Yesaya 50:2

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call? ¹ 

Is my hand too weak ²  to deliver ³  you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout ⁴  I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water. ⁵ 

Yesaya 51:20

51:20 Your children faint;

they lie at the head of every street

like an antelope in a snare.

They are left in a stupor by the Lord’s anger,

by the battle cry of your God. ⁶ 

Yesaya 66:15

66:15 For look, the Lord comes with fire,

his chariots come like a windstorm, ⁷ 

to reveal his raging anger,

his battle cry, and his flaming arrows. ⁸ 

[50:2]  ¹ sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.

[50:2]  ² tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ³ tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “with my rebuke.”

[50:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”

[51:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “those who are full of the anger of the Lord, the shout [or “rebuke”] of your God.”

[66:15]  ⁷ sn Chariots are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way that they kick up dust.

[66:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “to cause to return with the rage of his anger, and his battle cry [or “rebuke”] with flames of fire.”