Yesaya 24:20

24:20 The earth will stagger around ¹  like a drunk;

it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm. ² 

Its sin will weigh it down,

and it will fall and never get up again.

Yesaya 44:22

44:22 I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,

the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. ³ 

Come back to me, for I protect ⁴  you.”

[24:20]  ¹ tn Heb “staggering, staggers.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis and sound play.

[24:20]  ² tn The words “in a windstorm” are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.

[44:22]  ³ tn Heb “I blot out like a cloud your rebellious deeds, and like a cloud your sins.” “Rebellious deeds” and “sins” stand by metonymy for the guilt they produce. Both עָב (’av) and עָנָן (’anan) refer to the clouds in the sky. It is tempting for stylistic purposes to translate the second with “fog” or “mist” (cf. NAB, NRSV “cloud…mist”; NIV “cloud…morning mist”; NLT “morning mists…clouds”), but this distinction between the synonyms is unwarranted here. The point of the simile seems to be this: The Lord forgives their sins, causing them to vanish just as clouds disappear from the sky (see Job 7:9; 30:15).

[44:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “redeem.” See the note at 41:14.