Yesaya 10:26

10:26 The Lord who commands armies is about to beat them ¹  with a whip, similar to the way he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb. ²  He will use his staff against the sea, lifting it up as he did in Egypt. ³ 

Yesaya 17:10

17:10 For you ignore ⁴  the God who rescues you;

you pay no attention to your strong protector. ⁵ 

So this is what happens:

You cultivate beautiful plants

and plant exotic vines. ⁶ 

Yesaya 57:5

57:5 you who practice ritual sex ⁷  under the oaks and every green tree,

who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs. ⁸ 

[10:26]  ¹ tn Heb “him” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); the singular refers to the leader or king who stands for the entire nation. This is specified by NCV, CEV as “the Assyrians.”

[10:26]  ² sn According to Judg 7:25, the Ephraimites executed the Midianite general Oreb at a rock which was subsequently named after the executed enemy.

[10:26]  ³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and his staff [will be] against the sea, and he will lift it in the way [or “manner”] of Egypt.” If the text is retained, “the sea” symbolizes Assyria’s hostility, the metaphor being introduced because of the reference to Egypt. The translation above assumes an emendation of עַל הַיָּם (’al hayyam, “against the sea”) to עַלֵיהֶם (’alehem, “against them”). The proposed shift from the third singular pronoun (note “beat him” earlier in the verse) to the plural is not problematic, for the singular is collective. Note that a third plural pronoun is used at the end of v. 25 (“their destruction”). The final phrase, “in the way/manner of Egypt,” probably refers to the way in which God used the staff of Moses to bring judgment down on Egypt.

[17:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “you have forgotten” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[17:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the rocky cliff of your strength you do not remember.”

[17:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “a vine, a strange one.” The substantival adjective זָר (zar) functions here as an appositional genitive. It could refer to a cultic plant of some type, associated with a pagan rite. But it is more likely that it refers to an exotic, or imported, type of vine, one that is foreign (i.e., “strange”) to Israel.

[57:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “inflame yourselves”; NRSV “burn with lust.” This verse alludes to the practice of ritual sex that accompanied pagan fertility rites.

[57:5]  ⁸ sn This apparently alludes to the practice of child sacrifice (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).