Yesaya 1:29

1:29 Indeed, they ¹  will be ashamed of the sacred trees

you ²  find so desirable;

you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards ³ 

where you choose to worship.

Yesaya 5:11

5:11 Those who get up early to drink beer are as good as dead, ⁴ 

those who keep drinking long after dark

until they are intoxicated with wine. ⁵ 

Yesaya 8:17

8:17 I will wait patiently for the Lord,

who has rejected the family of Jacob; ⁶ 

I will wait for him.

Yesaya 14:26

14:26 This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth;

my hand is ready to strike all the nations.” ⁷ 

Yesaya 19:13

19:13 The officials of Zoan are fools,

the officials of Memphis ⁸  are misled;

the rulers ⁹  of her tribes lead Egypt astray.

Yesaya 19:15

19:15 Egypt will not be able to do a thing,

head or tail, shoots and stalk. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 34:12

34:12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom

and all her officials will disappear. ¹¹ 

Yesaya 60:4

60:4 Look all around you! ¹² 

They all gather and come to you –

your sons come from far away

and your daughters are escorted by guardians.

[1:29]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text (and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) has the third person here, though a few Hebrew mss (and Targums) read the second person, which is certainly more consistent with the following context. The third person form is the more difficult reading and probably original. This disagreement in person has caused some to emend the first verb (3rd plural) to a 2nd plural form (followed by most English translations). The BHS textual apparatus suggests that the 2nd plural form be read even though there is only sparse textual evidence. LXX, Syriac, and the Vulgate change all the 2nd person verbs in 1:29-31 to 3rd person verbs. It is likely that the change to a 2nd person form represents an attempt at syntactical harmonization (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 10). The abrupt change from 3rd person to 2nd person may have been intentional for rhetorical impact (GKC 462 §144.p). The rapid change from exclamation (they did!) to reproach (you desired!) might be regarded as a rhetorical figure focusing attention on the addressees and their conditions (de Waard, 10; E. König, Stilistik, Rhetorik, Poetik, 239). This use of the 3rd person could also be understood as an impersonal third person: “one will be ashamed” (de Waard, 10). In v. 29 the prophet continues his description of the sinners (v. 28), but then suddenly makes a transition to direct address (switching from 3^rd to 2^nd person) in the middle of his sentence.

[1:29]  ² tn The second person pronouns in vv. 29-30 are masculine plural, indicating that the rebellious sinners (v. 28) are addressed.

[1:29]  ³ tn Or “gardens” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “groves.”

[5:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who arise early in the morning, [who] chase beer.”

[5:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “[who] delay until dark, [until] wine enflames them.”

[5:11]  sn This verse does not condemn drinking per se, but refers to the carousing lifestyle of the rich bureaucrats, made possible by wealth taken from the poor. Their carousing is not the fundamental problem, but a disgusting symptom of the real disease – their social injustice.

[8:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “who hides his face from the house of Jacob.”

[14:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “and this is the hand that is outstretched over all the nations.”

[19:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “Noph” (so KJV); most recent English versions substitute the more familiar “Memphis.”

[19:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “the cornerstone.” The singular form should be emended to a plural.

[19:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And there will not be for Egypt a deed, which head and tail, shoot and stalk can do.” In 9:14-15 the phrase “head or tail” refers to leaders and prophets, respectively. This interpretation makes good sense in this context, where both leaders and advisers (probably including prophets and diviners) are mentioned (vv. 11-14). Here, as in 9:14, “shoots and stalk” picture a reed, which symbolizes the leadership of the nation in its entirety.

[34:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will be nothing”; NCV, TEV, NLT “will all be gone.”

[60:4]  ¹² tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see!”