Yesaya 5:24

5:24 Therefore, as flaming fire ¹  devours straw,

and dry grass disintegrates in the flames,

so their root will rot,

and their flower will blow away like dust. ² 

For they have rejected the law of the Lord who commands armies,

they have spurned the commands ³  of the Holy One of Israel. ⁴ 

Yesaya 7:17

7:17 The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s family a time ⁵  unlike any since Ephraim departed from Judah – the king of Assyria!” ⁶ 

Yesaya 21:2

21:2 I have received a distressing message: ⁷ 

“The deceiver deceives,

the destroyer destroys.

Attack, you Elamites!

Lay siege, you Medes!

I will put an end to all the groaning!” ⁸ 

Yesaya 28:16

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

“Look, I am laying ⁹  a stone in Zion,

an approved ¹⁰  stone,

set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ¹¹ 

The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ¹² 

Yesaya 35:8

35:8 A thoroughfare will be there –

it will be called the Way of Holiness. ¹³ 

The unclean will not travel on it;

it is reserved for those authorized to use it ¹⁴  –

fools ¹⁵  will not stray into it.

Yesaya 40:26

40:26 Look up at the sky! ¹⁶ 

Who created all these heavenly lights? ¹⁷ 

He is the one who leads out their ranks; ¹⁸ 

he calls them all by name.

Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,

not one of them is missing.

Yesaya 43:23

43:23 You did not bring me lambs for your burnt offerings;

you did not honor me with your sacrifices.

I did not burden you with offerings;

I did not make you weary by demanding ¹⁹  incense.

Yesaya 44:26

44:26 who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants ²⁰ 

and brings to pass the announcements ²¹  of his messengers,

who says about Jerusalem, ²²  ‘She will be inhabited,’

and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,

her ruins I will raise up,’

Yesaya 45:19

45:19 I have not spoken in secret,

in some hidden place. ²³ 

I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,

‘Seek me in vain!’ ²⁴ 

I am the Lord,

the one who speaks honestly,

who makes reliable announcements. ²⁵ 

Yesaya 46:13

46:13 I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away;

I am bringing my salvation near, ²⁶  it does not wait.

I will save Zion; ²⁷ 

I will adorn Israel with my splendor.” ²⁸ 

Yesaya 47:14

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat ²⁹  of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy. ³⁰ 

Yesaya 51:4

51:4 Pay attention to me, my people!

Listen to me, my people!

For ³¹  I will issue a decree, ³² 

I will make my justice a light to the nations. ³³ 

Yesaya 51:16

Zion’s Time to Celebrate

51:16 I commission you ³⁴  as my spokesman; ³⁵ 

I cover you with the palm of my hand, ³⁶ 

to establish ³⁷  the sky and to found the earth,

to say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” ³⁸ 

Yesaya 54:9

54:9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time, ³⁹ 

when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood ⁴⁰  would never again cover the earth.

In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.

Yesaya 56:5

56:5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument ⁴¹ 

that will be better than sons and daughters.

I will set up a permanent monument ⁴²  for them that will remain.

Yesaya 61:10

61:10 I ⁴³  will greatly rejoice ⁴⁴  in the Lord;

I will be overjoyed because of my God. ⁴⁵ 

For he clothes me in garments of deliverance;

he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication. ⁴⁶ 

I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would;

I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry. ⁴⁷ 

Yesaya 65:16

65:16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth ⁴⁸ 

will do so in the name of the faithful God; ⁴⁹ 

whoever makes an oath in the earth

will do so in the name of the faithful God. ⁵⁰ 

For past problems will be forgotten;

I will no longer think about them. ⁵¹ 

[5:24]  ¹ tn Heb “a tongue of fire” (so NASB), referring to a tongue-shaped flame.

[5:24]  ² sn They are compared to a flowering plant that withers quickly in a hot, arid climate.

[5:24]  ³ tn Heb “the word.”

[5:24]  ⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[7:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “days” (so KJV, NAB); NASB, NRSV “such days.”

[7:17]  ⁶ sn Initially the prophecy appears to be a message of salvation. Immanuel seems to have a positive ring to it, sour milk and honey elsewhere symbolize prosperity and blessing (see Deut 32:13-14; Job 20:17), verse 16 announces the defeat of Judah’s enemies, and verse 17a could be taken as predicting a return to the glorious days of David and Solomon. However, the message turns sour in verses 17b-25. God will be with his people in judgment, as well as salvation. The curds and honey will be signs of deprivation, not prosperity, the relief announced in verse 16 will be short-lived, and the new era will be characterized by unprecedented humiliation, not a return to glory. Because of Ahaz’s refusal to trust the Lord, potential blessing would be transformed into a curse, just as Isaiah turns an apparent prophecy of salvation into a message of judgment. Because the words “the king of Assyria” are rather awkwardly tacked on to the end of the sentence, some regard them as a later addition. However, the very awkwardness facilitates the prophet’s rhetorical strategy here, as he suddenly turns what sounds like a positive message into a judgment speech. Actually, “the king of Assyria,” stands in apposition to the earlier object “days,” and specifies who the main character of these coming “days” will be.

[21:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”

[21:2]  ⁸ sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.

[28:16]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.

[28:16]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.

[35:8]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and there will be there a road and a way, and the Way of Holiness it will be called.” וְדֶרֶךְ (vÿderekh, “and a/the way”) is accidentally duplicated; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a does not reflect the repetition of the phrase.

[35:8]  ¹⁴ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The text reads literally “and it is for them, the one who walks [on the] way.” In this context those authorized to use the Way of Holiness would be morally upright people who are the recipients of God’s deliverance, in contrast to the morally impure and foolish who are excluded from the new covenant community.

[35:8]  ¹⁵ tn In this context “fools” are those who are morally corrupt, not those with limited intellectual capacity.

[40:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Lift on high your eyes and see.”

[40:26]  ¹⁷ tn The words “heavenly lights” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the following lines.

[40:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the one who brings out by number their host.” The stars are here likened to a huge army that the Lord leads out. Perhaps the next line pictures God calling roll. If so, the final line may be indicating that none of them dares “go AWOL.” (“AWOL” is a military acronym for “absent without leave.”)

[43:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “with.” The words “by demanding” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[44:26]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the word of his servant.” The following context indicates that the Lord’s prophets are in view.

[44:26]  ²¹ tn Heb “counsel.” The Hebrew term עֵצָה (’etsah) probably refers here to the divine plan as announced by the prophets. See HALOT 867 s.v. I עֵצָה.

[44:26]  ²² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[45:19]  ²³ tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”

[45:19]  ²⁴ tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”

[45:19]  ²⁵ tn The translation above assumes that צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim) are adverbial accusatives (see 33:15). If they are taken as direct objects, indicating the content of what is spoken, one might translate, “who proclaims deliverance, who announces justice.”

[46:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “my salvation.” The verb “I am bringing near” is understood by ellipsis (note the previous line).

[46:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “I will place in Zion salvation”; NASB “I will grant salvation in Zion.”

[46:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “to Israel my splendor”; KJV, ASV “for Israel my glory.”

[47:14]  ²⁹ tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

[47:14]  ³⁰ 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.

[51:4]  ³¹ tn Or “certainly.”

[51:4]  ³² tn Heb “instruction [or “a law”] will go out from me.”

[51:4]  ³³ tn Heb “and my justice for a light to the nations I will cause to rest.”

[51:16]  ³⁴ tn The addressee (second masculine singular, as in vv. 13, 15) in this verse is unclear. The exiles are addressed in the immediately preceding verses (note the critical tone of vv. 12-13 and the reference to the exiles in v. 14). However, it seems unlikely that they are addressed in v. 16, for the addressee appears to be commissioned to tell Zion, who here represents the restored exiles, “you are my people.” The addressee is distinct from the exiles. The language of v. 16a is reminiscent of 49:2 and 50:4, where the Lord’s special servant says he is God’s spokesman and effective instrument. Perhaps the Lord, having spoken to the exiles in vv. 1-15, now responds to this servant, who spoke just prior to this in 50:4-11.

[51:16]  ³⁵ tn Heb “I place my words in your mouth.”

[51:16]  ³⁶ tn Heb “with the shadow of my hand.”

[51:16]  ³⁷ tc The Hebrew text has לִנְטֹעַ (lintoa’, “to plant”). Several scholars prefer to emend this form to לִנְטֹת (lintot) from נָטָה (natah, “to stretch out”); see v. 13, as well as 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV. However, since the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, LXX (and Aquila and Symmachus), and Vulgate support the MT reading, there is no need to emend the form. The interpretation is clear enough: Yahweh fixed the sky in its place.

[51:16]  ³⁸ tn The infinitives in v. 16b are most naturally understood as indicating the purpose of the divine actions described in v. 16a. The relationship of the third infinitive to the commission is clear enough – the Lord has made the addressee (his special servant?) his spokesman so that the latter might speak encouraging words to those in Zion. But how do the first two infinitives relate? The text seems to indicate that the Lord has commissioned the addressee so that the latter might create the universe! Perhaps creation imagery is employed metaphorically here to refer to the transformation that Jerusalem will experience (see 65:17-18).

[54:9]  ³⁹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “For [or “indeed”] the waters of Noah [is] this to me.” כִּי־מֵי (ki-me, “for the waters of”) should be emended to כְּמֵי (kÿmey, “like the days of”), which is supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and all the ancient versions except LXX.

[54:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the waters of Noah” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[56:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “a hand and a name.” For other examples where יָד (yad) refers to a monument, see HALOT 388 s.v.

[56:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “name” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[61:10]  ⁴³ sn The speaker in vv. 10-11 is not identified, but it is likely that the personified nation (or perhaps Zion) responds here to the Lord’s promise of restoration.

[61:10]  ⁴⁴ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[61:10]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “my being is happy in my God”; NAB “in my God is the joy of my soul.”

[61:10]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “robe of vindication”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “robe of righteousness.”

[61:10]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “like a bridegroom [who] acts like a priest [by wearing] a turban, and like a bride [who] wears her jewelry.” The words “I look” are supplied for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[65:16]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “in the land” (NIV, NCV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs again later in this verse, with the same options.

[65:16]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “will pronounce a blessing by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “will take an oath by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “for the former distresses will be forgotten, and they will be hidden from my eyes.”