Yesaya 43:10

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

“my servant whom I have chosen,

so that you may consider ¹  and believe in me,

and understand that I am he.

No god was formed before me,

and none will outlive me. ² 

Yesaya 44:19

44:19 No one thinks to himself,

nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:

‘I burned half of it in the fire –

yes, I baked bread over the coals;

I roasted meat and ate it.

With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?

Should I bow down to dry wood?’ ³ 

Yesaya 49:21

49:21 Then you will think to yourself, ⁴ 

‘Who bore these children for me?

I was bereaved and barren,

dismissed and divorced. ⁵ 

Who raised these children?

Look, I was left all alone;

where did these children come from?’”

Yesaya 58:13

58:13 You must ⁶  observe the Sabbath ⁷ 

rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. ⁸ 

You must look forward to the Sabbath ⁹ 

and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. ¹⁰ 

You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,

and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. ¹¹ 

Yesaya 59:21

59:21 “As for me, this is my promise to ¹²  them,” says the Lord. “My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward,” ¹³  says the Lord.

Yesaya 66:3

66:3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; ¹⁴ 

the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; ¹⁵ 

the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; ¹⁶ 

the one who offers incense also praises an idol. ¹⁷ 

They have decided to behave this way; ¹⁸ 

they enjoy these disgusting practices. ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 66:20

66:20 They will bring back all your countrymen ²⁰  from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them ²¹  on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels ²²  to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers.

[43:10]  ¹ tn Or “know” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[43:10]  ² tn Heb “and after me, there will not be”; NASB “there will be none after Me.”

[44:19]  ³ tn There is no formal interrogative sign here, but the context seems to indicate these are rhetorical questions. See GKC 473 §150.a.

[49:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “and you will say in your heart.”

[49:21]  ⁵ tn Or “exiled and thrust away”; NIV “exiled and rejected.”

[58:13]  ⁶ tn Lit., “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 13-14 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in v. 13), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 14.

[58:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”

[58:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”

[58:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”

[58:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and [call] the holy [day] of the Lord honored.” On קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy”) as indicating a time period, see BDB 872 s.v. 2.e (cf. also Neh 8:9-11).

[58:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and you honor it [by refraining] from accomplishing your ways, from finding your desire and speaking a word.” It is unlikely that the last phrase (“speaking a word”) is a prohibition against talking on the Sabbath; instead it probably refers to making transactions or plans (see Hos 10:4). Some see here a reference to idle talk (cf. 2 Sam 19:30).

[59:21]  ¹² tn Or “my covenant with” (so many English versions); NCV “my agreement with.”

[59:21]  sn The Lord promises the repentant (note “to them”) that they and their offspring will possess his spirit and function as his spokesmen. In this regard they follow in the footsteps of the Lord’s special servant. See 42:1; 49:2; 51:16.

[59:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “from now and on into the future.”

[66:3]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “also they have chosen their ways.”

[66:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “their being [or “soul”] takes delight in their disgusting [things].”

[66:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “brothers” (so NIV); NCV “fellow Israelites.”

[66:20]  ²¹ tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[66:20]  ²² tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.