Yesaya 6:11

6:11 I replied, “How long, sovereign master?” He said,

“Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated,

and houses are uninhabited,

and the land is ruined and devastated,

Yesaya 8:19

Darkness Turns to Light as an Ideal King Arrives

8:19 ¹ They will say to you, “Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. ²  Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?” ³ 

Yesaya 16:10

16:10 Joy and happiness disappear from the orchards,

and in the vineyards no one rejoices or shouts;

no one treads out juice in the wine vats ⁴  –

I have brought the joyful shouts to an end. ⁵ 

Yesaya 19:23

19:23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. ⁶ 

Yesaya 28:1

The Lord Will Judge Samaria

28:1 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed, ⁷ 

the withering flower, its beautiful splendor, ⁸ 

situated ⁹  at the head of a rich valley,

the crown of those overcome with wine. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 28:4

28:4 The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,

situated at the head of a rich valley,

will be like an early fig before harvest –

as soon as someone notices it,

he grabs it and swallows it. ¹¹ 

Yesaya 30:26

30:26 The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare

and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter,

like the light of seven days, ¹² 

when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones ¹³ 

and heals their severe wound. ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 31:4

The Lord Will Defend Zion

31:4 Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me:

“The Lord will be like a growling lion,

like a young lion growling over its prey. ¹⁵ 

Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,

it is not afraid of their shouts

or intimidated by their yelling. ¹⁶ 

In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend

to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. ¹⁷ 

Yesaya 32:6

32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things; ¹⁸ 

his mind plans out sinful deeds. ¹⁹ 

He commits godless deeds ²⁰ 

and says misleading things about the Lord;

he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite ²¹ 

and gives the thirsty nothing to drink. ²² 

Yesaya 45:21

45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence! ²³ 

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; ²⁴ 

there is none but me.

Yesaya 48:11

48:11 For my sake alone ²⁵  I will act,

for how can I allow my name to be defiled? ²⁶ 

I will not share my glory with anyone else! ²⁷ 

Yesaya 49:5

49:5 So now the Lord says,

the one who formed me from birth ²⁸  to be his servant –

he did this ²⁹  to restore Jacob to himself,

so that Israel might be gathered to him;

and I will be honored ³⁰  in the Lord’s sight,

for my God is my source of strength ³¹  –

Yesaya 54:17

54:17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed;

you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you. ³² 

This is what the Lord will do for his servants –

I will vindicate them,” ³³ 

says the Lord.

Yesaya 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ³⁴  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ³⁵ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ³⁶ 

Yesaya 60:9

60:9 Indeed, the coastlands ³⁷  look eagerly for me,

the large ships ³⁸  are in the lead,

bringing your sons from far away,

along with their silver and gold,

to honor the Lord your God, ³⁹ 

the Holy One of Israel, ⁴⁰  for he has bestowed honor on you.

Yesaya 63:7

A Prayer for Divine Intervention

63:7 I will tell of the faithful acts of the Lord,

of the Lord’s praiseworthy deeds.

I will tell about all ⁴¹  the Lord did for us,

the many good things he did for the family of Israel, ⁴² 

because of ⁴³  his compassion and great faithfulness.

Yesaya 65:8-9

65:8 This is what the Lord says:

“When ⁴⁴  juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,

someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ ⁴⁵ 

So I will do for the sake of my servants –

I will not destroy everyone. ⁴⁶ 

65:9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains.

My chosen ones will take possession of the land; ⁴⁷ 

my servants will live there.

Yesaya 65:13

65:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry!

Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty!

Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated!

[8:19]  ¹ tn It is uncertain if the prophet or the Lord is speaking in vv. 19-22. If the latter, then vv. 19-22 resume the speech recorded in vv. 12-15, after the prophet’s response in vv. 16-18.

[8:19]  ² tn Heb “inquire of the ritual pits and of the magicians who chirp and mutter.” The Hebrew word אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a אוֹב-בַּעֲלַת (ba’alat-’ov, “owner of a ritual pit”). See H. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401.

[8:19]  ³ tn Heb “Should a nation not inquire of its gods on behalf of the living, (by inquiring) of the dead?” These words appear to be a continuation of the quotation begun in the first part of the verse. אֱלֹהָיו (’elohayv) may be translated “its gods” or “its God.” Some take the second half of the verse as the prophet’s (or the Lord’s) rebuke of the people who advise seeking oracles at the ritual pits, but in this case the words “the dead on behalf of the living” are difficult to explain.

[16:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “wine in the vats the treader does not tread.”

[16:10]  ⁵ sn The Lord appears to be the speaker here. See 15:9.

[19:23]  ⁶ tn The text could be translated, “and Egypt will serve Assyria” (cf. NAB), but subjugation of one nation to the other does not seem to be a theme in vv. 23-25. Rather the nations are viewed as equals before the Lord (v. 25). Therefore it is better to take אֶת (’et) in v. 23b as a preposition, “together with,” rather than the accusative sign. The names of the two countries are understood to refer by metonymy to their respective inhabitants.

[28:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “Woe [to] the crown [or “wreath”] of the splendor [or “pride”] of the drunkards of Ephraim.” The “crown” is Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom (Ephraim). Priests and prophets are included among these drunkards in v. 7.

[28:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “the beauty of his splendor.” In the translation the masculine pronoun (“his”) has been replaced by “its” because the referent (the “crown”) is the city of Samaria.

[28:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “which [is].”

[28:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “ones overcome with wine.” The words “the crown of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The syntactical relationship of the final phrase to what precedes is uncertain. הֲלוּמֵי יָיִן (halume yayin, “ones overcome with wine”) seems to correspond to שִׁכֹּרֵי אֶפְרַיִם (shikkore ’efrayim, “drunkards of Ephraim”) in line 1. The translation assumes that the phrase “the splendid crown” is to be understood in the final line as well.

[28:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “which the one seeing sees, while still it is in his hand he swallows it.”

[30:26]  ¹² sn Light here symbolizes restoration of divine blessing and prosperity. The number “seven” is used symbolically to indicate intensity. The exact meaning of the phrase “the light of seven days” is uncertain; it probably means “seven times brighter” (see the parallel line).

[30:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “the fracture of his people” (so NASB).

[30:26]  sn The Lord is here compared to a physician setting a broken bone in a bandage or cast.

[30:26]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the injury of his wound.” The joining of synonyms emphasizes the severity of the wound. Another option is to translate, “the wound of his blow.” In this case the pronominal suffix might refer to the Lord, not the people, yielding the translation, “the wound which he inflicted.”

[31:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.

[31:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”

[31:4]  ¹⁷ tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsbo’ ’al) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.

[32:6]  ¹⁸ tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.

[32:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”

[32:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”

[32:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”

[32:6]  ²² tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”

[45:21]  ²³ tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.

[45:21]  ²⁴ tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”

[48:11]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew text repeats לְמַעֲנִי (lÿma’ani, “for my sake”) for emphasis.

[48:11]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “for how can it be defiled?” The subject of the verb is probably “name” (v. 9).

[48:11]  ²⁷ sn See 42:8.

[49:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “from the womb” (so KJV, NASB).

[49:5]  ²⁹ tn The words “he did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct of purpose is subordinated to the previous statement.

[49:5]  ³⁰ tn The vav (ו) + imperfect is translated here as a result clause; one might interpret it as indicating purpose, “and so I might be honored.”

[49:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “and my God is [perhaps, “having been”] my strength.” The disjunctive structure (vav [ו] + subject + verb) is interpreted here as indicating a causal circumstantial clause.

[54:17]  ³² tn Heb “and every tongue that rises up for judgment with you will prove to be guilty.”

[54:17]  ³³ tn Heb “this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me.”

[57:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ³⁶ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[60:9]  ³⁷ tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”

[60:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.

[60:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”

[60:9]  ⁴⁰ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[63:7]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “according to all which.”

[63:7]  ⁴² tn Heb “greatness of goodness to the house of Israel which he did for them.”

[63:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “according to.”

[65:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “just as.” In the Hebrew text the statement is one long sentence, “Just as…, so I will do….”

[65:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “for a blessing is in it.”

[65:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “by not destroying everyone.”

[65:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to the land which contains the aforementioned mountains.