Yesaya 1:11-15

1:11 “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?” ¹ 

says the Lord.

“I am stuffed with ²  burnt sacrifices

of rams and the fat from steers.

The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats

I do not want. ³ 

1:12 When you enter my presence,

do you actually think I want this –

animals trampling on my courtyards? ⁴ 

1:13 Do not bring any more meaningless ⁵  offerings;

I consider your incense detestable! ⁶ 

You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,

but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! ⁷ 

1:14 I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies;

they are a burden

that I am tired of carrying.

1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way; ⁸ 

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen,

because your hands are covered with blood. ⁹ 

Yesaya 58:2-6

58:2 They seek me day after day;

they want to know my requirements, ¹⁰ 

like a nation that does what is right

and does not reject the law of their God.

They ask me for just decrees;

they want to be near God.

58:3 They lament, ¹¹  ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast?

Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’

Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, ¹² 

you oppress your workers. ¹³ 

58:4 Look, your fasting is accompanied by ¹⁴  arguments, brawls,

and fistfights. ¹⁵ 

Do not fast as you do today,

trying to make your voice heard in heaven.

58:5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? ¹⁶ 

Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, ¹⁷ 

bowing their heads like a reed

and stretching out ¹⁸  on sackcloth and ashes?

Is this really what you call a fast,

a day that is pleasing to the Lord?

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. ¹⁹ 

I want you ²⁰  to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed, ²¹ 

and to break every burdensome yoke.

Yesaya 59:6-8

59:6 Their webs cannot be used for clothing;

they cannot cover themselves with what they make.

Their deeds are sinful;

they commit violent crimes. ²² 

59:7 They are eager to do evil, ²³ 

quick to shed innocent blood. ²⁴ 

Their thoughts are sinful;

they crush and destroy. ²⁵ 

59:8 They are unfamiliar with peace;

their deeds are unjust. ²⁶ 

They use deceitful methods,

and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace. ²⁷ 

Yesaya 64:5

64:5 You assist ²⁸  those who delight in doing what is right, ²⁹ 

who observe your commandments. ³⁰ 

Look, you were angry because we violated them continually.

How then can we be saved? ³¹ 

Yesaya 66:3-4

66:3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; ³² 

the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; ³³ 

the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; ³⁴ 

the one who offers incense also praises an idol. ³⁵ 

They have decided to behave this way; ³⁶ 

they enjoy these disgusting practices. ³⁷ 

66:4 So I will choose severe punishment ³⁸  for them;

I will bring on them what they dread,

because I called, and no one responded,

I spoke and they did not listen.

They did evil before me; ³⁹ 

they chose to do what displeases me.”

[1:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Why to me the multitude of your sacrifices?” The sarcastic rhetorical question suggests that their many sacrifices are of no importance to the Lord. This phrase answers the possible objection that an Israelite could raise in response to God’s indictment: “But we are offering the sacrifices you commanded!”

[1:11]  sn In this section the Lord refutes a potential objection that his sinful people might offer in their defense. He has charged them with rebellion (vv. 2-3), but they might respond that they have brought him many sacrifices. So he points out that he requires social justice first and foremost, not empty ritual.

[1:11]  ² tn The verb שָׂבַע (sava’, “be satisfied, full”) is often used of eating and/or drinking one’s fill. See BDB 959 s.v. שָׂבַע. Here sacrifices are viewed, in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion, as food for the deity. God here declares that he has eaten and drunk, as it were, his fill.

[1:11]  ³ sn In the chiastic structure of the verse, the verbs at the beginning and end highlight God’s displeasure, while the heaping up of references to animals, fat, and blood in the middle lines hints at why God wants no more of their sacrifices. They have, as it were, piled the food on his table and he needs no more.

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “When you come to appear before me, who requires this from your hand, trampling of my courtyards?” The rhetorical question sarcastically makes the point that God does not require this parade of livestock. The verb “trample” probably refers to the eager worshipers and their sacrificial animals walking around in the temple area.

[1:13]  ⁵ tn Or “worthless” (NASB, NCV, CEV); KJV, ASV “vain.”

[1:13]  ⁶ sn Notice some of the other practices that Yahweh regards as “detestable”: homosexuality (Lev 18:22-30; 20:13), idolatry (Deut 7:25; 13:15), human sacrifice (Deut 12:31), eating ritually unclean animals (Deut 14:3-8), sacrificing defective animals (Deut 17:1), engaging in occult activities (Deut 18:9-14), and practicing ritual prostitution (1 Kgs 14:23).

[1:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “sin and assembly” (these two nouns probably represent a hendiadys). The point is that their attempts at worship are unacceptable to God because the people’s everyday actions in the socio-economic realm prove they have no genuine devotion to God (see vv. 16-17).

[1:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

[1:15]  ⁹ sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.

[58:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”

[58:3]  ¹¹ tn The words “they lament” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:3]  ¹² tn Heb “you find pleasure”; NASB “you find your desire.”

[58:3]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps, “debtors.” See HALOT 865 s.v. * עָצֵב.

[58:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you fast for” (so NASB); NRSV “you fast only to quarrel.”

[58:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and for striking with a sinful fist.”

[58:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”

[58:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “making [their] bed.”

[58:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6]  ²⁰ tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “crushed.”

[59:6]  ²² tn Heb “their deeds are deeds of sin, and the work of violence [is] in their hands.”

[59:7]  ²³ tn Heb “their feet run to evil.”

[59:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they quickly pour out innocent blood.”

[59:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “their thoughts are thoughts of sin, destruction and crushing [are] in their roadways.”

[59:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their pathways.”

[59:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “their paths they make crooked, everyone who walks in it does not know peace.”

[64:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “meet [with kindness].”

[64:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the one who rejoices and does righteousness.”

[64:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in your ways they remember you.”

[64:5]  ³¹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “look, you were angry and we sinned against them continually [or perhaps, “in ancient times”] and we were delivered.” The statement makes little sense as it stands. The first vav [ו] consecutive (“and we sinned”) must introduce an explanatory clause here (see Num 1:48 and Isa 39:1 for other examples of this relatively rare use of the vav [ו] consecutive). The final verb (if rendered positively) makes no sense in this context – God’s anger at their sin resulted in judgment, not deliverance. One of the alternatives involves an emendation to וַנִּרְשָׁע (vannirsha’, “and we were evil”; LXX, NRSV, TEV). The Vulgate and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a support the MT reading. One can either accept an emendation or cast the statement as a question (as above).

[66:3]  ³² tn Heb “one who slaughters a bull, one who strikes down a man.” Some understand a comparison here and in the following lines. In God’s sight the one who sacrifices is like (i.e., regarded as) a murderer or one whose worship is ritually defiled or idolatrous. The translation above assumes that the language is not metaphorical, but descriptive of the sinners’ hypocritical behavior. (Note the last two lines of the verse, which suggests they are guilty of abominable practices.) On the one hand, they act pious and offer sacrifices; but at the same time they commit violent crimes against men, defile their sacrifices, and worship other gods.

[66:3]  ³³ tn Heb “one who sacrifices a lamb, one who breaks a dog’s neck.” Some understand a comparison, but see the previous note.

[66:3]  sn The significance of breaking a dog’s neck is uncertain, though the structure of the statement when compared to the preceding and following lines suggests the action is viewed in a negative light. According to Exod 13:13 and 34:20, one was to “redeem” a firstborn donkey by offering a lamb; if one did not “redeem” the firstborn donkey in this way, then its neck must be broken. According to Deut 21:1-9 a heifer’s neck was to be broken as part of the atonement ritual to purify the land from the guilt of bloodshed. It is not certain if these passages relate in any way to the action described in Isa 66:3.

[66:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “one who offers an offering, pig’s blood.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line.

[66:3]  ³⁵ tn Heb “one who offers incense as a memorial offering, one who blesses something false.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line. אָוֶן (’aven), which has a wide variety of attested nuances, here refers metonymically to an idol. See HALOT 22 s.v. and BDB 20 s.v. 2.

[66:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “also they have chosen their ways.”

[66:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “their being [or “soul”] takes delight in their disgusting [things].”

[66:4]  ³⁸ tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”

[66:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”