Yesaya 65:12-15

65:12 I predestine you to die by the sword, ¹ 

all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, ² 

because I called to you, and you did not respond,

I spoke and you did not listen.

You did evil before me; ³ 

you chose to do what displeases me.”

65:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry!

Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty!

Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated!

65:14 Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts! ⁴ 

But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; ⁵ 

you will wail because your spirits will be crushed. ⁶ 

65:15 Your names will live on in the curse formulas of my chosen ones. ⁷ 

The sovereign Lord will kill you,

but he will give his servants another name.

Yesaya 66:4-6

66:4 So I will choose severe punishment ⁸  for them;

I will bring on them what they dread,

because I called, and no one responded,

I spoke and they did not listen.

They did evil before me; ⁹ 

they chose to do what displeases me.”

66:5 Hear the word of the Lord,

you who respect what he has to say! ¹⁰ 

Your countrymen, ¹¹  who hate you

and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name,

say, “May the Lord be glorified,

then we will witness your joy.” ¹² 

But they will be put to shame.

66:6 The sound of battle comes from the city;

the sound comes from the temple!

It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies.

Yesaya 66:24

66:24 “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, ¹³  and the fire that consumes them will not die out. ¹⁴  All people will find the sight abhorrent.” ¹⁵ 

[65:12]  ¹ tn Heb “I assign you to the sword.” Some emend the Qal verb form מָנִיתִי (maniti, “I assign”) to the Piel מִנִּיתִי (minniti, “ I ordain”). The verb sounds like the name of the god Meni (מְנִי, mÿni, “Destiny, Fate”). The sound play draws attention to the irony of the statement. The sinners among God’s people worship the god Meni, apparently in an effort to ensure a bright destiny for themselves. But the Lord is the one who really determines their destiny and he has decreed their demise.

[65:12]  ² tn Or “at the slaughter”; NIV “for the slaughter”; NLT “before the executioner.”

[65:12]  ³ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[65:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “from the good of the heart.”

[65:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the pain of the heart.”

[65:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the breaking of the spirit.”

[65:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “you will leave your name for an oath to my chosen ones.”

[65:15]  sn For an example of such a curse formula see Jer 29:22.

[66:4]  ⁸ tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”

[66:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[66:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “who tremble at his word.”

[66:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “brothers” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “Your own people”; NLT “Your close relatives.”

[66:5]  ¹² tn Or “so that we might witness your joy.” The point of this statement is unclear.

[66:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “for their worm will not die.”

[66:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and their fire will not be extinguished.”

[66:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and they will be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

[66:24]  sn This verse depicts a huge mass burial site where the seemingly endless pile of maggot-infested corpses are being burned.