Yesaya 5:6

5:6 I will make it a wasteland;

no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, ¹ 

and thorns and briers will grow there.

I will order the clouds

not to drop any rain on it.

Yesaya 22:13

22:13 But look, there is outright celebration! ² 

You say, “Kill the ox and slaughter the sheep,

eat meat and drink wine.

Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” ³ 

Yesaya 43:24

43:24 You did not buy me aromatic reeds; ⁴ 

you did not present to me ⁵  the fat of your sacrifices.

Yet you burdened me with your sins;

you made me weary with your evil deeds. ⁶ 

Yesaya 49:20

49:20 Yet the children born during your time of bereavement

will say within your hearing,

‘This place is too cramped for us, ⁷ 

make room for us so we can live here.’ ⁸ 

Yesaya 59:15

59:15 Honesty has disappeared;

the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed.

The Lord watches and is displeased, ⁹ 

for there is no justice.

[5:6]  ¹ tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.

[22:13]  ² tn Heb “happiness and joy.”

[22:13]  ³ tn The prophet here quotes what the fatalistic people are saying. The introductory “you say” is supplied in the translation for clarification; the concluding verb “we die” makes it clear the people are speaking. The six verbs translated as imperatives are actually infinitives absolute, functioning here as finite verbs.

[43:24]  ⁴ tn That is, “calamus” (so NIV); NCV, TEV, NLT “incense”; CEV “spices.”

[43:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “you did not saturate me”; NASB “Neither have you filled Me.”

[43:24]  ⁶ sn In vv. 22-24 the Lord appears to be condemning his people for failure to bring the proper sacrifices. However, this is problematic. If this refers to the nation’s behavior while in exile, such cultic service was impossible and could hardly be expected by the Lord. If this refers to the nation’s conduct before the exile, it contradicts other passages that depict Israel as bringing excessive sacrifices (see, e.g., Isa 1:11-14; Jer 6:20; Amos 4:4-5, 5:21-23). Rather than being a condemnation of Israel’s failure to bring sacrifices, these verses are better taken as a highly rhetorical comment on the worthlessness of Israel’s religious ritual. They may have brought sacrifices, but not to the Lord, for he did not accept them or even want them. See C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 127, and R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 91.

[49:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “me.” The singular is collective.

[49:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “draw near to me so I can dwell.”

[59:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “and it is displeasing in his eyes.”