Yesaya 28:16

28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says:

“Look, I am laying ¹  a stone in Zion,

an approved ²  stone,

set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ³ 

The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ⁴ 

Yesaya 30:1

Egypt Will Prove Unreliable

30:1 “The rebellious ⁵  children are as good as dead,” ⁶  says the Lord,

“those who make plans without consulting me, ⁷ 

who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, ⁸ 

and thereby compound their sin. ⁹ 

Yesaya 37:26

37:26 ¹⁰ Certainly you must have heard! ¹¹ 

Long ago I worked it out,

in ancient times I planned ¹²  it,

and now I am bringing it to pass.

The plan is this:

Fortified cities will crash

into heaps of ruins. ¹³ 

Yesaya 40:9

40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!

Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! ¹⁴ 

Shout, don’t be afraid!

Say to the towns of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

Yesaya 43:2

43:2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;

when you pass ¹⁵  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;

the flames will not harm ¹⁶  you.

Yesaya 47:14

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat ¹⁷  of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 51:22

51:22 This is what your sovereign master, ¹⁹  the Lord your God, says:

“Look, I have removed from your hand

the cup of intoxicating wine, ²⁰ 

the goblet full of my anger. ²¹ 

You will no longer have to drink it.

[28:16]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text has a third person verb form, which does not agree with the first person suffix that precedes. The form should be emended to יֹסֵד (yosed), a Qal active participle used in a present progressive or imminent future sense.

[28:16]  ² tn Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.

[28:16]  ³ sn The reality behind the metaphor is not entirely clear from the context. The stone appears to represent someone or something that gives Zion stability. Perhaps the ideal Davidic ruler is in view (see 32:1). Another option is that the image of beginning a building project by laying a precious cornerstone suggests that God is about to transform Zion through judgment and begin a new covenant community that will experience his protection (see 4:3-6; 31:5; 33:20-24; 35:10).

[28:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.

[30:1]  ⁵ tn Or “stubborn” (NCV); cf. NIV “obstinate.”

[30:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “Woe [to] rebellious children.”

[30:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “making a plan, but not from me.”

[30:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “and pouring out a libation, but not [from] my spirit.” This translation assumes that the verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “pour out,” and that the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה (massekhah) means “libation.” In this case “pouring out a libation” alludes to a ceremony that formally ratifies an alliance. Another option is to understand the verb נָסַךְ as a homonym meaning “weave,” and the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה as a homonym meaning “covering.” In this case forming an alliance is likened to weaving a garment.

[30:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “consequently adding sin to sin.”

[37:26]  ¹⁰ tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.

[37:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.

[37:26]  ¹² tn Heb “formed” (so KJV, ASV).

[37:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְהִי (tÿhi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.

[40:9]  ¹⁴ tn The second feminine singular imperatives are addressed to personified Zion/Jerusalem, who is here told to ascend a high hill and proclaim the good news of the Lord’s return to the other towns of Judah. Isa 41:27 and 52:7 speak of a herald sent to Zion, but the masculine singular form מְבַשֵּׂר (mÿvaser) is used in these verses, in contrast to the feminine singular form מְבַשֶּׂרֶת (mÿvaseret) employed in 40:9, where Zion is addressed as a herald.

[43:2]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[43:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”

[47:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

[47:14]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.

[51:22]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[51:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the cup of [= that causes] staggering” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV); NASB “the cup of reeling.”

[51:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “the goblet of the cup of my anger.”