Yesaya 3:15

3:15 Why do you crush my people

and grind the faces of the poor?” ¹ 

The sovereign Lord who commands armies ²  has spoken.

Yesaya 5:7

5:7 Indeed ³  Israel ⁴  is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies,

the people ⁵  of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight.

He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! ⁶ 

He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! ⁷ 

Yesaya 30:12

30:12 For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

“You have rejected this message; ⁸ 

you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick, ⁹ 

and rely on that kind of behavior. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 59:13

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

we turned back from following our God.

We stir up ¹¹  oppression and rebellion;

we tell lies we concocted in our minds. ¹² 

[3:15]  ¹ sn The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s outrage at what the leaders have done to the poor. He finds it almost unbelievable that they would have the audacity to treat his people in this manner.

[3:15]  ² tn Heb “the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” On the title “the Lord who commands armies,” see the note at 1:9.

[3:15]  sn The use of this title, which also appears in v. 1, forms an inclusio around vv. 1-15. The speech begins and ends with a reference to “the master, the Lord who commands armies.”

[5:7]  ³ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[5:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the house of Israel” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[5:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.

[5:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “but, look, disobedience.” The precise meaning of מִשְׂפָּח (mishpakh), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Some have suggested a meaning “bloodshed.” The term is obviously chosen for its wordplay value; it sounds very much like מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “justice”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.

[5:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “but, look, a cry for help.” The verb (“he waited”) does double duty in the parallelism. צְעָקָה (tsa’qah) refers to the cries for help made by the oppressed. It sounds very much like צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “fairness”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.

[30:12]  ⁸ tn The sentence actually begins with the word “because.” In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.

[30:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “and you trust in oppression and cunning.”

[30:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and you lean on it”; NAB “and depend on it.”

[59:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “speaking.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[59:13]  ¹² tn Heb “conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.”