Yesaya 25:4

25:4 For you are a protector for the poor,

a protector for the needy in their distress,

a shelter from the rainstorm,

a shade from the heat.

Though the breath of tyrants ¹  is like a winter rainstorm, ² 

Yesaya 28:15

28:15 For you say,

“We have made a treaty with death,

with Sheol ³  we have made an agreement. ⁴ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by ⁵ 

it will not reach us.

For we have made a lie our refuge,

we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” ⁶ 

Yesaya 49:23

49:23 Kings will be your children’s ⁷  guardians;

their princesses will nurse your children. ⁸ 

With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you

and they will lick the dirt on ⁹  your feet.

Then you will recognize that I am the Lord;

those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame.

Yesaya 56:6

56:6 As for foreigners who become followers of ¹⁰  the Lord and serve him,

who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants –

all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

and who are faithful to ¹¹  my covenant –

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, ¹²  and the fire that consumes them will not die out. ¹³  All people will find the sight abhorrent.” ¹⁴ 

[25:4]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “the violent”; NIV, NRSV “the ruthless.”

[25:4]  ² tc The Hebrew text has, “like a rainstorm of a wall,” which might be interpreted to mean, “like a rainstorm battering against a wall.” The translation assumes an emendation of קִיר (qir, “wall”) to קֹר (qor, “cold, winter”; cf. Gen 8:22). See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:457, n. 6, for discussion.

[28:15]  ³ sn Sheol is the underworld, land of the dead, according to the OT world view.

[28:15]  ⁴ tn Elsewhere the noun חֹזֶה (khozeh) refers to a prophet who sees visions. In v. 18 the related term חָזוּת (khazut, “vision”) is used. The parallelism in both verses (note “treaty”) seems to demand a meaning “agreement” for both nouns. Perhaps חֹזֶה and חזוּת are used in a metonymic sense in vv. 15 and 18. Another option is to propose a homonymic root. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:514, and HALOT 301 s.v. II חֹזֶה.

[28:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).

[28:15]  ⁶ sn “Lie” and “deceitful word” would not be the terms used by the people. They would likely use the words “promise” and “reliable word,” but the prophet substitutes “lie” and “deceitful word” to emphasize that this treaty with death will really prove to be disappointing.

[49:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “your,” but Zion here stands by metonymy for her children (see v. 22b).

[49:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “you.” See the preceding note.

[49:23]  ⁹ tn Or “at your feet” (NAB, NIV); NLT “from your feet.”

[56:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “who attach themselves to.”

[56:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and take hold of”; NAB “hold to”; NIV, NRSV “hold fast.”

[66:24]  ¹² tn Heb “for their worm will not die.”

[66:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “and their fire will not be extinguished.”

[66:24]  ¹⁴ 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.