Yesaya 21:2

21:2 I have received a distressing message: ¹ 

“The deceiver deceives,

the destroyer destroys.

Attack, you Elamites!

Lay siege, you Medes!

I will put an end to all the groaning!” ² 

Yesaya 24:16

24:16 From the ends of the earth we ³  hear songs –

the Just One is majestic. ⁴ 

But I ⁵  say, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed!

Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!” ⁶ 

Yesaya 33:1

The Lord Will Restore Zion

33:1 The destroyer is as good as dead, ⁷ 

you who have not been destroyed!

The deceitful one is as good as dead, ⁸ 

the one whom others have not deceived!

When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;

when you finish ⁹  deceiving, others will deceive you!

Habakuk 1:13

1:13 You are too just ¹⁰  to tolerate ¹¹  evil;

you are unable to condone ¹²  wrongdoing.

So why do you put up with such treacherous people? ¹³ 

Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour ¹⁴  those more righteous than they are? ¹⁵ 

[21:2]  ¹ tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”

[21:2]  ² sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.

[24:16]  ³ sn The identity of the subject is unclear. Apparently in vv. 15-16a an unidentified group responds to the praise they hear in the west by exhorting others to participate.

[24:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “Beauty belongs to the just one.” These words may summarize the main theme of the songs mentioned in the preceding line.

[24:16]  ⁵ sn The prophet seems to contradict what he hears the group saying. Their words are premature because more destruction is coming.

[24:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “and [with] deception deceivers deceive.”

[24:16]  tn Verse 16b is a classic example of Hebrew wordplay. In the first line (“I’m wasting away…”) four consecutive words end with hireq yod ( ִי); in the second line all forms are derived from the root בָּגַד (bagad). The repetition of sound draws attention to the prophet’s lament.

[33:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “Woe [to] the destroyer.”

[33:1]  sn In this context “the destroyer” appears to refer collectively to the hostile nations (vv. 3-4). Assyria would probably have been primary in the minds of the prophet and his audience.

[33:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the deceitful one”; NAB, NIV “O traitor”; NRSV “you treacherous one.” In the parallel structure הוֹי (hoy, “woe [to]”) does double duty.

[33:1]  ⁹ tc The form in the Hebrew text appears to derive from an otherwise unattested verb נָלָה (nalah). The translation follows the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a in reading ככלתך, a Piel infinitival form from the verbal root כָּלָה (kalah), meaning “finish.”

[1:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[you] are too pure of eyes.” God’s “eyes” here signify what he looks at with approval. His “eyes” are “pure” in that he refuses to tolerate any wrongdoing in his presence.

[1:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to see.” Here “see” is figurative for “tolerate,” “put up with.”

[1:13]  ¹² tn Heb “to look at.” Cf. NEB “who canst not countenance wrongdoing”; NASB “You can not look on wickedness with favor.”

[1:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “Why do you look at treacherous ones?” The verb בָּגַד (bagad, “be treacherous”) is often used of those who are disloyal or who violate agreements. See S. Erlandsson, TDOT 1:470-73.

[1:13]  ¹⁴ tn Or “swallow up.”

[1:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “more innocent than themselves.”