Yesaya 3:11

3:11 Too bad for the wicked sinners!

For they will get exactly what they deserve. ¹ 

Yesaya 11:4

11:4 He will treat the poor fairly, ² 

and make right decisions ³  for the downtrodden of the earth. ⁴ 

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, ⁵ 

and order the wicked to be executed. ⁶ 

Yesaya 26:21

26:21 For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives, ⁷ 

to punish the sin of those who live on the earth.

The earth will display the blood shed on it;

it will no longer cover up its slain. ⁸ 

Yesaya 65:6-7

65:6 Look, I have decreed: ⁹ 

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

I will pay them back exactly what they deserve, ¹⁰ 

65:7 for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,” ¹¹  says the Lord.

“Because they burned incense on the mountains

and offended ¹²  me on the hills,

I will punish them in full measure.” ¹³ 

Yesaya 66:16

66:16 For the Lord judges all humanity ¹⁴ 

with fire and his sword;

the Lord will kill many. ¹⁵ 

[3:11]  ¹ tn Heb “for the work of his hands will be done to him.”

[11:4]  ² tn Heb “with justice” (so NAB) or “with righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[11:4]  ³ tn Heb “make decisions with rectitude”; cf. ASV, NRSV “and decide with equity.”

[11:4]  ⁴ tn Or “land” (NAB, NCV, CEV). It is uncertain if the passage is picturing universal dominion or focusing on the king’s rule over his covenant people. The reference to God’s “holy mountain” in v. 9 and the description of renewed Israelite conquests in v. 14 suggest the latter, though v. 10 seems to refer to a universal kingdom (see 2:2-4).

[11:4]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and he will strike the earth with the scepter of his mouth.” Some have suggested that in this context אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) as an object of judgment seems too broad in scope. The parallelism is tighter if one emends the word to ץ(י)עָרִ (’arits, “potentate, tyrant”). The phrase “scepter of his mouth” refers to the royal (note “scepter”) decrees that he proclaims with his mouth. Because these decrees will have authority and power (see v. 2) behind them, they can be described as “striking” the tyrants down. Nevertheless, the MT reading may not need emending. Isaiah refers to the entire “earth” as the object of God’s judgment in several places without specifying the wicked as the object of the judgment (Isa 24:17-21; 26:9, 21; 28:22; cf. 13:11).

[11:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.” The “breath of his lips” refers to his speech, specifically in this context his official decrees that the wicked oppressors be eliminated from his realm. See the preceding note.

[26:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “out of his place” (so KJV, ASV).

[26:21]  ⁸ sn This implies that rampant bloodshed is one of the reasons for divine judgment. See the note at 24:5.

[65:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “Look, it is written before me.”

[65:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will pay back into their lap.”

[65:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the iniquities of your fathers.”

[65:7]  ¹² tn Or perhaps, “taunted”; KJV “blasphemed”; NAB “disgraced”; NASB “scorned”; NIV “defied”; NRSV “reviled.”

[65:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “I will measure out their pay [from the] beginning into their lap,” i.e., he will give them everything they have earned.

[66:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “upon all men”; TEV “all the people of the world.”

[66:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “many are the slain of the Lord.”