Yesaya 2:4

2:4 He will judge disputes between nations;

he will settle cases for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares, ¹ 

and their spears into pruning hooks. ² 

Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,

and they will no longer train for war.

Yesaya 9:7

9:7 His dominion will be vast ³ 

and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. ⁴ 

He will rule on David’s throne

and over David’s kingdom, ⁵ 

establishing it ⁶  and strengthening it

by promoting justice and fairness, ⁷ 

from this time forward and forevermore.

The Lord’s intense devotion to his people ⁸  will accomplish this.

Yesaya 10:14

10:14 My hand discovered the wealth of the nations, as if it were in a nest,

as one gathers up abandoned eggs,

I gathered up the whole earth.

There was no wing flapping,

or open mouth chirping.” ⁹ 

Yesaya 14:2

14:2 Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Jacob will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord’s land. ¹⁰  They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them.

Yesaya 18:2

18:2 that sends messengers by sea,

who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus.

Go, you swift messengers,

to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, ¹¹ 

to a people that are feared far and wide, ¹² 

to a nation strong and victorious, ¹³ 

whose land rivers divide. ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 18:7

18:7 At that time

tribute will be brought to the Lord who commands armies,

by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned,

a people that are feared far and wide,

a nation strong and victorious,

whose land rivers divide. ¹⁵ 

The tribute ¹⁶  will be brought to the place where the Lord who commands armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion. ¹⁷ 

Yesaya 42:22

42:22 But these people are looted and plundered;

all of them are trapped in pits ¹⁸ 

and held captive ¹⁹  in prisons.

They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them;

they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!” ²⁰ 

Yesaya 45:23

45:23 I solemnly make this oath ²¹  –

what I say is true and reliable: ²² 

‘Surely every knee will bow to me,

every tongue will solemnly affirm; ²³ 

Yesaya 47:8

47:8 So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly, ²⁴ 

who lives securely,

who says to herself, ²⁵ 

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! ²⁶ 

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’ ²⁷ 

Yesaya 49:26

49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;

they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine. ²⁸ 

Then all humankind ²⁹  will recognize that

I am the Lord, your deliverer,

your protector, ³⁰  the powerful ruler of Jacob.” ³¹ 

Yesaya 54:9

54:9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time, ³² 

when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood ³³  would never again cover the earth.

In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.

Yesaya 58:14

58:14 Then you will find joy in your relationship to the Lord, ³⁴ 

and I will give you great prosperity, ³⁵ 

and cause crops to grow on the land I gave to your ancestor Jacob.” ³⁶ 

Know for certain that the Lord has spoken. ³⁷ 

Yesaya 60:9

60:9 Indeed, the coastlands ³⁸  look eagerly for me,

the large ships ³⁹  are in the lead,

bringing your sons from far away,

along with their silver and gold,

to honor the Lord your God, ⁴⁰ 

the Holy One of Israel, ⁴¹  for he has bestowed honor on you.

Yesaya 66:14

66:14 When you see this, you will be happy, ⁴² 

and you will be revived. ⁴³ 

The Lord will reveal his power to his servants

and his anger to his enemies. ⁴⁴ 

[2:4]  ¹ sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.

[2:4]  ² sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:93; M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle. Breaking weapons and fashioning agricultural implements indicates a transition from fear and stress to peace and security.

[9:7]  ³ tc The Hebrew text has לְםַרְבֵּה (lÿmarbeh), which is a corrupt reading. לם is dittographic; note the preceding word, שָׁלוֹם (shalom). The corrected text reads literally, “great is the dominion.”

[9:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and to peace there will be no end” (KJV and ASV both similar). On the political and socio-economic sense of שָׁלוֹם (shalom) in this context, see the note at v. 6 on “Prince of Peace.”

[9:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “over the throne of David, and over his kingdom.” The referent of the pronoun “his” (i.e., David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:7]  ⁶ tn The feminine singular pronominal suffix on this form and the following one (translated “it” both times) refers back to the grammatically feminine noun “kingdom.”

[9:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “with/by justice and fairness”; ASV “with justice and with righteousness.”

[9:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “the zeal of the Lord.” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to vindicate them and to fulfill his promises to David and the nation.

[10:14]  ⁹ sn The Assyrians’ conquests were relatively unopposed, like robbing a bird’s nest of its eggs when the mother bird is absent.

[14:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the house of Jacob will take possession of them [i.e., the nations], on the land of the Lord, as male servants and female servants.”

[18:2]  ¹¹ tn The precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. מְמֻשָּׁךְ (mÿmushakh) appears to be a Pual participle from the verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh, “to draw, extend”). Lexicographers theorize that it here refers to people who “stretch out,” as it were, or are tall. See BDB 604 s.v. מָשַׁךְ, and HALOT 645-46 s.v. משׁךְ. מוֹרָט (morat) is taken as a Pual participle from מָרַט (marat), which can mean “to pull out [hair],” in the Qal, “become bald” in the Niphal, and “be wiped clean” in the Pual. Lexicographers theorize that the word here refers to people with bare, or smooth, skin. See BDB 598-99 s.v. מָרַט, and HALOT 634-35 s.v. מרט. These proposed meanings, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ¹² tn Heb “from it and onwards.” HALOT 245 s.v. הָלְאָה suggests the translation “far and wide.”

[18:2]  ¹³ tn Once more the precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. The expression קַו־קָו (qav-qav) is sometimes related to a proposed Arabic cognate and taken to mean “strength” (see BDB 876 II קַו). Others, on the basis of Isa 28:10, 13, understand the form as gibberish (literally, “kav, kav”) and take it to be a reference to this nation’s strange, unknown language. The form מְבוּסָה (mÿvusah) appears to be derived from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”), so lexicographers suggest the meaning “trampling” or “subjugation,” i.e., a nation that subdues others. See BDB 101 s.v. בּוּס and HALOT 541 s.v. מְבוּסָה. These proposals, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ¹⁴ tn The precise meaning of the verb בָּזָא (baza’), which occurs only in this oracle (see also v. 7) in the OT, is uncertain. BDB 102 s.v. suggests “divide” on the basis of alleged Aramaic and Arabic cognates; HALOT 117 s.v., citing an alleged Arabic cognate, suggests “wash away.”

[18:7]  ¹⁵ tn On the interpretive difficulties of this verse, see the notes at v. 2, where the same terminology is used.

[18:7]  ¹⁶ tn The words “the tribute” are repeated here in the translation for clarity.

[18:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to the place of the name of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], Mount Zion.”

[42:22]  ¹⁸ tc The Hebrew text has בַּחוּרִים (bakhurim, “young men”), but the text should be emended to בְּהוֹרִים (bÿhorim, “in holes”).

[42:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and made to be hidden”; NAB, NASB, NIV, TEV “hidden away in prisons.”

[42:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they became loot and there was no one rescuing, plunder and there was no one saying, ‘Bring back’.”

[45:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “I swear by myself”; KJV, NASB “have sworn.”

[45:23]  ²² tn Heb “a word goes out from my mouth [in] truth and will not return.”

[45:23]  ²³ tn Heb “swear” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “confess allegiance.”

[47:8]  ²⁴ tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

[47:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[47:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.

[47:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”

[49:26]  ²⁸ sn Verse 26a depicts siege warfare and bloody defeat. The besieged enemy will be so starved they will their own flesh. The bloodstained bodies lying on the blood-soaked battle site will look as if they collapsed in drunkenness.

[49:26]  ²⁹ tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB).

[49:26]  ³⁰ tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[49:26]  ³¹ tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Jacob.” See 1:24.

[54:9]  ³² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “For [or “indeed”] the waters of Noah [is] this to me.” כִּי־מֵי (ki-me, “for the waters of”) should be emended to כְּמֵי (kÿmey, “like the days of”), which is supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and all the ancient versions except LXX.

[54:9]  ³³ tn Heb “the waters of Noah” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[58:14]  ³⁴ tn For a parallel use of the phrase “find joy in” (Hitpael of עָנַג [’anag] followed by the preposition עַל [’al]), see Ps 37:4.

[58:14]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and I will cause you to ride upon the heights of the land.” The statement seems to be an allusion to Deut 32:13, where it is associated, as here, with God’s abundant provision of food.

[58:14]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and I will cause you to eat the inheritance of Jacob your father.” The Hebrew term נַחֲלָה (nakhalah) likely stands by metonymy for the crops that grow on Jacob’s “inheritance” (i.e., the land he inherited as a result of God’s promise).

[58:14]  ³⁷ tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” The introductory כִּי (ki) may be asseverative (as reflected in the translation) or causal/explanatory, explaining why the preceding promise will become reality (because it is guaranteed by the divine word).

[60:9]  ³⁸ tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”

[60:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.

[60:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”

[60:9]  ⁴¹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[66:14]  ⁴² tn “and you will see and your heart will be happy.”

[66:14]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and your bones like grass will sprout.”

[66:14]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, and anger to his enemies.”