Yesaya 1:13

1:13 Do not bring any more meaningless ¹  offerings;

I consider your incense detestable! ² 

You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,

but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! ³ 

Yesaya 3:6

3:6 Indeed, a man will grab his brother

right in his father’s house ⁴  and say, ⁵ 

‘You own a coat –

you be our leader!

This heap of ruins will be under your control.’ ⁶ 

Yesaya 5:12

5:12 They have stringed instruments, ⁷  tambourines, flutes,

and wine at their parties.

So they do not recognize what the Lord is doing,

they do not perceive what he is bringing about. ⁸ 

Yesaya 8:8

8:8 It will spill into Judah, flooding and engulfing, as it reaches to the necks of its victims. He will spread his wings out over your entire land, ⁹  O Immanuel.” ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 14:20

14:20 You will not be buried with them, ¹¹ 

because you destroyed your land

and killed your people.

The offspring of the wicked

will never be mentioned again.

Yesaya 19:22

19:22 The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and then healing them. They will turn to the Lord and he will listen to their prayers ¹²  and heal them.

Yesaya 26:14

26:14 The dead do not come back to life,

the spirits of the dead do not rise. ¹³ 

That is because ¹⁴  you came in judgment ¹⁵  and destroyed them,

you wiped out all memory of them.

Yesaya 30:32

30:32 Every blow from his punishing cudgel, ¹⁶ 

with which the Lord will beat them, ¹⁷ 

will be accompanied by music from the ¹⁸  tambourine and harp,

and he will attack them with his weapons. ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 31:5

31:5 Just as birds hover over a nest, ²⁰ 

so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem. ²¹ 

He will protect and deliver it;

as he passes over ²²  he will rescue it.

Yesaya 33:21

33:21 Instead the Lord will rule there as our mighty king. ²³ 

Rivers and wide streams will flow through it; ²⁴ 

no war galley will enter; ²⁵ 

no large ships will sail through. ²⁶ 

Yesaya 39:3

39:3 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.”

Yesaya 41:9

41:9 you whom I am bringing back ²⁷  from the earth’s extremities,

and have summoned from the remote regions –

I told you, “You are my servant.”

I have chosen you and not rejected you.

Yesaya 41:22

41:22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!

Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, ²⁸ 

so we may examine them ²⁹  and see how they were fulfilled. ³⁰ 

Or decree for us some future events!

Yesaya 48:1

The Lord Appeals to the Exiles

48:1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, ³¹ 

you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’

and are descended from Judah, ³² 

who take oaths in the name of the Lord,

and invoke ³³  the God of Israel –

but not in an honest and just manner. ³⁴ 

Yesaya 48:14

48:14 All of you, gather together and listen!

Who among them ³⁵  announced these things?

The Lord’s ally ³⁶  will carry out his desire against Babylon;

he will exert his power against the Babylonians. ³⁷ 

Yesaya 55:12

55:12 Indeed you will go out with joy;

you will be led along in peace;

the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you,

and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.

Yesaya 57:6

57:6 Among the smooth stones of the stream are the idols you love;

they, they are the object of your devotion. ³⁸ 

You pour out liquid offerings to them,

you make an offering.

Because of these things I will seek vengeance. ³⁹ 

Yesaya 59:4

59:4 No one is concerned about justice; ⁴⁰ 

no one sets forth his case truthfully.

They depend on false words ⁴¹  and tell lies;

they conceive of oppression ⁴² 

and give birth to sin.

Yesaya 59:13

59:13 We have rebelled and tried to deceive the Lord;

we turned back from following our God.

We stir up ⁴³  oppression and rebellion;

we tell lies we concocted in our minds. ⁴⁴ 

Yesaya 60:6

60:6 Camel caravans will cover your roads, ⁴⁵ 

young camels from Midian and Ephah.

All the merchants of Sheba ⁴⁶  will come,

bringing gold and incense

and singing praises to the Lord. ⁴⁷ 

Yesaya 61:8

61:8 For I, the Lord, love justice

and hate robbery and sin.

I will repay them because of my faithfulness; ⁴⁸ 

I will make a permanent covenant with them.

Yesaya 62:9

62:9 But those who harvest the grain ⁴⁹  will eat it,

and will praise the Lord.

Those who pick the grapes will drink the wine ⁵⁰ 

in the courts of my holy sanctuary.”

Yesaya 65:4

65:4 They sit among the tombs ⁵¹ 

and keep watch all night long. ⁵² 

They eat pork, ⁵³ 

and broth ⁵⁴  from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans.

Yesaya 65:19

65:19 Jerusalem will bring me joy,

and my people will bring me happiness. ⁵⁵ 

The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow

will never be heard in her again.

Yesaya 66:8

66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?

Who has ever seen this?

Can a country ⁵⁶  be brought forth in one day?

Can a nation be born in a single moment?

Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

[1:13]  ¹ tn Or “worthless” (NASB, NCV, CEV); KJV, ASV “vain.”

[1:13]  ² sn Notice some of the other practices that Yahweh regards as “detestable”: homosexuality (Lev 18:22-30; 20:13), idolatry (Deut 7:25; 13:15), human sacrifice (Deut 12:31), eating ritually unclean animals (Deut 14:3-8), sacrificing defective animals (Deut 17:1), engaging in occult activities (Deut 18:9-14), and practicing ritual prostitution (1 Kgs 14:23).

[1:13]  ³ tn Heb “sin and assembly” (these two nouns probably represent a hendiadys). The point is that their attempts at worship are unacceptable to God because the people’s everyday actions in the socio-economic realm prove they have no genuine devotion to God (see vv. 16-17).

[3:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “[in] the house of his father” (so ASV); NIV “at his father’s home.”

[3:6]  ⁵ tn The words “and say” are supplied for stylistic reasons.

[3:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “your hand”; NASB “under your charge.”

[3:6]  sn The man’s motives are selfish. He tells his brother to assume leadership because he thinks he has some wealth to give away.

[5:12]  ⁷ tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned in the Hebrew text, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither”) and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “the work of the Lord they do not look at, and the work of his hands they do not see.” God’s “work” can sometimes be his creative deeds, but in this context it is the judgment that he is planning to bring upon his people (cf. vv. 19, 26; 10:12; 28:21).

[8:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the spreading out of his wings [will be over] the fullness of the breadth of your land.” The metaphor changes here from raging flood to predatory bird.

[8:8]  ¹⁰ sn The appearance of the name Immanuel (“God is with us”) is ironic at this point, for God is present with his people in judgment. Immanuel is addressed here as if he has already been born and will see the judgment occur. This makes excellent sense if his birth has just been recorded. There are several reasons for considering Immanuel and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz one and the same. 8:3 is a birth account which could easily be understood as recording the fulfillment of the birth prophecy of 7:14. The presence of a formal record/witnesses (8:1-2) suggests a sign function for the child (cf. 7:14). As in 7:14-16, the removal of Judah’s enemies would take place before the child reached a specified age (cf. 8:4). Both 7:17-25 and 8:7-8 speak of an Assyrian invasion of Judah which would follow the defeat of Israel/Syria. The major objection to this view is the fact that different names appear, but such a phenomenon is not without parallel in the OT (cf. Gen 35:18). The name Immanuel may emphasize the basic fact of God’s presence, while the name Maher focuses on the specific nature of God’s involvement. In 7:14 the mother is viewed as naming the child, while in 8:3 Isaiah is instructed to give the child’s name, but one might again point to Gen 35:18 for a precedent. The sign child’s age appears to be different in 8:4 than in 7:15-16, but 7:15-16 pertains to the judgment on Judah, as well as the defeat of Israel/Syria (cf. vv. 17-25), while 8:4 deals only with the downfall of Israel/Syria. Some argue that the suffixed form “your land” in 8:8 points to a royal referent (a child of Ahaz or the Messiah), but usage elsewhere shows that the phrase does not need to be so restricted. While the suffix can refer to the king of a land (cf. Num 20:17; 21:22; Deut 2:27; Judg 11:17, 19; 2 Sam 24:13; 1 Kgs 11:22; Isa 14:20), it can also refer to one who is a native of a particular land (cf. Gen 12:1; 32:9; Jonah 1:8). (See also the use of “his land” in Isa 13:14 [where the suffix refers to a native of a land] and 37:7 [where it refers to a king].)

[14:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you will not be united with them in burial” (so NASB).

[19:22]  ¹² tn Heb “he will be entreated.” The Niphal has a tolerative sense here, “he will allow himself to be entreated.”

[26:14]  ¹³ sn In light of what is said in verse 14b, the “dead” here may be the “masters” mentioned in verse 13.

[26:14]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen) normally indicates a cause-effect relationship between what precedes and follows and is translated, “therefore.” Here, however, it infers the cause from the effect and brings out what is implicit in the previous statement. See BDB 487 s.v.

[26:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “visited [for harm]” (cf. KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “you have punished.”

[30:32]  ¹⁶ tc The Hebrew text has “every blow from a founded [i.e., “appointed”?] cudgel.” The translation above, with support from a few medieval Hebrew mss, assumes an emendation of מוּסָדָה (musadah, “founded”) to מוּסָרֹה (musaroh, “his discipline”).

[30:32]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “which the Lord lays on him.”

[30:32]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “will be with” (KJV similar).

[30:32]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and with battles of brandishing [weapons?] he will fight against him.” Some prefer to emend וּבְמִלְחֲמוֹת (uvÿmilkhamot, “and with battles of”) to וּבִמְחֹלוֹת (uvimkholot, “and with dancing”). Note the immediately preceding references to musical instruments.

[31:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “just as birds fly.” The words “over a nest” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[31:5]  ²¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[31:5]  ²² tn The only other occurrence of this verb is in Exod 12:13, 23, 27, where the Lord “passes over” (i.e., “spares”) the Israelite households as he comes to judge their Egyptian oppressors. The noun פֶּסַח (pesakh, “Passover”) is derived from the verb. The use of the verb in Isa 31:5 is probably an intentional echo of the Exodus event. As in the days of Moses the Lord will spare his people as he comes to judge their enemies.

[33:21]  ²³ tn Heb “But there [as] a mighty one [will be] the Lord for us.”

[33:21]  ²⁴ tn Heb “a place of rivers, streams wide of hands [i.e., on both sides].”

[33:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a ship of rowing will not go into it.”

[33:21]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and a mighty ship will not pass through it.”

[41:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “whom I have taken hold of [i.e., to lead back].”

[41:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”

[41:22]  ²⁹ tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”

[41:22]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”

[48:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”

[48:1]  ³² tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and from the waters of Judah came out.” מִמֵּי (mimme) could be a corruption of מִמְּעֵי (mimmÿ’e, “from the inner parts of”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT, NRSV) as suggested in the above translation. Some translations (ESV, NKJV) retain the MT reading because the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.

[48:1]  ³³ tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”

[48:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”

[48:14]  ³⁵ sn This probably refers to the idol gods (see v. 5).

[48:14]  ³⁶ tn Or “friend,” or “covenant partner.”

[48:14]  sn The Lord’s ally is a reference to Cyrus.

[48:14]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and his arm [against] the Babylonians.”

[57:6]  ³⁸ tn Heb “among the smooth stones of the stream [is] your portion, they, they [are] your lot.” The next line indicates idols are in view.

[57:6]  ³⁹ tn The text reads literally, “Because of these am I relenting?” If the prefixed interrogative particle is retained at the beginning of the sentence, then the question would be rhetorical, with the Niphal of נָחָם (nakham) probably being used in the sense of “relent, change one’s mind.” One could translate: “Because of these things, how can I relent?” However, the initial letter he may be dittographic (note the final he [ה] on the preceding word). In this case one may understand the verb in the sense of “console oneself, seek vengeance,” as in 1:24.

[59:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”

[59:4]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”

[59:4]  ⁴² tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”

[59:13]  ⁴³ tn Heb “speaking.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[59:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.”

[60:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “an abundance of camels will cover you.”

[60:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “all of them, from Sheba.”

[60:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and they will announce the praises of the Lord.”

[61:8]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “in faithfulness”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “faithfully.”

[62:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “it,” the grain mentioned in v. 8a.

[62:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and those who gather it will drink it.” The masculine singular pronominal suffixes attached to “gather” and “drink” refer back to the masculine noun תִּירוֹשׁ (tirosh, “wine”) in v. 8b.

[65:4]  ⁵¹ sn Perhaps the worship of underworld deities or dead spirits is in view.

[65:4]  ⁵² tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and in the watches they spend the night.” Some understand נְּצוּרִים (nÿtsurim) as referring to “secret places” or “caves,” while others emend the text to וּבֵין צוּרִים (uven tsurim, “between the rocky cliffs”).

[65:4]  ⁵³ tn Heb “the flesh of the pig”; KJV, NAB, NASB “swine’s flesh.”

[65:4]  ⁵⁴ tc The marginal reading (Qere), supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, reads מְרַק (mÿraq, “broth”), while the consonantal text (Kethib) has פְרַק (feraq, “fragment”).

[65:19]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be happy in my people.”

[66:8]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (’erets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).