Yesaya 1:10

1:10 Listen to the Lord’s word,

you leaders of Sodom! ¹ 

Pay attention to our God’s rebuke, ² 

people of Gomorrah!

Yesaya 1:25

1:25 I will attack you; ³ 

I will purify your metal with flux. ⁴ 

I will remove all your slag. ⁵ 

Yesaya 2:13

2:13 for all the cedars of Lebanon,

that are so high and mighty,

for all the oaks of Bashan; ⁶ 

Yesaya 3:17

3:17 So ⁷  the sovereign master ⁸  will afflict the foreheads of Zion’s women ⁹  with skin diseases, ¹⁰ 

the Lord will make the front of their heads bald.” ¹¹ 

Yesaya 5:11

5:11 Those who get up early to drink beer are as good as dead, ¹² 

those who keep drinking long after dark

until they are intoxicated with wine. ¹³ 

Yesaya 8:10

8:10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted!

Issue your orders, but they will not be executed! ¹⁴ 

For God is with us! ¹⁵ 

Yesaya 11:3

11:3 He will take delight in obeying the Lord. ¹⁶ 

He will not judge by mere appearances, ¹⁷ 

or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 13:17-18

13:17 Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; ¹⁹ 

they are not concerned about silver,

nor are they interested in gold. ²⁰ 

13:18 Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; ²¹ 

they have no compassion on a person’s offspring, ²² 

they will not ²³  look with pity on children.

Yesaya 14:24

14:24 ²⁴ The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow:

“Be sure of this:

Just as I have intended, so it will be;

just as I have planned, it will happen.

Yesaya 14:26

14:26 This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth;

my hand is ready to strike all the nations.” ²⁵ 

Yesaya 15:3

15:3 In their streets they wear sackcloth;

on their roofs and in their town squares

all of them wail,

they fall down weeping.

Yesaya 15:7

15:7 For this reason what they have made and stored up,

they carry over the Stream of the Poplars.

Yesaya 19:13

19:13 The officials of Zoan are fools,

the officials of Memphis ²⁶  are misled;

the rulers ²⁷  of her tribes lead Egypt astray.

Yesaya 21:6

21:6 For this is what the sovereign master ²⁸  has told me:

“Go, post a guard!

He must report what he sees.

Yesaya 24:5

24:5 The earth is defiled by ²⁹  its inhabitants, ³⁰ 

for they have violated laws,

disregarded the regulation, ³¹ 

and broken the permanent treaty. ³² 

Yesaya 26:3

26:3 You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith,

for they trust in you. ³³ 

Yesaya 28:20

28:20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,

and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself. ³⁴ 

Yesaya 29:10

29:10 For the Lord has poured out on you

a strong urge to sleep deeply. ³⁵ 

He has shut your eyes (the prophets),

and covered your heads (the seers).

Yesaya 30:3

30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,

and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.

Yesaya 33:2

33:2 Lord, be merciful to us! We wait for you.

Give us strength each morning! ³⁶ 

Deliver us when distress comes. ³⁷ 

Yesaya 33:10

33:10 “Now I will rise up,” says the Lord.

“Now I will exalt myself;

now I will magnify myself. ³⁸ 

Yesaya 36:4

36:4 The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence? ³⁹ 

Yesaya 36:19

36:19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? ⁴⁰  Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria ⁴¹  from my power? ⁴² 

Yesaya 37:1

37:1 When King Hezekiah heard this, ⁴³  he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord’s temple.

Yesaya 37:35

37:35 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’” ⁴⁴ 

Yesaya 38:16

38:16 O sovereign master, your decrees can give men life;

may years of life be restored to me. ⁴⁵ 

Restore my health ⁴⁶  and preserve my life.’

Yesaya 40:7

40:7 The grass dries up,

the flowers wither,

when the wind sent by the Lord ⁴⁷  blows on them.

Surely humanity ⁴⁸  is like grass.

Yesaya 43:3

43:3 For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, ⁴⁹  your deliverer.

I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price,

Ethiopia and Seba ⁵⁰  in place of you.

Yesaya 46:2

46:2 Together they bend low and kneel down;

they are unable to rescue the images; ⁵¹ 

they themselves ⁵²  head off into captivity. ⁵³ 

Yesaya 47:2

47:2 Pick up millstones and grind flour!

Remove your veil,

strip off your skirt,

expose your legs,

cross the streams!

Yesaya 52:9

52:9 In unison give a joyful shout,

O ruins of Jerusalem!

For the Lord consoles his people;

he protects ⁵⁴  Jerusalem.

Yesaya 59:14

59:14 Justice is driven back;

godliness ⁵⁵  stands far off.

Indeed, ⁵⁶  honesty stumbles in the city square

and morality is not even able to enter.

Yesaya 63:19

63:19 We existed from ancient times, ⁵⁷ 

but you did not rule over them,

they were not your subjects. ⁵⁸ 

Yesaya 65:6

65:6 Look, I have decreed: ⁵⁹ 

I will not keep silent, but will pay them back;

I will pay them back exactly what they deserve, ⁶⁰ 

Yesaya 66:11

66:11 For ⁶¹  you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished; ⁶² 

you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts. ⁶³ 

[1:10]  ¹ sn Building on the simile of v. 9, the prophet sarcastically addresses the leaders and people of Jerusalem as if they were leaders and residents of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. The sarcasm is appropriate, for if the judgment is comparable to Sodom’s, that must mean that the sin which prompted the judgment is comparable as well.

[1:10]  ² tn Heb “to the instruction of our God.” In this context, which is highly accusatory and threatening, תּוֹרָה (torah, “law, instruction”) does not refer to mere teaching, but to corrective teaching and rebuke.

[1:25]  ³ tn Heb “turn my hand against you.” The second person pronouns in vv. 25-26 are feminine singular. Personified Jerusalem is addressed. The idiom “turn the hand against” has the nuance of “strike with the hand, attack,” in Ps 81:15 HT (81:14 ET); Ezek 38:12; Am 1:8; Zech 13:7. In Jer 6:9 it is used of gleaning grapes.

[1:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will purify your dross as [with] flux.” “Flux” refers here to minerals added to the metals in a furnace to prevent oxides from forming. For this interpretation of II בֹּר (bor), see HALOT 153 s.v. II בֹּר and 750 s.v. סִיג.

[1:25]  ⁵ sn The metaphor comes from metallurgy; slag is the substance left over after the metallic ore has been refined.

[2:13]  ⁶ sn The cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan were well-known for their size and prominence. They make apt symbols here for powerful men who think of themselves as prominent and secure.

[3:17]  ⁷ tn In the Hebrew text vv. 16-17 and one long sentence, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud and walk…, the sovereign master will afflict….” In v. 17 the Lord refers to himself in the third person.

[3:17]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 18 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[3:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “the daughters of Zion.”

[3:17]  ¹⁰ tn Or “a scab” (KJV, ASV); NIV, NCV, CEV “sores.”

[3:17]  ¹¹ tn The precise meaning of this line is unclear because of the presence of the rare word פֹּת (pot). Since the verb in the line means “lay bare, make naked,” some take פֹּת as a reference to the genitals (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV, CEV). (In 1 Kgs 7:50 a noun פֹּת appears, with the apparent meaning “socket.”) J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:139, n. 2), basing his argument on alleged Akkadian evidence and the parallelism of the verse, takes פֹּת as “forehead.”

[5:11]  ¹² tn Heb “Woe [to] those who arise early in the morning, [who] chase beer.”

[5:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “[who] delay until dark, [until] wine enflames them.”

[5:11]  sn This verse does not condemn drinking per se, but refers to the carousing lifestyle of the rich bureaucrats, made possible by wealth taken from the poor. Their carousing is not the fundamental problem, but a disgusting symptom of the real disease – their social injustice.

[8:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “speak a word, but it will not stand.”

[8:10]  ¹⁵ sn In these vv. 9-10 the tone shifts abruptly from judgment to hope. Hostile nations like Assyria may attack God’s people, but eventually they will be destroyed, for God is with his people, sometimes to punish, but ultimately to vindicate. In addition to being a reminder of God’s presence in the immediate crisis faced by Ahaz and Judah, Immanuel (whose name is echoed in this concluding statement) was a guarantee of the nation’s future greatness in fulfillment of God’s covenantal promises. Eventually God would deliver his people from the hostile nations (vv. 9-10) through another child, an ideal Davidic ruler who would embody God’s presence in a special way (see 9:6-7). Jesus the Messiah is the fulfillment of the Davidic ideal prophesied by Isaiah, the one whom Immanuel foreshadowed. Through the miracle of the incarnation he is literally “God with us.” Matthew realized this and applied Isaiah’s ancient prophecy of Immanuel’s birth to Jesus (Matt 1:22-23). The first Immanuel was a reminder to the people of God’s presence and a guarantee of a greater child to come who would manifest God’s presence in an even greater way. The second Immanuel is “God with us” in a heightened and infinitely superior sense. He “fulfills” Isaiah’s Immanuel prophecy by bringing the typology intended by God to realization and by filling out or completing the pattern designed by God. Of course, in the ultimate fulfillment of the type, the incarnate Immanuel’s mother must be a virgin, so Matthew uses a Greek term (παρθένος, parqenos), which carries that technical meaning (in contrast to the Hebrew word עַלְמָה [’almah], which has the more general meaning “young woman”). Matthew draws similar analogies between NT and OT events in 2:15, 18. The linking of these passages by analogy is termed “fulfillment.” In 2:15 God calls Jesus, his perfect Son, out of Egypt, just as he did his son Israel in the days of Moses, an historical event referred to in Hos 11:1. In so doing he makes it clear that Jesus is the ideal Israel prophesied by Isaiah (see Isa 49:3), sent to restore wayward Israel (see Isa 49:5, cf. Matt 1:21). In 2:18 Herod’s slaughter of the infants is another illustration of the oppressive treatment of God’s people by foreign tyrants. Herod’s actions are analogous to those of the Assyrians, who deported the Israelites, causing the personified land to lament as inconsolably as a mother robbed of her little ones (Jer 31:15).

[11:3]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and his smelling is in the fear of the Lord.” In Amos 5:21 the Hiphil of רוּחַ (ruakh, “smell”) carries the nuance of “smell with delight, get pleasure from.” There the Lord declares that he does not “smell with delight” (i.e., get pleasure from) Israel’s religious assemblies, which probably stand by metonymy for the incense offered during these festivals. In Isa 11:3 there is no sacrificial context to suggest such a use, but it is possible that “the fear of the Lord” is likened to incense. This coming king will get the same kind of delight from obeying (fearing) the Lord, as a deity does in the incense offered by worshipers. Some regard such an explanation as strained in this context, and prefer to omit this line from the text as a virtual dittograph of the preceding statement.

[11:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “by what appears to his eyes”; KJV “after the sight of his eyes”; NIV “by what he sees with his eyes.”

[11:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “by what is heard by his ears”; NRSV “by what his ears hear.”

[13:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “against them”; NLT “against Babylon.”

[13:17]  ²⁰ sn They cannot be bought off, for they have a lust for bloodshed.

[13:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “and bows cut to bits young men.” “Bows” stands by metonymy for arrows.

[13:18]  ²² tn Heb “the fruit of the womb.”

[13:18]  ²³ tn Heb “their eye does not.” Here “eye” is a metonymy for the whole person.

[14:24]  ²⁴ sn Having announced the downfall of the Chaldean empire, the Lord appends to this prophecy a solemn reminder that the Assyrians, the major Mesopotamian power of Isaiah’s day, would be annihilated, foreshadowing what would subsequently happen to Babylon and the other hostile nations.

[14:26]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and this is the hand that is outstretched over all the nations.”

[19:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Noph” (so KJV); most recent English versions substitute the more familiar “Memphis.”

[19:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the cornerstone.” The singular form should be emended to a plural.

[21:6]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 8, 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[24:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “beneath”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “under”; NAB “because of.”

[24:5]  ³⁰ sn Isa 26:21 suggests that the earth’s inhabitants defiled the earth by shedding the blood of their fellow human beings. See also Num 35:33-34, which assumes that bloodshed defiles a land.

[24:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “moved past [the?] regulation.”

[24:5]  ³² tn Or “everlasting covenant” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the ancient covenant”; CEV “their agreement that was to last forever.”

[24:5]  sn For a lengthy discussion of the identity of this covenant/treaty, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24,” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In this context, where judgment comes upon both the pagan nations and God’s covenant community, the phrase “permanent treaty” is intentionally ambiguous. For the nations this treaty is the Noahic mandate of Gen 9:1-7 with its specific stipulations and central regulation (Gen 9:7). By shedding blood, the warlike nations violated this treaty, which promotes population growth and prohibits murder. For Israel, which was also guilty of bloodshed (see Isa 1:15, 21; 4:4), this “permanent treaty” would refer more specifically to the Mosaic Law and its regulations prohibiting murder (Exod 20:13; Num 35:6-34), which are an extension of the Noahic mandate.

[26:3]  ³³ tn Heb “[one of] firm purpose you will keep [in] peace, peace, for in you he possesses trust.” The Hebrew term יֵצֶר (yetser) refers to what one devises in the mind; סָמוּךְ (samukh) probably functions here like an attributive adjective and carries the nuance “firm.” So the phrase literally means, “a firm purpose,” but as the object of the verb “keep, guard,” it must stand by metonymy for the one(s) who possess a firm purpose. In this context the “righteous nation” (v. 2) is probably in view and the “firm purpose” refers to their unwavering faith in God’s vindication (see 25:9). In this context שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”), which is repeated for emphasis, likely refers to national security, not emotional or psychological composure (see vv. 1-2). The passive participle בָּטוּחַ (batuakh) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action.

[28:20]  ³⁴ sn The bed and blanket probably symbolize their false sense of security. A bed that is too short and a blanket that is too narrow may promise rest and protection from the cold, but in the end they are useless and disappointing. In the same way, their supposed treaty with death will prove useless and disappointing.

[29:10]  ³⁵ tn Heb “a disposition [or “spirit”] of deep sleep.” Through this mixed metaphor (sleep is likened to a liquid which one pours and in turn symbolizes spiritual dullness) the prophet emphasizes that God himself has given the people over to their spiritual insensitivity as a form of judgment.

[33:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Be their arm each morning.” “Arm” is a symbol for strength. The mem suffixed to the noun has been traditionally understood as a third person suffix, but this is contrary to the context, where the people speak of themselves in the first person. The mem (מ) is probably enclitic with ellipsis of the pronoun, which can be supplied from the context. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:589, n. 1.

[33:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “[Be] also our deliverance in the time of distress.”

[33:10]  ³⁸ tn Or “lift myself up” (KJV); NLT “show my power and might.”

[36:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?”

[36:19]  ⁴⁰ tn The rhetorical questions in v. 34a suggest the answer, “Nowhere, they seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.”

[36:19]  ⁴¹ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[36:19]  ⁴² tn Heb “that they rescued Samaria from my hand?” But this gives the impression that the gods of Sepharvaim were responsible for protecting Samaria, which is obviously not the case. The implied subject of the plural verb “rescued” must be the generic “gods of the nations/lands” (vv. 18, 20).

[37:1]  ⁴³ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[37:35]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”

[38:16]  ⁴⁵ tn The translation offered here is purely speculative. The text as it stands is meaningless and probably corrupt. It reads literally, “O lord, on account of them [the suffix is masculine plural], they live, and to all in them [the suffix is feminine plural], life of my spirit.”

[38:16]  ⁴⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as indicative, “you restore my health,” but the following imperatival form suggests it be understood as an imperfect of request.

[40:7]  ⁴⁷ tn The Hebrew text has רוּחַ יְהוָה (ruakh yehvah), which in this context probably does not refer to the Lord’s personal Spirit. The phrase is better translated “the breath of the Lord,” or “the wind of [i.e., sent by] the Lord.” The Lord’s sovereign control over nature, including the hot desert winds that dry up vegetation, is in view here (cf. Ps 147:18; Isa 59:19).

[40:7]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “the people” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[43:3]  ⁴⁹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:3]  ⁵⁰ sn Seba is not the same as Sheba in southern Arabia; cf. Gen 1:10; 1 Chr 1:9.

[46:2]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.

[46:2]  ⁵² tn נַפְשָׁם (nafsham, “their souls/lives”) is equivalent here to a third masculine plural suffix, but the third feminine singular verb הָלָכָה (halakhah, “they go”) agrees with the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, life”).

[46:2]  ⁵³ sn The downfall of Babylon is depicted here. The idols are carried off by the victorious enemy; the gods are likened to defeated captives who cower before the enemy and are taken into exile.

[52:9]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.

[59:14]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “righteousness” (ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NAB “justice.”

[59:14]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “for” (KJV, NRSV).

[63:19]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “we were from antiquity” (see v. 16). The collocation עוֹלָם + מִן + הָיָה (hayah + min + ’olam) occurs only here.

[63:19]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “you did not rule them, your name was not called over them.” The expression “the name is called over” indicates ownership; see the note at 4:1. As these two lines stand they are very difficult to interpret. They appear to be stating that the adversaries just mentioned in v. 18 have not been subject to the Lord’s rule in the past, perhaps explaining why they could commit the atrocity described in v. 18b.

[65:6]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “Look, it is written before me.”

[65:6]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “I will pay back into their lap.”

[66:11]  ⁶¹ tn Or “in order that”; ASV, NRSV “that.”

[66:11]  ⁶² tn Heb “you will suck and be satisfied, from her comforting breast.”

[66:11]  ⁶³ tn Heb “you will slurp and refresh yourselves from her heavy breast.”

[66:11]  sn Zion’s residents will benefit from and enjoy her great material prosperity. See v. 12.