Yesaya 5:2

5:2 He built a hedge around it, ¹  removed its stones,

and planted a vine.

He built a tower in the middle of it,

and constructed a winepress.

He waited for it to produce edible grapes,

but it produced sour ones instead. ² 

Yesaya 25:8

25:8 he will swallow up death permanently. ³ 

The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face,

and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.

Indeed, the Lord has announced it! ⁴ 

Yesaya 65:16

65:16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth ⁵ 

will do so in the name of the faithful God; ⁶ 

whoever makes an oath in the earth

will do so in the name of the faithful God. ⁷ 

For past problems will be forgotten;

I will no longer think about them. ⁸ 

[5:2]  ¹ tn Or, “dug it up” (so NIV); KJV “fenced it.’ See HALOT 810 s.v. עזק.

[5:2]  ² tn Heb “wild grapes,” i.e., sour ones (also in v. 4).

[5:2]  sn At this point the love song turns sour as the Lord himself breaks in and completes the story (see vv. 3-6). In the final line of v. 2 the love song presented to the Lord becomes a judgment speech by the Lord.

[25:8]  ³ sn The image of the Lord “swallowing” death would be especially powerful, for death was viewed in Canaanite mythology and culture as a hungry enemy that swallows its victims. See the note at 5:14.

[25:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “has spoken” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[65:16]  ⁵ tn Or “in the land” (NIV, NCV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs again later in this verse, with the same options.

[65:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “will pronounce a blessing by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “will take an oath by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “for the former distresses will be forgotten, and they will be hidden from my eyes.”