Yesaya 3:18

3:18 ¹ At that time ²  the sovereign master will remove their beautiful ankle jewelry, ³  neck ornaments, crescent shaped ornaments,

Yesaya 5:18

5:18 Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead, ⁴ 

who pull sin as with cart ropes. ⁵ 

Yesaya 5:25

5:25 So the Lord is furious ⁶  with his people;

he lifts ⁷  his hand and strikes them.

The mountains shake,

and corpses lie like manure ⁸  in the middle of the streets.

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁹ 

Yesaya 5:28

5:28 Their arrows are sharpened,

and all their bows are prepared. ¹⁰ 

The hooves of their horses are hard as flint, ¹¹ 

and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm. ¹² 

Yesaya 20:5

20:5 Those who put their hope in Cush and took pride in Egypt will be afraid and embarrassed. ¹³ 

Yesaya 28:11

28:11 For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue

he will speak to these people. ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 43:7

43:7 everyone who belongs to me, ¹⁵ 

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed – yes, whom I made!

[3:18]  ¹ sn The translation assumes that the direct quotation ends with v. 17. The introductory formula “in that day” and the shift from a poetic to prosaic style indicate that a new speech unit begins in v. 18.

[3:18]  ² tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[3:18]  ³ tn Or “the beauty of [their] ankle jewelry.”

[5:18]  ⁴ sn See the note at v. 8.

[5:18]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “Woe to those who pull evil with the ropes of emptiness, and, as [with] ropes of a cart, sin.” Though several textual details are unclear, the basic idea is apparent. The sinners are so attached to their sinful ways (compared here to a heavy load) that they strain to drag them along behind them. If שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness”) is retained, it makes a further comment on their lifestyle, denouncing it as one that is devoid of what is right and destined to lead to nothing but destruction. Because “emptiness” does not form a very tight parallel with “cart” in the next line, some emend שָׁוְא to שֶׂה (she, “sheep”) and עֲגָלָה (’agalah, “cart”) to עֵגֶל (’egel, “calf”): “Those who pull evil along with a sheep halter are as good as dead who pull sin with a calf rope” (following the lead of the LXX and improving the internal parallelism of the verse). In this case, the verse pictures the sinners pulling sin along behind them as one pulls an animal with a halter. For a discussion of this view, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:163, n. 1. Nevertheless, this emendation is unnecessary. The above translation emphasizes the folly of the Israelites who hold on to their sin (and its punishment) even while they hope for divine intervention.

[5:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord rages.”

[5:25]  ⁷ tn Or “extends”; KJV, ASV “he hath stretched forth.”

[5:25]  ⁸ tn Or “garbage” (NCV, CEV, NLT); NAB, NASB, NIV “refuse.”

[5:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”

[5:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “bent” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “are strung.”

[5:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “regarded like flint.”

[5:28]  ¹² sn They are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way they kick up dust.

[20:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they will be afraid and embarrassed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their beauty.”

[28:11]  ¹⁴ 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.

[43:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “everyone who is called by my name” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).