Yesaya 19:18-21

19:18 At that time five cities ¹  in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord who commands armies. One will be called the City of the Sun. ²  19:19 At that time there will be an altar for the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, as well as a sacred pillar ³  dedicated to the Lord at its border. 19:20 It ⁴  will become a visual reminder in the land of Egypt of ⁵  the Lord who commands armies. When they cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a deliverer and defender ⁶  who will rescue them. 19:21 The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptians, and they ⁷  will acknowledge the Lord’s authority ⁸  at that time. ⁹  They will present sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them.

Yesaya 44:3-5

44:3 For I will pour water on the parched ground ¹⁰ 

and cause streams to flow ¹¹  on the dry land.

I will pour my spirit on your offspring

and my blessing on your children.

44:4 They will sprout up like a tree in the grass, ¹² 

like poplars beside channels of water.

44:5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’

and another will use ¹³  the name ‘Jacob.’

One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’

and use the name ‘Israel.’” ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 65:16

65:16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth ¹⁵ 

will do so in the name of the faithful God; ¹⁶ 

whoever makes an oath in the earth

will do so in the name of the faithful God. ¹⁷ 

For past problems will be forgotten;

I will no longer think about them. ¹⁸ 

[19:18]  ¹ sn The significance of the number “five” in this context is uncertain. For a discussion of various proposals, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:376-77.

[19:18]  ² tc The Hebrew text has עִיר הַהֶרֶס (’ir haheres, “City of Destruction”; cf. NASB, NIV) but this does not fit the positive emphasis of vv. 18-22. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and some medieval Hebrew mss read עִיר הָחֶרֶס (’ir hakheres, “City of the Sun,” i.e., Heliopolis). This reading also finds support from Symmachus’ Greek version, the Targum, and the Vulgate. See HALOT 257 s.v. חֶרֶס and HALOT 355 s.v. II חֶרֶס.

[19:19]  ³ tn This word is sometimes used of a sacred pillar associated with pagan worship, but here it is associated with the worship of the Lord.

[19:20]  ⁴ tn The masculine noun מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbbeakh, “altar”) in v. 19 is probably the subject of the masculine singular verb הָיָה (hayah) rather than the feminine noun מַצֵּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”), also in v. 19.

[19:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “a sign and a witness to the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] in the land of Egypt.”

[19:20]  ⁶ tn רָב (rav) is a substantival participle (from רִיב, riv) meaning “one who strives, contends.”

[19:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “Egypt.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, the present translation uses the pronoun (“they”) here.

[19:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “will know the Lord.”

[19:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV), likewise at the beginning of vv. 23 and 24.

[44:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the thirsty.” Parallelism suggests that dry ground is in view (see “dry land” in the next line.)

[44:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and streams”; KJV “floods.” The verb “cause…to flow” is supplied in the second line for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[44:4]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term בֵין (ven) is usually taken as a preposition, in which case one might translate, “among the grass.” But בֵין is probably the name of a tree (cf. C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 133). If one alters the preposition bet (בְּ) to kaf (כְּ), one can then read, “like a binu-tree.” (The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a supports this reading.) This forms a nice parallel to “like poplars” in the next line. חָצִיר (khatsir) is functioning as an adverbial accusative of location.

[44:5]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text has a Qal verb form, “and another will call by the name of Jacob.” With support from Symmachus (an ancient Greek textual witness), some read the Niphal, “and another will be called by the name of Jacob.”

[44:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and by the name of Israel he will title.” Some, with support from several ancient versions, prefer to change the Piel (active) verb form to a Pual (passive), “and he will be titled by the name of Israel.”

[65:16]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in the land” (NIV, NCV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs again later in this verse, with the same options.

[65:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will pronounce a blessing by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “will take an oath by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for the former distresses will be forgotten, and they will be hidden from my eyes.”