Yesaya 40:3-4

40:3 A voice cries out,

“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;

construct in the desert a road for our God.

40:4 Every valley must be elevated,

and every mountain and hill leveled.

The rough terrain will become a level plain,

the rugged landscape a wide valley.

Yesaya 41:15

41:15 “Look, I am making you like ¹  a sharp threshing sledge,

new and double-edged. ² 

You will thresh the mountains and crush them;

you will make the hills like straw. ³ 

Yesaya 64:1-3

64:1 (63:19b) ⁴  If only you would tear apart the sky ⁵  and come down!

The mountains would tremble ⁶  before you!

64:2 (64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood,

or fire makes water boil,

let your adversaries know who you are, ⁷ 

and may the nations shake at your presence!

64:3 When you performed awesome deeds that took us by surprise, ⁸ 

you came down, and the mountains trembled ⁹  before you.

[41:15]  ¹ tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”

[41:15]  ² tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.

[41:15]  ³ sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.

[64:1]  ⁴ sn In BHS the chapter division occurs in a different place from the English Bible: 64:1 ET (63:19b HT) and 64:2-12 (64:1-11 HT). Beginning with 65:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[64:1]  ⁵ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[64:1]  ⁶ tn Or “quake.” נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) is from the verbal root זָלַל (zalal, “quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). Perhaps there is a verbal allusion to Judg 5:5, the only other passage where this verb occurs. In that passage the poet tells how the Lord’s appearance to do battle caused the mountains to shake.

[64:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “to make known your name to your adversaries.” Perhaps the infinitive construct with preposition -לְ (lamed) should be construed with “come down” in v. 1a, or subordinated to the following line: “To make known your name to your adversaries, let the nations shake from before you.”

[64:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “[for which] we were not waiting.”

[64:3]  ⁹ tn See the note at v. 1.