Yesaya 21:2

21:2 I have received a distressing message: ¹ 

“The deceiver deceives,

the destroyer destroys.

Attack, you Elamites!

Lay siege, you Medes!

I will put an end to all the groaning!” ² 

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. ³ 

As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, ⁴ 

and be injured, ensnared, and captured. ⁵ 

Yesaya 33:15

33:15 The one who lives ⁶  uprightly ⁷ 

and speaks honestly;

the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures

and rejects a bribe; ⁸ 

the one who does not plot violent crimes ⁹ 

and does not seek to harm others ¹⁰  –

Yesaya 40:9

40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!

Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! ¹¹ 

Shout, don’t be afraid!

Say to the towns of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

Yesaya 48:16

48:16 Approach me! Listen to this!

From the very first I have not spoken in secret;

when it happens, ¹²  I am there.”

So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit. ¹³ 

Yesaya 55:2

55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? ¹⁴ 

Why spend ¹⁵  your hard-earned money ¹⁶  on something that will not satisfy?

Listen carefully ¹⁷  to me and eat what is nourishing! ¹⁸ 

Enjoy fine food! ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 58:3

58:3 They lament, ²⁰  ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast?

Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’

Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, ²¹ 

you oppress your workers. ²² 

Yesaya 61:10

61:10 I ²³  will greatly rejoice ²⁴  in the Lord;

I will be overjoyed because of my God. ²⁵ 

For he clothes me in garments of deliverance;

he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication. ²⁶ 

I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would;

I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry. ²⁷ 

[21:2]  ¹ tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”

[21:2]  ² sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.

[28:13]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ sn When divine warnings and appeals become gibberish to the spiritually insensitive, they have no guidance and are doomed to destruction.

[33:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).

[33:15]  ⁷ tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”

[33:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”

[33:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”

[33:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”

[40:9]  ¹¹ tn The second feminine singular imperatives are addressed to personified Zion/Jerusalem, who is here told to ascend a high hill and proclaim the good news of the Lord’s return to the other towns of Judah. Isa 41:27 and 52:7 speak of a herald sent to Zion, but the masculine singular form מְבַשֵּׂר (mÿvaser) is used in these verses, in contrast to the feminine singular form מְבַשֶּׂרֶת (mÿvaseret) employed in 40:9, where Zion is addressed as a herald.

[48:16]  ¹² tn Heb “from the time of its occurring.”

[48:16]  ¹³ sn The speaker here is not identified specifically, but he is probably Cyrus, the Lord’s “ally” mentioned in vv. 14-15.

[55:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for what is not food.”

[55:2]  ¹⁵ tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[55:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.

[55:2]  ¹⁷ tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.

[55:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[55:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”

[55:2]  sn Nourishing, fine food here represents the blessings God freely offers. These include forgiveness, a new covenantal relationship with God, and national prominence (see vv. 3-6).

[58:3]  ²⁰ tn The words “they lament” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “you find pleasure”; NASB “you find your desire.”

[58:3]  ²² tn Or perhaps, “debtors.” See HALOT 865 s.v. * עָצֵב.

[61:10]  ²³ sn The speaker in vv. 10-11 is not identified, but it is likely that the personified nation (or perhaps Zion) responds here to the Lord’s promise of restoration.

[61:10]  ²⁴ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[61:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “my being is happy in my God”; NAB “in my God is the joy of my soul.”

[61:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “robe of vindication”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “robe of righteousness.”

[61:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “like a bridegroom [who] acts like a priest [by wearing] a turban, and like a bride [who] wears her jewelry.” The words “I look” are supplied for stylistic reasons and clarification.