Yesaya 7:4

7:4 Tell him, ‘Make sure you stay calm! ¹  Don’t be afraid! Don’t be intimidated ²  by these two stubs of smoking logs, ³  or by the raging anger of Rezin, Syria, and the son of Remaliah.

Yesaya 10:20

10:20 At that time ⁴  those left in Israel, those who remain of the family ⁵  of Jacob, will no longer rely on a foreign leader that abuses them. ⁶  Instead they will truly ⁷  rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ⁸ 

Yesaya 14:1

14:1 The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob; ⁹  he will again choose Israel as his special people ¹⁰  and restore ¹¹  them to their land. Resident foreigners will join them and unite with the family ¹²  of Jacob.

Yesaya 28:16

28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says:

“Look, I am laying ¹³  a stone in Zion,

an approved ¹⁴  stone,

set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ¹⁵ 

The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ¹⁶ 

Yesaya 30:10

30:10 They ¹⁷  say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!”

and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! ¹⁸ 

Tell us nice things,

relate deceptive messages. ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 30:18

The Lord Will Not Abandon His People

30:18 For this reason the Lord is ready to show you mercy;

he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you. ²⁰ 

Indeed, the Lord is a just God;

all who wait for him in faith will be blessed. ²¹ 

Yesaya 36:16

36:16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me. ²²  Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,

Yesaya 43:10

43:10 You are my witnesses,” says the Lord,

“my servant whom I have chosen,

so that you may consider ²³  and believe in me,

and understand that I am he.

No god was formed before me,

and none will outlive me. ²⁴ 

Yesaya 44:13

44:13 A carpenter takes measurements; ²⁵ 

he marks out an outline of its form; ²⁶ 

he scrapes ²⁷  it with chisels,

and marks it with a compass.

He patterns it after the human form, ²⁸ 

like a well-built human being,

and puts it in a shrine. ²⁹ 

Yesaya 49:8

49:8 This is what the Lord says:

“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;

in the day of deliverance I will help you;

I will protect you ³⁰  and make you a covenant mediator for people, ³¹ 

to rebuild ³²  the land ³³ 

and to reassign the desolate property.

Yesaya 50:4

The Servant Perseveres

50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, ³⁴ 

so that I know how to help the weary. ³⁵ 

He wakes me up every morning;

he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. ³⁶ 

Yesaya 51:4

51:4 Pay attention to me, my people!

Listen to me, my people!

For ³⁷  I will issue a decree, ³⁸ 

I will make my justice a light to the nations. ³⁹ 

Yesaya 58:11

58:11 The Lord will continually lead you;

he will feed you even in parched regions. ⁴⁰ 

He will give you renewed strength, ⁴¹ 

and you will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring that continually produces water.

Yesaya 64:7

64:7 No one invokes ⁴²  your name,

or makes an effort ⁴³  to take hold of you.

For you have rejected us ⁴⁴ 

and handed us over to our own sins. ⁴⁵ 

[7:4]  ¹ tn Heb “guard yourself and be quiet,” but the two verbs should be coordinated.

[7:4]  ² tn Heb “and let not your heart be weak”; ASV “neither let thy heart be faint.”

[7:4]  ³ sn The derogatory metaphor indicates that the power of Rezin and Pekah is ready to die out.

[10:20]  ⁴ tn Or “in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[10:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “house” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[10:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “on one who strikes him down.” This individual is the king (“foreign leader”) of the oppressing nation (which NLT specifies as “the Assyrians”).

[10:20]  ⁷ tn Or “sincerely”; KJV, ASV, NAB, NRSV “in truth.”

[10:20]  ⁸ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[14:1]  ⁹ tn The sentence begins with כִּי (ki), which is understood as asseverative (“certainly”) in the translation. Another option is to translate, “For the Lord will have compassion.” In this case one of the reasons for Babylon’s coming demise (13:22b) is the Lord’s desire to restore his people.

[14:1]  ¹⁰ tn The words “as his special people” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “settle” (NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[14:1]  ¹² tn Heb “house.”

[28:16]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew text has a third person verb form, which does not agree with the first person suffix that precedes. The form should be emended to יֹסֵד (yosed), a Qal active participle used in a present progressive or imminent future sense.

[28:16]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.

[28:16]  ¹⁵ sn The reality behind the metaphor is not entirely clear from the context. The stone appears to represent someone or something that gives Zion stability. Perhaps the ideal Davidic ruler is in view (see 32:1). Another option is that the image of beginning a building project by laying a precious cornerstone suggests that God is about to transform Zion through judgment and begin a new covenant community that will experience his protection (see 4:3-6; 31:5; 33:20-24; 35:10).

[28:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.

[30:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “who” (so NASB, NRSV). A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Do not see for us right things.”

[30:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Tell us smooth things, see deceptive things.”

[30:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Therefore the Lord waits to show you mercy, and therefore he is exalted to have compassion on you.” The logical connection between this verse and what precedes is problematic. The point seems to be that Judah’s impending doom does not bring God joy. Rather the prospect of their suffering stirs within him a willingness to show mercy and compassion, if they are willing to seek him on his terms.

[30:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “Blessed are all who wait for him.”

[36:16]  ²² tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”

[43:10]  ²³ tn Or “know” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[43:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and after me, there will not be”; NASB “there will be none after Me.”

[44:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”

[44:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”

[44:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”

[44:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”

[44:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”

[49:8]  ³⁰ tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצָר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצָר (yatsar, “form”).

[49:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (’am, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.

[49:8]  ³² tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”

[49:8]  ³³ tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.

[50:4]  ³⁴ tn Heb “has given to me a tongue of disciples.”

[50:4]  sn Verses 4-11 contain the third of the so-called servant songs, which depict the career of the Lord’s special servant, envisioned as an ideal Israel (49:3) who rescues the exiles and fulfills God’s purposes for the world. Here the servant alludes to opposition (something hinted at in 49:4), but also expresses his determination to persevere with the Lord’s help.

[50:4]  ³⁵ tc Heb “to know [?] the weary with a word.” Comparing it with Arabic and Aramaic cognates yields the meaning of “help, sustain.” Nevertheless, the meaning of עוּת (’ut) is uncertain. The word occurs only here in the OT (see BDB 736 s.v.). Various scholars have suggested an emendation to עָנוֹת (’anot) from עָנָה (’anah, “answer”): “so that I know how to respond kindly to the weary.” Since the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.

[50:4]  ³⁶ tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”

[51:4]  ³⁷ tn Or “certainly.”

[51:4]  ³⁸ tn Heb “instruction [or “a law”] will go out from me.”

[51:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and my justice for a light to the nations I will cause to rest.”

[58:11]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “he will satisfy in parched regions your appetite.”

[58:11]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and your bones he will strengthen.”

[64:7]  ⁴² tn Or “calls out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “calls on.”

[64:7]  ⁴³ tn Or “rouses himself”; NASB “arouses himself.”

[64:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “for you have hidden your face from us.”

[64:7]  ⁴⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and you caused us to melt in the hand of our sin.” The verb וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ (vattÿmugenu) is a Qal preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the root מוּג (mug, “melt”). However, elsewhere the Qal of this verb is intransitive. If the verbal root מוּג (mug) is retained here, the form should be emended to a Polel pattern (וַתְּמֹגְגֵנוּ, vattÿmogÿgenu). The translation assumes an emendation to וַתְּמַגְּנֵנוּ (vattÿmaggÿnenu, “and you handed us over”). This form is a Piel preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the verbal root מִגֵּן (miggen, “hand over, surrender”; see HALOT 545 s.v. מגן and BDB 171 s.v. מָגָן). The point is that God has abandoned them to their sinful ways and no longer seeks reconciliation.