Yesaya 1:12

1:12 When you enter my presence,

do you actually think I want this –

animals trampling on my courtyards? ¹ 

Yesaya 4:3

4:3 Those remaining in Zion, ²  those left in Jerusalem, ³ 

will be called “holy,” ⁴ 

all in Jerusalem who are destined to live. ⁵ 

Yesaya 9:11

9:11 Then the Lord provoked ⁶  their adversaries to attack them, ⁷ 

he stirred up ⁸  their enemies –

Yesaya 11:16

11:16 There will be a highway leading out of Assyria

for the remnant of his people, ⁹ 

just as there was for Israel,

when ¹⁰  they went up from the land of Egypt.

Yesaya 21:5

21:5 Arrange the table,

lay out ¹¹  the carpet,

eat and drink! ¹² 

Get up, you officers,

smear oil on the shields! ¹³ 

Yesaya 22:9

22:9 You saw the many breaks

in the walls of the city of David; ¹⁴ 

you stored up water in the lower pool.

Yesaya 28:22

28:22 So now, do not mock,

or your chains will become heavier!

For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,

from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. ¹⁵ 

Yesaya 35:4

35:4 Tell those who panic, ¹⁶ 

“Be strong! Do not fear!

Look, your God comes to avenge!

With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” ¹⁷ 

Yesaya 40:14

40:14 From whom does he receive directions? ¹⁸ 

Who ¹⁹  teaches him the correct way to do things, ²⁰ 

or imparts knowledge to him,

or instructs him in skillful design? ²¹ 

Yesaya 40:20

40:20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; ²² 

he then seeks a skilled craftsman

to make ²³  an idol that will not fall over.

Yesaya 41:1

The Lord Challenges the Nations

41:1 “Listen to me in silence, you coastlands! ²⁴ 

Let the nations find renewed strength!

Let them approach and then speak;

let us come together for debate! ²⁵ 

Yesaya 46:6

46:6 Those who empty out gold from a purse

and weigh out silver on the scale ²⁶ 

hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god.

They then bow down and worship it.

Yesaya 62:10

62:10 Come through! Come through the gates!

Prepare the way for the people!

Build it! Build the roadway!

Remove the stones!

Lift a signal flag for the nations!

Yesaya 65:18

65:18 But be happy and rejoice forevermore

over what I am about to create!

For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem ²⁷  to be a source of joy, ²⁸ 

and her people to be a source of happiness. ²⁹ 

Yesaya 66:23

66:23 From one month ³⁰  to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people ³¹  will come to worship me,” ³²  says the Lord.

[1:12]  ¹ tn Heb “When you come to appear before me, who requires this from your hand, trampling of my courtyards?” The rhetorical question sarcastically makes the point that God does not require this parade of livestock. The verb “trample” probably refers to the eager worshipers and their sacrificial animals walking around in the temple area.

[4:3]  ² tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[4:3]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:3]  ⁴ tn Or “set apart,” cf. CEV “special.”

[4:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “all who are written down for life in Jerusalem.” A city register is envisioned; everyone whose name appears on the roll will be spared. This group comprises the remnant of the city referred to earlier in the verse.

[9:11]  ⁶ tn The translation assumes that the prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive continues the narrative of past judgment.

[9:11]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “adversaries of Rezin against him [i.e., them].” The next verse describes how the Syrians (over whom Rezin ruled, see 7:1, 8) and the Philistines encroached on Israel’s territory. Since the Syrians and Israelites were allies by 735 b.c. (see 7:1), the hostilities described probably occurred earlier, while Israel was still pro-Assyrian. In this case one might understand the phrase צָרֵי רְצִין (tsare rÿtsin, “adversaries of Rezin”) as meaning “adversaries sent from Rezin.” However, another option, the one chosen in the translation above, is to emend the phrase to צָרָיו (tsarayv, “his [i.e., their] adversaries”). This creates tighter parallelism with the next line (note “his [i.e., their] enemies”). The phrase in the Hebrew text may be explained as virtually dittographic.

[9:11]  ⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite, used, as is often the case in poetry, without vav consecutive. Note that prefixed forms with vav consecutive both precede (וַיְשַׂגֵּב, vaysaggev, “and he provoked”) and follow in v. 12 (וַיֹּאכְלוּ, vayyo’khÿlu, “and they devoured”) this verb.

[11:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “and there will be a highway for the remnant of his people who remain, from Assyria.”

[11:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the day” (so KJV).

[21:5]  ¹¹ tn The precise meaning of the verb in this line is debated. Some prefer to derive the form from the homonymic צָפֹה (tsafoh, “keep watch”) and translate “post a guard” (cf. KJV “watch in the watchtower”; ASV “set the watch”).

[21:5]  ¹² tn The verbal forms in the first three lines are infinitives absolute, which are functioning here as finite verbs. It is uncertain if the forms should have an imperatival or indicative/descriptive force here.

[21:5]  ¹³ sn Smearing the shields with oil would make them more flexible and effective in battle. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:394.

[22:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the breaks of the city of David, you saw that they were many.”

[28:22]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the whole earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NCV).

[35:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.

[35:4]  ¹⁷ tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.

[40:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “With whom did he consult, so that he gave discernment to him?”

[40:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and taught him.” The vav (ו) consecutive with prefixed verbal form continues the previous line. The translation employs an interrogative pronoun for stylistic reasons.

[40:14]  ²⁰ tn The phrase אֹרַח מִשְׁפָּט (’orakh mishpat) could be translated “path of justice” (so NASB, NRSV), but in this context, where creative ability and skill is in view, the phrase is better understood in the sense of “the way that is proper or fitting” (see BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 6); cf. NIV, NCV “the right way.”

[40:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “or the way of understanding causes him to know?”

[40:14]  sn The implied answer to the rhetorical questions in vv. 13-14 is, “No one.” In contrast to Marduk, the creator-god of Mesopotamian myths who receives help from the god of wisdom, the Lord neither needs nor receives any such advice or help. See R. Whybray, Heavenly Counsellor (SOTSMS), 64-77.

[40:20]  ²² tn The first two words of the verse (הַמְסֻכָּן תְּרוּמָה, hamsukan tÿrumah) are problematic. Some take מְסֻכָּן as an otherwise unattested Pual participle from סָכַן (sakhan, “be poor”) and translate “the one who is impoverished.” תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah, “contribution”) can then be taken as an adverbial accusative, “with respect to a contribution,” and the entire line translated, “the one who is too impoverished for such a contribution [i.e., the metal idol of v. 19?] selects wood that will not rot.” However, מְסֻכָּן is probably the name of a tree used in idol manufacturing (cognate with Akkadian musukkanu, cf. H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 133). מְסֻכָּן may be a scribal interpretive addition attempting to specify עֵץ (’ets) or עֵץ may be a scribal attempt to categorize מְסֻכָּן. How an idol constitutes a תְּרוּמָה (“contribution”) is not entirely clear.

[40:20]  ²³ tn Or “set up” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “to prepare.”

[41:1]  ²⁴ tn Or “islands” (KJV, NIV, CEV); TEV “distant lands”; NLT “lands beyond the sea.”

[41:1]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) could be translated “judgment,” but here it seems to refer to the dispute or debate between the Lord and the nations.

[46:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the reed,” probably referring to the beam of a scales. See BDB 889 s.v. קָנֶה 4.c.

[65:18]  ²⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[65:18]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Jerusalem, joy.” The next verse suggests the meaning: The Lord will create Jerusalem to be a source of joy to himself.

[65:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “her people, happiness.” See the preceding note.

[66:23]  ³⁰ tn Heb “new moon.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[66:23]  ³¹ tn Heb “all flesh” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NAB, NASB, NIV “all mankind”; NLT “All humanity.”

[66:23]  ³² tn Or “bow down before” (NASB).