Yesaya 25:9

25:9 At that time they will say, ¹ 

“Look, here ²  is our God!

We waited for him and he delivered us.

Here ³  is the Lord! We waited for him.

Let’s rejoice and celebrate his deliverance!”

Yesaya 28:2

28:2 Look, the sovereign master ⁴  sends a strong, powerful one. ⁵ 

With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm, ⁶ 

with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm, ⁷ 

he will knock that crown ⁸  to the ground with his hand. ⁹ 

Yesaya 36:6

36:6 Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him!

Yesaya 40:9

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

Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! ¹⁰ 

Shout, don’t be afraid!

Say to the towns of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

Yesaya 47:14

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat ¹¹  of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy. ¹² 

Yesaya 49:22

49:22 This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look I will raise my hand to the nations;

I will raise my signal flag to the peoples.

They will bring your sons in their arms

and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

Yesaya 50:1

50:1 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate

by which I divorced her?

Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? ¹³ 

Look, you were sold because of your sins; ¹⁴ 

because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. ¹⁵ 

Yesaya 51:6

51:6 Look up at the sky!

Look at the earth below!

For the sky will dissipate ¹⁶  like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like clothes;

its residents will die like gnats.

But the deliverance I give ¹⁷  is permanent;

the vindication I provide ¹⁸  will not disappear. ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 51:22

51:22 This is what your sovereign master, ²⁰  the Lord your God, says:

“Look, I have removed from your hand

the cup of intoxicating wine, ²¹ 

the goblet full of my anger. ²² 

You will no longer have to drink it.

Yesaya 56:3

56:3 No foreigner who becomes a follower of ²³  the Lord should say,

‘The Lord will certainly ²⁴  exclude me from his people.’

The eunuch should not say,

‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”

Yesaya 58:3

58:3 They lament, ²⁵  ‘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, ²⁶ 

you oppress your workers. ²⁷ 

Yesaya 62:8

62:8 The Lord swears an oath by his right hand,

by his strong arm: ²⁸ 

“I will never again give your grain

to your enemies as food,

and foreigners will not drink your wine,

which you worked hard to produce.

Yesaya 64:5

64:5 You assist ²⁹  those who delight in doing what is right, ³⁰ 

who observe your commandments. ³¹ 

Look, you were angry because we violated them continually.

How then can we be saved? ³² 

Yesaya 65:1

The Lord Will Distinguish Between Sinners and the Godly

65:1 “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; ³³ 

I appeared to those who did not look for me. ³⁴ 

I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

to a nation that did not invoke ³⁵  my name.

Yesaya 65:12

65:12 I predestine you to die by the sword, ³⁶ 

all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, ³⁷ 

because I called to you, and you did not respond,

I spoke and you did not listen.

You did evil before me; ³⁸ 

you chose to do what displeases me.”

[25:9]  ¹ tn Heb “and one will say in that day.”

[25:9]  ² tn Heb “this [one].”

[25:9]  ³ tn Heb “this [one].”

[28:2]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 22 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[28:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “Look, a strong and powerful [one] belongs to the Lord.”

[28:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “like a rainstorm of hail, a wind of destruction.”

[28:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “like a rainstorm of mighty, overflowing waters.”

[28:2]  ⁸ tn The words “that crown” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The object of the verb is unexpressed in the Hebrew text.

[28:2]  ⁹ tn Or “by [his] power.”

[40:9]  ¹⁰ 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.

[47:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

[47:14]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.

[50:1]  ¹³ sn The Lord challenges the exiles (Zion’s children) to bring incriminating evidence against him. The rhetorical questions imply that Israel accused the Lord of divorcing his wife (Zion) and selling his children (the Israelites) into slavery to pay off a debt.

[50:1]  ¹⁴ sn The Lord admits that he did sell the Israelites, but it was because of their sins, not because of some debt he owed. If he had sold them to a creditor, they ought to be able to point him out, but the preceding rhetorical question implies they would not be able to do so.

[50:1]  ¹⁵ sn The Lord admits he did divorce Zion, but that too was the result of the nation’s sins. The force of the earlier rhetorical question comes into clearer focus now. The question does not imply that a certificate does not exist and that no divorce occurred. Rather, the question asks for the certificate to be produced so the accuser can see the reason for the divorce in black and white. The Lord did not put Zion away arbitrarily.

[51:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.

[51:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”

[51:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”

[51:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”

[51:22]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[51:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “the cup of [= that causes] staggering” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV); NASB “the cup of reeling.”

[51:22]  ²² tn Heb “the goblet of the cup of my anger.”

[56:3]  ²³ tn Heb “who attaches himself to.”

[56:3]  ²⁴ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[58:3]  ²⁵ tn The words “they lament” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “you find pleasure”; NASB “you find your desire.”

[58:3]  ²⁷ tn Or perhaps, “debtors.” See HALOT 865 s.v. * עָצֵב.

[62:8]  ²⁸ tn The Lord’s right hand and strong arm here symbolize his power and remind the audience that his might guarantees the fulfillment of the following promise.

[64:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “meet [with kindness].”

[64:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the one who rejoices and does righteousness.”

[64:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “in your ways they remember you.”

[64:5]  ³² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “look, you were angry and we sinned against them continually [or perhaps, “in ancient times”] and we were delivered.” The statement makes little sense as it stands. The first vav [ו] consecutive (“and we sinned”) must introduce an explanatory clause here (see Num 1:48 and Isa 39:1 for other examples of this relatively rare use of the vav [ו] consecutive). The final verb (if rendered positively) makes no sense in this context – God’s anger at their sin resulted in judgment, not deliverance. One of the alternatives involves an emendation to וַנִּרְשָׁע (vannirsha’, “and we were evil”; LXX, NRSV, TEV). The Vulgate and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a support the MT reading. One can either accept an emendation or cast the statement as a question (as above).

[65:1]  ³³ tn Heb “I allowed myself to be sought by those who did not ask.”

[65:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I allowed myself to be found by those who did not seek.”

[65:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “call out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “call on.”

[65:12]  ³⁶ tn Heb “I assign you to the sword.” Some emend the Qal verb form מָנִיתִי (maniti, “I assign”) to the Piel מִנִּיתִי (minniti, “ I ordain”). The verb sounds like the name of the god Meni (מְנִי, mÿni, “Destiny, Fate”). The sound play draws attention to the irony of the statement. The sinners among God’s people worship the god Meni, apparently in an effort to ensure a bright destiny for themselves. But the Lord is the one who really determines their destiny and he has decreed their demise.

[65:12]  ³⁷ tn Or “at the slaughter”; NIV “for the slaughter”; NLT “before the executioner.”

[65:12]  ³⁸ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”