Yesaya 4:4

4:4 At that time ¹  the sovereign master ²  will wash the excrement ³  from Zion’s women,

he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst, ⁴ 

as he comes to judge

and to bring devastation. ⁵ 

Yesaya 9:13

9:13 The people did not return to the one who struck them,

they did not seek reconciliation ⁶  with the Lord who commands armies.

Yesaya 9:19

9:19 Because of the anger of the Lord who commands armies, the land was scorched, ⁷ 

and the people became fuel for the fire. ⁸ 

People had no compassion on one another. ⁹ 

Yesaya 19:1

The Lord Will Judge Egypt

19:1 Here is a message about Egypt:

Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud

and approaches Egypt.

The idols of Egypt tremble before him;

the Egyptians lose their courage. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 33:23

33:23 Though at this time your ropes are slack, ¹¹ 

the mast is not secured, ¹² 

and the sail ¹³  is not unfurled,

at that time you will divide up a great quantity of loot; ¹⁴ 

even the lame will drag off plunder. ¹⁵ 

Yesaya 38:12

38:12 My dwelling place ¹⁶  is removed and taken away ¹⁷  from me

like a shepherd’s tent.

I rolled up my life like a weaver rolls cloth; ¹⁸ 

from the loom he cuts me off. ¹⁹ 

You turn day into night and end my life. ²⁰ 

Yesaya 42:14

42:14 “I have been inactive ²¹  for a long time;

I kept quiet and held back.

Like a woman in labor I groan;

I pant and gasp. ²² 

Yesaya 49:1

Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles

49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! ²³ 

Pay attention, you people who live far away!

The Lord summoned me from birth; ²⁴ 

he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. ²⁵ 

[4:4]  ¹ tn Heb “when” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); CEV “after”; NRSV “once.”

[4:4]  ² tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[4:4]  ³ tn The word refers elsewhere to vomit (Isa 28:8) and fecal material (Isa 36:12). Many English versions render this somewhat euphemistically as “filth” (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV). Ironically in God’s sight the beautiful jewelry described earlier is nothing but vomit and feces, for it symbolizes the moral decay of the city’s residents (cf. NLT “moral filth”).

[4:4]  ⁴ sn See 1:21 for a related concept.

[4:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.” The precise meaning of the second half of the verse is uncertain. רוּחַ (ruakh) can be understood as “wind” in which case the passage pictures the Lord using a destructive wind as an instrument of judgment. However, this would create a mixed metaphor, for the first half of the verse uses the imagery of washing and rinsing to depict judgment. Perhaps the image would be that of a windstorm accompanied by heavy rain. רוּחַ can also mean “spirit,” in which case the verse may be referring to the Lord’s Spirit or, more likely, to a disposition that the Lord brings to the task of judgment. It is also uncertain if בָּעַר (ba’ar) here means “burning” or “sweeping away, devastating.”

[9:13]  ⁶ tn This verse describes the people’s response to the judgment described in vv. 11-12. The perfects are understood as indicating simple past.

[9:19]  ⁷ tn The precise meaning of the verb עְתַּם (’ÿtam), which occurs only here, is uncertain, though the context strongly suggests that it means “burn, scorch.”

[9:19]  ⁸ sn The uncontrollable fire of the people’s wickedness (v. 18) is intensified by the fire of the Lord’s judgment (v. 19). God allows (or causes) their wickedness to become self-destructive as civil strife and civil war break out in the land.

[9:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “men were not showing compassion to their brothers.” The idiom “men to their brothers” is idiomatic for reciprocity. The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav (ו) consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.

[19:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the heart of Egypt melts within it.”

[33:23]  ¹¹ tn The words “though at this time” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first half of the verse is addressed to Judah and contrasts the nation’s present weakness with its future prosperity. Judah is compared to a ship that is incapable of sailing.

[33:23]  ¹² tn Heb “they do not fasten the base of their mast.” On כֵּן (ken, “base”) see BDB 487 s.v. III כֵּן and HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן.

[33:23]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps, “flag.”

[33:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “then there will be divided up loot of plunder [in] abundance.”

[33:23]  ¹⁵ sn Judah’s victory over its enemies will be so thorough there will be more than enough plunder for everyone, even slow-moving lame men who would normally get left out in the rush to gather the loot.

[38:12]  ¹⁶ tn According to HALOT 217 s.v. דּוֹר this noun is a hapax legomenon meaning “dwelling place,” derived from a verbal root meaning “live” (see Ps 84:10). For an interpretation that understands the form as the well-attested noun meaning “generation,” see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:679, n. 4.

[38:12]  ¹⁷ tn The verb form appears to be a Niphal from גָּלָה (galah), which normally means “uncovered, revealed” in the Niphal. Because of the following reference to a shepherd’s tent, some prefer to emend the form to וְנָגַל, a Niphal from גָלָל (galal, “roll”) and translate “is rolled [or “folded”] up.”

[38:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I rolled up, like a weaver, my life” (so ASV).

[38:12]  ¹⁹ sn For a discussion of the imagery employed here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:684.

[38:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”

[42:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “silent” (so NASB, NIV, TEV, NLT); CEV “have held my temper.”

[42:14]  ²² sn The imagery depicts the Lord as a warrior who is eager to fight and can no longer hold himself back from the attack.

[49:1]  ²³ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”

[49:1]  sn The Lord’s special servant, introduced in chap. 42, speaks here of his commission.

[49:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “called me from the womb.”

[49:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”