Yesaya 1:17

1:17 Learn to do what is right!

Promote justice!

Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! ¹ 

Take up the cause of the orphan!

Defend the rights of the widow! ² 

Yesaya 1:29

1:29 Indeed, they ³  will be ashamed of the sacred trees

you ⁴  find so desirable;

you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards ⁵ 

where you choose to worship.

Yesaya 2:10

2:10 Go up into the rocky cliffs,

hide in the ground.

Get away from the dreadful judgment of the Lord, ⁶ 

from his royal splendor!

Yesaya 2:12

2:12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment, ⁷ 

for ⁸  all the high and mighty,

for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;

Yesaya 3:15

3:15 Why do you crush my people

and grind the faces of the poor?” ⁹ 

The sovereign Lord who commands armies ¹⁰  has spoken.

Yesaya 7:15

7:15 He will eat sour milk ¹¹  and honey, which will help him know how ¹²  to reject evil and choose what is right.

Yesaya 8:6

8:6 “These people ¹³  have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah ¹⁴  and melt in fear over Rezin and the son of Remaliah. ¹⁵ 

Yesaya 10:10

10:10 I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols, ¹⁶ 

whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalem’s ¹⁷  or Samaria’s.

Yesaya 10:32

10:32 This very day, standing in Nob,

they shake their fist at Daughter Zion’s mountain ¹⁸  –

at the hill of Jerusalem.

Yesaya 11:7

11:7 A cow and a bear will graze together,

their young will lie down together. ¹⁹ 

A lion, like an ox, will eat straw.

Yesaya 13:12

13:12 I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold,

and people more scarce ²⁰  than gold from Ophir.

Yesaya 14:4

14:4 you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: ²¹ 

“Look how the oppressor has met his end!

Hostility ²²  has ceased!

Yesaya 14:17

14:17 Is this the one who made the world like a desert,

who ruined its ²³  cities,

and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’ ²⁴ 

Yesaya 16:1

16:1 Send rams as tribute to the ruler of the land, ²⁵ 

from Sela in the desert ²⁶ 

to the hill of Daughter Zion.

Yesaya 20:1

20:1 The Lord revealed the following message during the year in which King Sargon of Assyria sent his commanding general to Ashdod, and he fought against it and captured it. ²⁷ 

Yesaya 21:17

21:17 Just a handful of archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be left.” ²⁸  Indeed, ²⁹  the Lord God of Israel has spoken.

Yesaya 22:4

22:4 So I say:

“Don’t look at me! ³⁰ 

I am weeping bitterly.

Don’t try ³¹  to console me

concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.” ³² 

Yesaya 22:6

22:6 The Elamites picked up the quiver,

and came with chariots and horsemen; ³³ 

the men of Kir ³⁴  prepared ³⁵  the shield. ³⁶ 

Yesaya 22:24

22:24 His father’s family will gain increasing prominence because of him, ³⁷  including the offspring and the offshoots. ³⁸  All the small containers, including the bowls and all the jars will hang from this peg.’ ³⁹ 

Yesaya 24:7

24:7 The new wine dries up,

the vines shrivel up,

all those who like to celebrate ⁴⁰  groan.

Yesaya 24:11

24:11 They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; ⁴¹ 

all joy turns to sorrow; ⁴² 

celebrations disappear from the earth. ⁴³ 

Yesaya 29:1

Ariel is Besieged

29:1 Ariel is as good as dead ⁴⁴  –

Ariel, the town David besieged! ⁴⁵ 

Keep observing your annual rituals,

celebrate your festivals on schedule. ⁴⁶ 

Yesaya 29:20

29:20 For tyrants will disappear,

those who taunt will vanish,

and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated ⁴⁷  –

Yesaya 30:3

30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,

and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.

Yesaya 31:6

31:6 You Israelites! Return to the one against whom you have so blatantly rebelled! ⁴⁸ 

Yesaya 32:4-5

32:4 The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment ⁴⁹ 

and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity.

32:5 A fool will no longer be called honorable;

a deceiver will no longer be called principled.

Yesaya 34:9

34:9 Edom’s ⁵⁰  streams will be turned into pitch

and her soil into brimstone;

her land will become burning pitch.

Yesaya 36:20

36:20 Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’” ⁵¹ 

Yesaya 37:1

37:1 When King Hezekiah heard this, ⁵²  he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord’s temple.

Yesaya 43:8

The Lord Declares His Sovereignty

43:8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,

those who are deaf, even though they have ears!

Yesaya 45:17

45:17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord; ⁵³ 

you will never again be ashamed or humiliated. ⁵⁴ 

Yesaya 47:7

47:7 You said,

‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ ⁵⁵ 

You did not think about these things; ⁵⁶ 

you did not consider how it would turn out. ⁵⁷ 

Yesaya 51:14

51:14 The one who suffers ⁵⁸  will soon be released;

he will not die in prison, ⁵⁹ 

he will not go hungry. ⁶⁰ 

Yesaya 54:3

54:3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;

your children will conquer ⁶¹  nations

and will resettle desolate cities.

Yesaya 54:15

54:15 If anyone dares to ⁶²  challenge you, it will not be my doing!

Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated. ⁶³ 

Yesaya 62:7

62:7 Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, ⁶⁴ 

until he makes Jerusalem the pride ⁶⁵  of the earth.

Yesaya 65:14

65:14 Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts! ⁶⁶ 

But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; ⁶⁷ 

you will wail because your spirits will be crushed. ⁶⁸ 

[1:17]  ¹ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The translation assumes an emendation of חָמוֹץ (khamots, “oppressor [?]”) to חָמוּץ (khamuts, “oppressed”), a passive participle from II חָמַץ (khamats, “oppress”; HALOT 329 s.v. II חמץ) and takes the verb II אָשַׁר (’ashar) in the sense of “make happy” (the delocutive Piel, meaning “call/pronounce happy,” is metonymic here, referring to actually effecting happiness). The parallelism favors this interpretation, for the next two lines speak of positive actions on behalf of the destitute. The other option is to retain the MT pointing and translate, “set right the oppressor,” but the nuance “set right” is not clearly attested elsewhere for the verb I אשׁר. This verb does appear as a participle in Isa 3:12 and 9:16 with the meaning “to lead or guide.” If it can mean to “lead” or “rebuke/redirect” in this verse, the prophet could be contrasting this appeal for societal reformation (v. 17c) with a command to reorder their personal lives (v. 17a-b). J. A. Motyer (The Prophecy of Isaiah, 47) suggests that these three statements (v. 17a-c) provide “the contrast between the two ends of imperfect society, the oppressor and the needy, the one inflicting and the other suffering the hurt. Isaiah looks for a transformed society wherever it needs transforming.”

[1:17]  ² tn This word refers to a woman who has lost her husband, by death or divorce. The orphan and widow are often mentioned in the OT as epitomizing the helpless and impoverished who have been left without the necessities of life due to the loss of a family provider.

[1:29]  ³ tc The Hebrew text (and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) has the third person here, though a few Hebrew mss (and Targums) read the second person, which is certainly more consistent with the following context. The third person form is the more difficult reading and probably original. This disagreement in person has caused some to emend the first verb (3rd plural) to a 2nd plural form (followed by most English translations). The BHS textual apparatus suggests that the 2nd plural form be read even though there is only sparse textual evidence. LXX, Syriac, and the Vulgate change all the 2nd person verbs in 1:29-31 to 3rd person verbs. It is likely that the change to a 2nd person form represents an attempt at syntactical harmonization (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 10). The abrupt change from 3rd person to 2nd person may have been intentional for rhetorical impact (GKC 462 §144.p). The rapid change from exclamation (they did!) to reproach (you desired!) might be regarded as a rhetorical figure focusing attention on the addressees and their conditions (de Waard, 10; E. König, Stilistik, Rhetorik, Poetik, 239). This use of the 3rd person could also be understood as an impersonal third person: “one will be ashamed” (de Waard, 10). In v. 29 the prophet continues his description of the sinners (v. 28), but then suddenly makes a transition to direct address (switching from 3^rd to 2^nd person) in the middle of his sentence.

[1:29]  ⁴ tn The second person pronouns in vv. 29-30 are masculine plural, indicating that the rebellious sinners (v. 28) are addressed.

[1:29]  ⁵ tn Or “gardens” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “groves.”

[2:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the dread of the Lord,” that is, from the dread that he produces in the objects of his judgment.” The words “get away” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] has a day.”

[2:12]  ⁸ tn Or “against” (NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[3:15]  ⁹ sn The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s outrage at what the leaders have done to the poor. He finds it almost unbelievable that they would have the audacity to treat his people in this manner.

[3:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” On the title “the Lord who commands armies,” see the note at 1:9.

[3:15]  sn The use of this title, which also appears in v. 1, forms an inclusio around vv. 1-15. The speech begins and ends with a reference to “the master, the Lord who commands armies.”

[7:15]  ¹¹ tn Or, perhaps “cream,” frequently, “curds” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); KJV, ASV “butter”; CEV “yogurt.”

[7:15]  ¹² tn Heb “for his knowing.” Traditionally the preposition has been translated in a temporal sense, “when he knows.” However, though the preposition לְ (lamed) can sometimes have a temporal force, it never carries such a nuance in any of the 40 other passages where it is used with the infinitive construct of יָדַע (yada’, “to know”). Most often the construction indicates purpose/result. This sense is preferable here. The following context indicates that sour milk and honey will epitomize the devastation that God’s judgment will bring upon the land. Cultivated crops will be gone and the people will be forced to live off the milk produced by their goats and the honey they find in the thickets. As the child is forced to eat a steady diet of this sour milk and honey, he will be reminded of the consequences of sin and motivated to make correct moral decisions in order to avoid further outbreaks of divine discipline.

[8:6]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text begins with “because.” In the Hebrew text vv. 6-7 are one long sentence, with v. 6 giving the reason for judgment and v. 7 formally announcing it.

[8:6]  ¹⁴ sn The phrase “waters of Shiloah” probably refers to a stream that originated at the Gihon Spring and supplied the city of Jerusalem with water. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:225. In this context these waters stand in contrast to the flood waters of Assyria and symbolize God’s presence and blessings.

[8:6]  ¹⁵ tn The precise meaning of v. 6 has been debated. The translation above assumes that “these people” are the residents of Judah and that מָשׂוֹשׂ (masos) is alternate form of מָסוֹס (masos, “despair, melt”; see HALOT 606 s.v. מסס). In this case vv. 7-8 in their entirety announce God’s disciplinary judgment on Judah. However, “these people” could refer to the Israelites and perhaps also the Syrians (cf v. 4). In this case מָשׂוֹשׂ probably means “joy.” One could translate, “and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah.” In this case v. 7a announces the judgment of Israel, with vv. 7b-8 then shifting the focus to the judgment of Judah.

[10:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Just as my hand found the kingdoms of the idol[s].” The comparison is expanded in v. 11a (note “as”) and completed in v. 11b (note “so”).

[10:10]  ¹⁷ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[10:32]  ¹⁸ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has “a mountain of a house (בֵּית, bet), Zion,” but the marginal reading (Qere) correctly reads “the mountain of the daughter (בַּת, bat) of Zion.” On the phrase “Daughter Zion,” see the note on the same phrase in 1:8.

[11:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and a cow and a bear will graze – together – they will lie down, their young.” This is a case of pivot pattern; יַחְדָּו (yakhddav, “together”) goes with both the preceding and following statements.

[13:12]  ²⁰ tn The verb is supplied in the translation from the first line. The verb in the first line (“I will make scarce”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse.

[14:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “you will lift up this taunt over the king of Babylon, saying.”

[14:4]  ²² 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.

[14:17]  ²³ tc The pronominal suffix is masculine, even though its antecedent appears to be the grammatically feminine noun “world.” Some have suggested that the form עָרָיו (’arayv, plural noun with third masculine singular suffix) should be emended to עָרֶיהָ (’areha, plural noun with third feminine singular suffix). This emendation may be unnecessary in light of other examples of lack of agreement a suffix and its antecedent noun.

[14:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and his prisoners did not let loose to [their] homes.” This really means, “he did not let loose his prisoners and send them back to their homes.’ On the elliptical style, see GKC 366 §117.o.

[16:1]  ²⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “Send [a plural imperatival form is used] a ram [to] the ruler of the land.” The term כַּר (kar, “ram”) should be emended to the plural כָּרִים (karim). The singular form in the text is probably the result of haplography; note that the next word begins with a mem (מ).

[16:1]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew text has “toward [across?] the desert.”

[20:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “In the year the commanding general came to Ashdod, when Sargon king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and captured it.”

[20:1]  sn This probably refers to the Assyrian campaign against Philistia in 712 or 711 b.c.

[21:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and the remnant of the number of the bow, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few.”

[21:17]  ²⁹ tn Or “for” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[22:4]  ³⁰ tn Heb “look away from me” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[22:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “don’t hurry” (so NCV).

[22:4]  ³² 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.

[22:6]  ³³ tn Heb “[with] the chariots of men, horsemen.”

[22:6]  ³⁴ sn A distant region in the direction of Mesopotamia; see Amos 1:5; 9:7.

[22:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Kir uncovers” (so NAB, NIV).

[22:6]  ³⁶ sn The Elamites and men of Kir may here symbolize a fierce army from a distant land. If this oracle anticipates a Babylonian conquest of the city (see 39:5-7), then the Elamites and men of Kir are perhaps viewed here as mercenaries in the Babylonian army. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:410.

[22:24]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and all the glory of the house of his father they will hang on him.” The Lord returns to the peg metaphor of v. 23a. Eliakim’s secure position of honor will bring benefits and jobs to many others in the family.

[22:24]  ³⁸ tn The precise meaning and derivation of this word are uncertain. Cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “the issue”; CEV “relatives.”

[22:24]  ³⁹ tn Heb “all the small vessels, from the vessels that are bowls to all the vessels that are jars.” The picture is that of a single peg holding the weight of all kinds of containers hung from it.

[24:7]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “all the joyful in heart,” but the context specifies the context as parties and drinking bouts.

[24:11]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “[there is] an outcry over the wine in the streets.”

[24:11]  ⁴² tn Heb “all joy turns to evening,” the darkness of evening symbolizing distress and sorrow.

[24:11]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the joy of the earth disappears.”

[29:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “Woe [to] Ariel.” The meaning of the name “Ariel” is uncertain. The name may mean “altar hearth” (see v. 2) or, if compound, “lion of God.” The name is used here as a title for Mount Zion/Jerusalem (see v. 8).

[29:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the town where David camped.” The verb חָנָה (khanah, “camp”) probably has the nuance “lay siege to” here. See v. 3. Another option is to take the verb in the sense of “lived, settled.”

[29:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Add year to year, let your festivals occur in cycles.” This is probably a sarcastic exhortation to the people to keep up their religious rituals, which will not prevent the coming judgment. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:527.

[29:20]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and all the watchers of wrong will be cut off.”

[31:6]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “Return to the one [against] whom the sons of Israel made deep rebellion.” The syntax is awkward here. A preposition is omitted by ellipsis after the verb (see GKC 446 §138.f, n. 2), and there is a shift from direct address (note the second plural imperative “return”) to the third person (note “they made deep”). For other examples of abrupt shifts in person in poetic style, see GKC 462 §144.p.

[32:4]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “the heart of rashness will understand knowledge”; cf. NAB “The flighty will become wise and capable.”

[34:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Edom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[36:20]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “that the Lord might rescue Jerusalem from my hand?” The logic runs as follows: Since no god has ever been able to withstand the Assyrian onslaught, how can the people of Jerusalem possibly think the Lord will rescue them?

[37:1]  ⁵² tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[45:17]  ⁵³ tn Heb “Israel will be delivered by the Lord [with] a permanent deliverance.”

[45:17]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “you will not be ashamed and you will not be humiliated for ages of future time.”

[47:7]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “Forever I [will be] permanent queen”; NIV “the eternal queen”; CEV “queen forever.”

[47:7]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “you did not set these things upon your heart [or “mind”].”

[47:7]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “you did not remember its outcome”; NAB “you disregarded their outcome.”

[51:14]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “who is stooped over” (under a burden).

[51:14]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “the pit” (so KJV); ASV, NAB “die and go down into the pit”; NASB, NIV “dungeon”; NCV “prison.”

[51:14]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “he will not lack his bread.”

[54:3]  ⁶¹ tn Or “take possession of”; NAB “shall dispossess.”

[54:15]  ⁶² tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb here for emphasis.

[54:15]  ⁶³ tn Heb “will fall over you.” The expression נָפַל עַל (nafal ’al) can mean “attack,” but here it means “fall over to,” i.e., “surrender to.”

[62:7]  ⁶⁴ tn “Jerusalem” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; note the following line.

[62:7]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “[the object of] praise.”

[65:14]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “from the good of the heart.”

[65:14]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “from the pain of the heart.”

[65:14]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “from the breaking of the spirit.”