Yesaya 1:24

1:24 Therefore, the sovereign Lord who commands armies, ¹ 

the powerful ruler of Israel, ²  says this:

“Ah, I will seek vengeance ³  against my adversaries,

I will take revenge against my enemies. ⁴ 

Yesaya 3:6

3:6 Indeed, a man will grab his brother

right in his father’s house ⁵  and say, ⁶ 

‘You own a coat –

you be our leader!

This heap of ruins will be under your control.’ ⁷ 

Yesaya 3:9

3:9 The look on their faces ⁸  testifies to their guilt; ⁹ 

like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. ¹⁰ 

Too bad for them! ¹¹ 

For they bring disaster on themselves.

Yesaya 5:8

Disaster is Coming

5:8 Those who accumulate houses are as good as dead, ¹² 

those who also accumulate landed property ¹³ 

until there is no land left, ¹⁴ 

and you are the only landowners remaining within the land. ¹⁵ 

Yesaya 5:20

5:20 Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead, ¹⁶ 

who turn darkness into light and light into darkness,

who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter. ¹⁷ 

Yesaya 5:30

5:30 At that time ¹⁸  they will growl over their prey, ¹⁹ 

it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks. ²⁰ 

One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster,

clouds will turn the light into darkness. ²¹ 

Yesaya 8:21

8:21 They will pass through the land ²²  destitute and starving. Their hunger will make them angry, ²³  and they will curse their king and their God ²⁴  as they look upward.

Yesaya 19:8

19:8 The fishermen will mourn and lament,

all those who cast a fishhook into the river,

and those who spread out a net on the water’s surface will grieve. ²⁵ 

Yesaya 20:3

20:3 Later the Lord explained, “In the same way that my servant Isaiah has walked around in undergarments and barefoot for the past three years, as an object lesson and omen pertaining to Egypt and Cush,

Yesaya 24:16

24:16 From the ends of the earth we ²⁶  hear songs –

the Just One is majestic. ²⁷ 

But I ²⁸  say, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed!

Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!” ²⁹ 

Yesaya 29:15

29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, ³⁰ 

who do their work in secret and boast, ³¹ 

“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” ³² 

Yesaya 32:10

32:10 In a year’s time ³³ 

you carefree ones will shake with fear,

for the grape ³⁴  harvest will fail,

and the fruit harvest will not arrive.

Yesaya 37:3

37:3 “This is what Hezekiah says: ³⁵  ‘This is a day of distress, insults, ³⁶  and humiliation, ³⁷  as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. ³⁸ 

Yesaya 38:14

38:14 Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp,

I coo ³⁹  like a dove;

my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. ⁴⁰ 

O sovereign master, ⁴¹  I am oppressed;

help me! ⁴² 

Yesaya 49:4

49:4 But I thought, ⁴³  “I have worked in vain;

I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.” ⁴⁴ 

But the Lord will vindicate me;

my God will reward me. ⁴⁵ 

Yesaya 53:11

53:11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work,

he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. ⁴⁶ 

“My servant ⁴⁷  will acquit many, ⁴⁸ 

for he carried their sins. ⁴⁹ 

Yesaya 65:23

65:23 They will not work in vain,

or give birth to children that will experience disaster. ⁵⁰ 

For the Lord will bless their children

and their descendants. ⁵¹ 

[1:24]  ¹ 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 v. 9.

[1:24]  ² tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Israel.”

[1:24]  ³ tn Heb “console myself” (i.e., by getting revenge); NRSV “pour out my wrath on.”

[1:24]  ⁴ sn The Lord here identifies with the oppressed and comes as their defender and vindicator.

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “[in] the house of his father” (so ASV); NIV “at his father’s home.”

[3:6]  ⁶ tn The words “and say” are supplied for stylistic reasons.

[3:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “your hand”; NASB “under your charge.”

[3:6]  sn The man’s motives are selfish. He tells his brother to assume leadership because he thinks he has some wealth to give away.

[3:9]  ⁸ sn This refers to their proud, arrogant demeanor.

[3:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “answers against them”; NRSV “bears witness against them.”

[3:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their sin, like Sodom, they declare, they do not conceal [it].”

[3:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “woe to their soul.”

[5:8]  ¹² tn Heb “Woe [to] those who make a house touch a house.” The exclamation הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) was used in funeral laments (see 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5) and carries the connotation of death.

[5:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “[who] bring a field near a field.”

[5:8]  sn This verse does not condemn real estate endeavors per se, but refers to the way in which the rich bureaucrats of Judah accumulated property by exploiting the poor, in violation of the covenantal principle that the land belonged to God and that every family was to have its own portion of land. See the note at 1:23.

[5:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “until the end of the place”; NASB “until there is no more room.”

[5:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.”

[5:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who call.” See the note at v. 8.

[5:20]  ¹⁷ sn In this verse the prophet denounces the perversion of moral standards. Darkness and bitterness are metaphors for evil; light and sweetness symbolize uprightness.

[5:30]  ¹⁸ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[5:30]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “over it”; the referent (the prey) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:30]  ²⁰ tn Heb “like the growling of the sea.”

[5:30]  ²¹ tn Heb “and one will gaze toward the land, and look, darkness of distress, and light will grow dark by its [the land’s?] clouds.”

[5:30]  sn The motif of light turning to darkness is ironic when compared to v. 20. There the sinners turn light (= moral/ethical good) to darkness (= moral/ethical evil). Now ironically the Lord will turn light (= the sinners’ sphere of existence and life) into darkness (= the judgment and death).

[8:21]  ²² tn Heb “he will pass through it.” The subject of the collective singular verb is the nation. (See the preceding note.) The immediately preceding context supplies no antecedent for “it” (a third feminine singular suffix in the Hebrew text); the suffix may refer to the land, which would be a reasonable referent with a verb of motion. Note also that אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”) does appear at the beginning of the next verse.

[8:21]  ²³ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[8:21]  ²⁴ tn Or “gods” (NAB, NRSV, CEV).

[19:8]  ²⁵ tn Or perhaps, “will disappear”; cf. TEV “will be useless.”

[24:16]  ²⁶ sn The identity of the subject is unclear. Apparently in vv. 15-16a an unidentified group responds to the praise they hear in the west by exhorting others to participate.

[24:16]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Beauty belongs to the just one.” These words may summarize the main theme of the songs mentioned in the preceding line.

[24:16]  ²⁸ sn The prophet seems to contradict what he hears the group saying. Their words are premature because more destruction is coming.

[24:16]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and [with] deception deceivers deceive.”

[24:16]  tn Verse 16b is a classic example of Hebrew wordplay. In the first line (“I’m wasting away…”) four consecutive words end with hireq yod ( ִי); in the second line all forms are derived from the root בָּגַד (bagad). The repetition of sound draws attention to the prophet’s lament.

[29:15]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who deeply hide counsel from the Lord.” This probably alludes to political alliances made without seeking the Lord’s guidance. See 30:1-2 and 31:1.

[29:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “and their works are in darkness and they say.”

[29:15]  ³² tn The rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “no one.” They are confident that their deeds are hidden from others, including God.

[32:10]  ³³ tn Heb “days upon a year.”

[32:10]  ³⁴ tn Or perhaps, “olive.” See 24:13.

[37:3]  ³⁵ tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).

[37:3]  ³⁶ tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”

[37:3]  ³⁷ tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”

[37:3]  ³⁸ tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”

[38:14]  ³⁹ tn Or “moan” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); KJV, CEV “mourn.”

[38:14]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “my eyes become weak, toward the height.”

[38:14]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[38:14]  ⁴² tn Heb “stand surety for me.” Hezekiah seems to be picturing himself as a debtor who is being exploited; he asks that the Lord might relieve his debt and deliver him from the oppressive creditor.

[49:4]  ⁴³ tn Or “said” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “I replied.”

[49:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “for nothing and emptiness.” Synonyms are combined to emphasize the common idea.

[49:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “But my justice is with the Lord, and my reward [or “wage”] with my God.”

[53:11]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “he will be satisfied by his knowledge,” i.e., “when he knows.” The preposition is understood as temporal and the suffix as a subjective genitive. Some take בְּדַעְתּוֹ (bÿda’to, “by his knowledge”) with what follows and translate “by knowledge of him,” understanding the preposition as instrumental and the suffix as objective.

[53:11]  ⁴⁷ sn The song ends as it began (cf. 52:13-15), with the Lord announcing the servant’s vindication and exaltation.

[53:11]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “he will acquit, a righteous one, my servant, many.” צַדִּיק (tsadiq) may refer to the servant, but more likely it is dittographic (note the preceding verb יַצְדִּיק, yatsdiq). The precise meaning of the verb (the Hiphil of צָדַק, tsadaq) is debated. Elsewhere the Hiphil is used at least six times in the sense of “make righteous” in a legal sense, i.e., “pronounce innocent, acquit” (see Exod 23:7; Deut 25:1; 1 Kgs 8:32 = 2 Chr 6:23; Prov 17:15; Isa 5:23). It can also mean “render justice” (as a royal function, see 2 Sam 15:4; Ps 82:3), “concede” (Job 27:5), “vindicate” (Isa 50:8), and “lead to righteousness” (by teaching and example, Dan 12:3). The preceding context and the next line suggest a legal sense here. Because of his willingness to carry the people’s sins, the servant is able to “acquit” them.

[53:11]  sn Some (e.g., H. M. Orlinsky, “The So-called ‘Suffering Servant’ in Isaiah 53,22,” VTSup 14 [1967]: 3-133) object to this legal interpretation of the language, arguing that it would be unjust for the righteous to suffer for the wicked and for the wicked to be declared innocent. However, such a surprising development is consistent with the ironic nature of this song. It does seem unfair for the innocent to die for the guilty. But what is God to do when all have sinned and wandered off like stray sheep (cf. v. 6)? Covenant law demands punishment, but punishment in this case would mean annihilation of what God has created. God’s justice, as demanded by the law, must be satisfied. To satisfy his justice, he does something seemingly unjust. He punishes his sinless servant, the only one who has not strayed off! In the progress of biblical revelation, we discover that the sinless servant is really God in the flesh, who offers himself because he is committed to the world he has created. If his justice can only be satisfied if he himself endures the punishment, then so be it. What appears to be an act of injustice is really love satisfying the demands of justice!

[53:11]  ⁴⁹ tn The circumstantial clause (note the vav [ו] + object + subject + verb pattern) is understood as causal here. The prefixed verb form is either a preterite or an imperfect used in a customary manner.

[65:23]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and they will not give birth to horror.”

[65:23]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “for offspring blessed by the Lord they [will be], and their descendants along with them.”