Yesaya 41:5-8

41:5 The coastlands ¹  see and are afraid;

the whole earth ²  trembles;

they approach and come.

41:6 They help one another; ³ 

one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’

41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,

the one who wields the hammer encourages ⁴  the one who pounds on the anvil.

He approves the quality of the welding, ⁵ 

and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”

The Lord Encourages His People

41:8 “You, my servant Israel,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

offspring of Abraham my friend, ⁶ 

Yesaya 50:11

50:11 Look, all of you who start a fire

and who equip yourselves with ⁷  flaming arrows, ⁸ 

walk ⁹  in the light ¹⁰  of the fire you started

and among the flaming arrows you ignited! ¹¹ 

This is what you will receive from me: ¹² 

you will lie down in a place of pain. ¹³ 

Yesaya 55:2

55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? ¹⁴ 

Why spend ¹⁵  your hard-earned money ¹⁶  on something that will not satisfy?

Listen carefully ¹⁷  to me and eat what is nourishing! ¹⁸ 

Enjoy fine food! ¹⁹ 

[41:5]  ¹ tn Or “islands” (NIV, CEV); NCV “faraway places”; NLT “lands beyond the sea.”

[41:5]  ² tn Heb “the ends of the earth,” but this is a merism, where the earth’s extremities stand for its entirety, i.e., the extremities and everything in between them.

[41:6]  ³ tn Heb “each his neighbor helps”; NCV “The workers help each other.”

[41:7]  ⁴ tn The verb “encourages” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[41:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “saying of the welding, ‘It is good.’”

[41:8]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps, “covenantal partner” (see 1 Kgs 5:15 HT [5:1 ET]; 2 Chr 20:7).

[50:11]  ⁷ tc Several more recent commentators have proposed an emendation of מְאַזְּרֵי (mÿ’azzÿre, “who put on”) to מְאִירִי (mÿ’iri, “who light”). However, both Qumran scrolls of Isaiah and the Vulgate support the MT reading (cf. NIV, ESV).

[50:11]  ⁸ tn On the meaning of זִיקוֹת (ziqot, “flaming arrows”), see HALOT 268 s.v. זִיקוֹת.

[50:11]  ⁹ tn The imperative is probably rhetorical and has a predictive force.

[50:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps, “flame” (so ASV).

[50:11]  ¹¹ sn Perhaps the servant here speaks to his enemies and warns them that they will self-destruct.

[50:11]  ¹² tn Heb “from my hand” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[50:11]  ¹³ sn The imagery may be that of a person who becomes ill and is forced to lie down in pain on a sickbed. Some see this as an allusion to a fiery place of damnation because of the imagery employed earlier in the verse.

[55:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for what is not food.”

[55:2]  ¹⁵ tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[55:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.

[55:2]  ¹⁷ tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.

[55:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[55:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”

[55:2]  sn Nourishing, fine food here represents the blessings God freely offers. These include forgiveness, a new covenantal relationship with God, and national prominence (see vv. 3-6).