Yesaya 1:18

1:18 ¹ Come, let’s consider your options,” ²  says the Lord.

“Though your sins have stained you like the color red,

you can become ³  white like snow;

though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet,

you can become ⁴  white like wool. ⁵ 

Yesaya 1:26

1:26 I will reestablish honest judges as in former times,

wise advisers as in earlier days. ⁶ 

Then you will be called, ‘The Just City,

Faithful Town.’”

Yesaya 5:12-13

5:12 They have stringed instruments, ⁷  tambourines, flutes,

and wine at their parties.

So they do not recognize what the Lord is doing,

they do not perceive what he is bringing about. ⁸ 

5:13 Therefore my ⁹  people will be deported ¹⁰ 

because of their lack of understanding.

Their ¹¹  leaders will have nothing to eat, ¹² 

their ¹³  masses will have nothing to drink. ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 14:31

14:31 Wail, O city gate!

Cry out, O city!

Melt with fear, ¹⁵  all you Philistines!

For out of the north comes a cloud of smoke,

and there are no stragglers in its ranks. ¹⁶ 

Yesaya 28:17

28:17 I will make justice the measuring line,

fairness the plumb line;

hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge, ¹⁷ 

the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.

Yesaya 29:9

God’s People are Spiritually Insensitive

29:9 You will be shocked and amazed! ¹⁸ 

You are totally blind! ¹⁹ 

They are drunk, ²⁰  but not because of wine;

they stagger, ²¹  but not because of beer.

Yesaya 51:23

51:23 I will put it into the hand of your tormentors ²² 

who said to you, ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you.’

You made your back like the ground,

and like the street for those who walked over you.”

Yesaya 58:10

58:10 You must ²³  actively help the hungry

and feed the oppressed. ²⁴ 

Then your light will dispel the darkness, ²⁵ 

and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. ²⁶ 

Yesaya 59:4

59:4 No one is concerned about justice; ²⁷ 

no one sets forth his case truthfully.

They depend on false words ²⁸  and tell lies;

they conceive of oppression ²⁹ 

and give birth to sin.

Yesaya 59:8

59:8 They are unfamiliar with peace;

their deeds are unjust. ³⁰ 

They use deceitful methods,

and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace. ³¹ 

[1:18]  ¹ sn The Lord concludes his case against Israel by offering them the opportunity to be forgiven and by setting before them the alternatives of renewed blessing (as a reward for repentance) and final judgment (as punishment for persistence in sin).

[1:18]  ² tn Traditionally, “let us reason together,” but the context suggests a judicial nuance. The Lord is giving the nation its options for the future.

[1:18]  ³ tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.

[1:18]  ⁴ tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.

[1:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “though your sins are like red, they will become white like snow; though they are red like scarlet, they will be like wool.” The point is not that the sins will be covered up, though still retained. The metaphorical language must be allowed some flexibility and should not be pressed into a rigid literalistic mold. The people’s sins will be removed and replaced by ethical purity. The sins that are now as obvious as the color red will be washed away and the ones who are sinful will be transformed.

[1:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will restore your judges as in the beginning; and your counselors as in the beginning.” In this context, where social injustice and legal corruption are denounced (see v. 23), the “judges” are probably government officials responsible for making legal decisions, while the “advisers” are probably officials who helped the king establish policies. Both offices are also mentioned in 3:2.

[5:12]  ⁷ tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned in the Hebrew text, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither”) and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “the work of the Lord they do not look at, and the work of his hands they do not see.” God’s “work” can sometimes be his creative deeds, but in this context it is the judgment that he is planning to bring upon his people (cf. vv. 19, 26; 10:12; 28:21).

[5:13]  ⁹ sn It is not certain if the prophet or the Lord is speaking at this point.

[5:13]  ¹⁰ tn The suffixed (perfect) form of the verb is used; in this way the coming event is described for rhetorical effect as occurring or as already completed.

[5:13]  ¹¹ tn The third masculine singular suffix refers back to “my people.”

[5:13]  ¹² tn Heb “Their glory will be men of hunger.” כָּבוֹד (kavod, “glory”) is in opposition to הָמוֹן (hamon, “masses”) and refers here to the rich and prominent members of the nation. Some prefer to repoint מְתֵי (mÿtey, “men of”) as מִתֵי (mitey, “dead ones of”).

[5:13]  ¹³ tn The third masculine singular suffix refers back to “my people.”

[5:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and their masses will be parched [by] thirst.”

[14:31]  ¹⁵ tn Or “despair” (see HALOT 555 s.v. מוג). The form נָמוֹג (namog) should be taken here as an infinitive absolute functioning as an imperative. See GKC 199-200 §72.v.

[14:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and there is no one going alone in his appointed places.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. בּוֹדֵד (boded) appears to be a participle from בָּדַד (badad, “be separate”; see BDB 94 s.v. בָּדַד). מוֹעָד (mo’ad) may mean “assembly” or, by extension, “multitude” (see HALOT 558 s.v. *מוֹעָד), but the referent of the third masculine pronominal suffix attached to the noun is unclear. It probably refers to the “nation” mentioned in the next line.

[28:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “[the] refuge, [the] lie.” See v. 15.

[29:9]  ¹⁸ tn The form הִתְמַהְמְהוּ (hitmahmÿhu) is a Hitpalpel imperative from מָהַהּ (mahah, “hesitate”). If it is retained, one might translate “halt and be amazed.” The translation assumes an emendation to הִתַּמְּהוּ (hittammÿhu), a Hitpael imperative from תָּמַה (tamah, “be amazed”). In this case, the text, like Hab 1:5, combines the Hitpael and Qal imperatival forms of תָּמַה (tamah). A literal translation might be “Shock yourselves and be shocked!” The repetition of sound draws attention to the statement. The imperatives here have the force of an emphatic assertion. On this use of the imperative in Hebrew, see GKC 324 §110.c and IBHS 572 §34.4c.

[29:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Blind yourselves and be blind!” The Hitpalpel and Qal imperatival forms of שָׁעַע (sha’a’, “be blind”) are combined to draw attention to the statement. The imperatives have the force of an emphatic assertion.

[29:9]  ²⁰ tc Some prefer to emend the perfect form of the verb to an imperative (e.g., NAB, NCV, NRSV), since the people are addressed in the immediately preceding and following contexts.

[29:9]  ²¹ tc Some prefer to emend the perfect form of the verb to an imperative (e.g., NAB, NCV, NRSV), since the people are addressed in the immediately preceding and following contexts.

[51:23]  ²² tn That is, to make them drink it.

[58:10]  ²³ tn Heb “if you.” See the note on “you must” in v. 9b.

[58:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “If you furnish for the hungry [with] your being, and the appetite of the oppressed you satisfy.”

[58:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “will rise in the darkness.”

[58:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and your darkness [will be] like noonday.”

[59:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”

[59:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”

[59:4]  ²⁹ tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”

[59:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “a way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their pathways.”

[59:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “their paths they make crooked, everyone who walks in it does not know peace.”