Yesaya 30:5

30:5 all will be put to shame ¹ 

because of a nation that cannot help them,

who cannot give them aid or help,

but only shame and disgrace.”

Yesaya 44:18

44:18 They do not comprehend or understand,

for their eyes are blind and cannot see;

their minds do not discern. ² 

Yesaya 46:2

46:2 Together they bend low and kneel down;

they are unable to rescue the images; ³ 

they themselves ⁴  head off into captivity. ⁵ 

Yesaya 59:1

Injustice Brings Alienation from God

59:1 Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak ⁶  to deliver you;

his ear is not too deaf to hear you. ⁷ 

[30:5]  ¹ tn The present translation follows the marginal (Qere) reading of the Hebrew text; the consonantal text (Kethib) has “made to stink, decay.”

[44:18]  ² tn Heb “for their eyes are smeared over so they cannot see, so their heart cannot be wise.”

[46:2]  ³ tn Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.

[46:2]  ⁴ tn נַפְשָׁם (nafsham, “their souls/lives”) is equivalent here to a third masculine plural suffix, but the third feminine singular verb הָלָכָה (halakhah, “they go”) agrees with the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, life”).

[46:2]  ⁵ sn The downfall of Babylon is depicted here. The idols are carried off by the victorious enemy; the gods are likened to defeated captives who cower before the enemy and are taken into exile.

[59:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[59:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “or his ear too heavy [i.e., “dull”] to hear.”