Yesaya 5:8-9

Disaster is Coming

5:8 Those who accumulate houses are as good as dead, ¹ 

those who also accumulate landed property ² 

until there is no land left, ³ 

and you are the only landowners remaining within the land. ⁴ 

5:9 The Lord who commands armies told me this: ⁵ 

“Many houses will certainly become desolate,

large, impressive houses will have no one living in them. ⁶ 

Yesaya 13:21

13:21 Wild animals will rest there,

the ruined ⁷  houses will be full of hyenas. ⁸ 

Ostriches will live there,

wild goats will skip among the ruins. ⁹ 

Yesaya 15:2

15:2 They went up to the temple, ¹⁰ 

the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. ¹¹ 

Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, ¹²  Moab wails.

Every head is shaved bare,

every beard is trimmed off. ¹³ 

Yesaya 15:5

15:5 My heart cries out because of Moab’s plight, ¹⁴ 

and for the fugitives ¹⁵  stretched out ¹⁶  as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah.

For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith;

they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim. ¹⁷ 

Yesaya 22:23

22:23 I will fasten him like a peg into a solid place; ¹⁸  he will bring honor and respect to his father’s family. ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 30:19

30:19 For people will live in Zion;

in Jerusalem ²⁰  you will weep no more. ²¹ 

When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy;

when he hears it, he will respond to you. ²² 

Yesaya 33:16

33:16 This is the person who will live in a secure place; ²³ 

he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds; ²⁴ 

he will have food

and a constant supply of water.

Yesaya 34:11

34:11 Owls and wild animals ²⁵  will live there, ²⁶ 

all kinds of wild birds ²⁷  will settle in it.

The Lord ²⁸  will stretch out over her

the measuring line of ruin

and the plumb line ²⁹  of destruction. ³⁰ 

Yesaya 37:12

37:12 Were the nations whom my predecessors ³¹  destroyed – the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar – rescued by their gods? ³² 

Yesaya 42:10

42:10 Sing to the Lord a brand new song!

Praise him ³³  from the horizon of the earth,

you who go down to the sea, and everything that lives in it, ³⁴ 

you coastlands ³⁵  and those who live there!

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, ³⁶ 

make room for us so we can live here.’ ³⁷ 

[5:8]  ¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who make a house touch a house.” The exclamation הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) was used in funeral laments (see 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5) and carries the connotation of death.

[5:8]  ² tn Heb “[who] bring a field near a field.”

[5:8]  sn This verse does not condemn real estate endeavors per se, but refers to the way in which the rich bureaucrats of Judah accumulated property by exploiting the poor, in violation of the covenantal principle that the land belonged to God and that every family was to have its own portion of land. See the note at 1:23.

[5:8]  ³ tn Heb “until the end of the place”; NASB “until there is no more room.”

[5:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.”

[5:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “in my ears, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].”

[5:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “great and good [houses], without a resident.”

[13:21]  ⁷ tn The word “ruined” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[13:21]  ⁸ tn The precise referent of this word in uncertain. See HALOT 29 s.v. *אֹחַ. Various English versions translate as “owls” (e.g., NAB, NASB), “wild dogs” (NCV); “jackals” (NIV); “howling creatures” (NRSV, NLT).

[13:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “will skip there.”

[15:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[15:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “even Dibon [to] the high places to weep.” The verb “went up” does double duty in the parallel structure.

[15:2]  ¹² tn Heb “over [or “for”] Nebo and over [or “for”] Medeba.”

[15:2]  ¹³ sn Shaving the head and beard were outward signs of mourning and grief.

[15:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for Moab.” For rhetorical purposes the speaker (the Lord?, see v. 9) plays the role of a mourner.

[15:5]  ¹⁵ tn The vocalization of the Hebrew text suggests “the bars of her gates,” but the form should be repointed to yield, “her fugitives.” See HALOT 156-57 s.v. בָּרִחַ, and BDB 138 s.v. בָּרִיהַ.

[15:5]  ¹⁶ tn The words “are stretched out” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “For the ascent of Luhith, with weeping they go up it; for [on] the road to Horonaim an outcry over shattering they raise up.”

[22:23]  ¹⁸ sn The metaphor depicts how secure his position will be.

[22:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he will become a glorious throne for the house of his father.”

[30:19]  ²⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[30:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “For people in Zion will live, in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.” The phrase “in Jerusalem” could be taken with what precedes. Some prefer to emend יֵשֵׁב (yeshev, “will live,” a Qal imperfect) to יֹשֵׁב (yoshev, a Qal active participle) and translate “For [you] people in Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.”

[30:19]  ²² tn Heb “he will indeed show you mercy at the sound of your crying out; when he hears, he will answer you.”

[33:16]  ²³ tn Heb “he [in the] exalted places will live.”

[33:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “mountain strongholds, cliffs [will be] his elevated place.”

[34:11]  ²⁵ tn קָאַת (qa’at) refers to some type of bird (cf. Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (see Zeph 2:14). קִפּוֹד (qippod) may also refer to a type of bird (NAB “hoot owl”; NIV “screech owl”; TEV “ravens”), but some have suggested a rodent may be in view (cf. NCV “small animals”; ASV “porcupine”; NASB, NRSV “hedgehog”).

[34:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV).

[34:11]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text has יַנְשׁוֹף וְעֹרֵב (yanshof vÿ’orev). Both the יַנְשׁוֹף (“owl”; see Lev 11:17; Deut 14:16) and עֹרֵב (“raven”; Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14) were types of wild birds.

[34:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “stones,” i.e., the stones used in a plumb bob.

[34:11]  ³⁰ sn The metaphor in v. 11b emphasizes that God has carefully planned Edom’s demise.

[37:12]  ³¹ tn Heb “fathers” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “forefathers”; NCV “ancestors.”

[37:12]  ³² tn Heb “Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed rescue them – Gozan and Haran, and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who are in Telassar?”

[42:10]  ³³ tn Heb “his praise.” The phrase stands parallel to “new song” in the previous line.

[42:10]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and its fullness”; NASB, NIV “and all that is in it.”

[42:10]  ³⁵ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “distant coastlands.”

[49:20]  ³⁶ tn Heb “me.” The singular is collective.

[49:20]  ³⁷ tn Heb “draw near to me so I can dwell.”