elsewhere and of uncertain meaning. Many (following the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) assume a dalet-resh (ד-ר) confusion and emend the form to מַרְהֵבָה (marhevah, “onslaught”). See HALOT 548 s.v. II *מִדָּה and HALOT 633 s.v. *מַרְהֵבָה.

[22:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “look away from me” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[22:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “don’t hurry” (so NCV).

[22:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “the daughter of my people.” “Daughter” is here used metaphorically to express the speaker’s emotional attachment to his people, as well as their vulnerability and weakness.

[28:11]  ⁸ sn This verse alludes to the coming Assyrian invasion, when the people will hear a foreign language that sounds like gibberish to them. The Lord is the subject of the verb “will speak,” as v. 12 makes clear. He once spoke in meaningful terms, but in the coming judgment he will speak to them, as it were, through the mouth of foreign oppressors. The apparent gibberish they hear will be an outward reminder that God has decreed their defeat.

[28:20]  ⁹ sn The bed and blanket probably symbolize their false sense of security. A bed that is too short and a blanket that is too narrow may promise rest and protection from the cold, but in the end they are useless and disappointing. In the same way, their supposed treaty with death will prove useless and disappointing.

[32:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or “self-assured”; NASB, NRSV “who are at ease.”

[32:9]  ¹¹ tn Or “self-confident”; NAB “overconfident.”

[36:9]  ¹² tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 8-9 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 6. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.”

[45:22]  ¹³ tn The Niphal imperative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The Niphal probably has a tolerative sense, “allow yourselves to be delivered, accept help.”

[48:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they call themselves [or “are called”] from the holy city.” The precise meaning of the statement is uncertain. The Niphal of קָרָא (qara’) is combined with the preposition מִן (min) only here. When the Qal of קָרָא is used with מִן, the preposition often indicates the place from which one is summoned (see 46:11). So one could translate, “from the holy city they are summoned,” meaning that they reside there.

[48:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lean on” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “rely on.”

[48:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “are created” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “They are brand new.”

[48:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “look”; KJV, NASB “Behold.”

[48:10]  ¹⁸ tc The Hebrew text has בְּחַרְתִּיךָ (bÿkhartikha, “I have chosen you”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a reads correctly בחנתיכה (“I have tested you”). The metallurgical background of the imagery suggests that purification through testing is the idea.

[51:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “who is stooped over” (under a burden).

[51:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the pit” (so KJV); ASV, NAB “die and go down into the pit”; NASB, NIV “dungeon”; NCV “prison.”

[51:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “he will not lack his bread.”

[61:5]  ²² sn The Lord speaks in vv. 7-8 (and possibly v. 9). It is not clear where the servant’s speech (see vv. 1-3a) ends and the Lord’s begins. Perhaps the direct address to the people signals the beginning of the Lord’s speech.

[61:5]  ²³ tn Heb “will stand [in position] and shepherd.”