Yesaya 5:7

5:7 Indeed ¹  Israel ²  is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies,

the people ³  of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight.

He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! ⁴ 

He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! ⁵ 

Yesaya 45:19

45:19 I have not spoken in secret,

in some hidden place. ⁶ 

I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,

‘Seek me in vain!’ ⁷ 

I am the Lord,

the one who speaks honestly,

who makes reliable announcements. ⁸ 

Yesaya 45:21

45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence! ⁹ 

Let them consult with one another!

Who predicted this in the past?

Who announced it beforehand?

Was it not I, the Lord?

I have no peer, there is no God but me,

a God who vindicates and delivers; ¹⁰ 

there is none but me.

Yesaya 45:23

45:23 I solemnly make this oath ¹¹  –

what I say is true and reliable: ¹² 

‘Surely every knee will bow to me,

every tongue will solemnly affirm; ¹³ 

Yesaya 48:1

The Lord Appeals to the Exiles

48:1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, ¹⁴ 

you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’

and are descended from Judah, ¹⁵ 

who take oaths in the name of the Lord,

and invoke ¹⁶  the God of Israel –

but not in an honest and just manner. ¹⁷ 

Yesaya 61:3

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ¹⁸  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ¹⁹  instead of discouragement. ²⁰ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ²¹ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ²² 

Yesaya 63:1

The Victorious Divine Warrior

63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom, ²³ 

dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? ²⁴ 

Who ²⁵  is this one wearing royal attire, ²⁶ 

who marches confidently ²⁷  because of his great strength?

“It is I, the one who announces vindication,

and who is able to deliver!” ²⁸ 

[5:7]  ¹ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[5:7]  ² tn Heb “the house of Israel” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[5:7]  ³ tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.

[5:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “but, look, disobedience.” The precise meaning of מִשְׂפָּח (mishpakh), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Some have suggested a meaning “bloodshed.” The term is obviously chosen for its wordplay value; it sounds very much like מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “justice”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.

[5:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “but, look, a cry for help.” The verb (“he waited”) does double duty in the parallelism. צְעָקָה (tsa’qah) refers to the cries for help made by the oppressed. It sounds very much like צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “fairness”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.

[45:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”

[45:19]  ⁷ tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”

[45:19]  ⁸ tn The translation above assumes that צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim) are adverbial accusatives (see 33:15). If they are taken as direct objects, indicating the content of what is spoken, one might translate, “who proclaims deliverance, who announces justice.”

[45:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.

[45:21]  ¹⁰ tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”

[45:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I swear by myself”; KJV, NASB “have sworn.”

[45:23]  ¹² tn Heb “a word goes out from my mouth [in] truth and will not return.”

[45:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “swear” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “confess allegiance.”

[48:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”

[48:1]  ¹⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and from the waters of Judah came out.” מִמֵּי (mimme) could be a corruption of מִמְּעֵי (mimmÿ’e, “from the inner parts of”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT, NRSV) as suggested in the above translation. Some translations (ESV, NKJV) retain the MT reading because the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.

[48:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”

[48:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”

[61:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ²¹ tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

[61:3]  ²² tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[63:1]  ²³ sn Edom is here an archetype for the Lord’s enemies. See 34:5.

[63:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “[in] bright red garments, from Bozrah.”

[63:1]  ²⁵ tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis; note the first line of the verse.

[63:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “honored in his clothing”; KJV, ASV “glorious in his apparel.”

[63:1]  ²⁷ tc The Hebrew text has צָעָה (tsa’ah), which means “stoop, bend” (51:14). The translation assumes an emendation to צָעַד (tsa’ad, “march”; see BDB 858 s.v. צָעָה).

[63:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “I, [the one] speaking in vindication [or “righteousness”], great to deliver.”