1:6 From the soles of your feet to your head,
there is no spot that is unharmed. 1
There are only bruises, cuts,
and open wounds.
They have not been cleansed 2 or bandaged,
nor have they been treated 3 with olive oil. 4
8:12 “Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’ every time these people say the word. 5
Don’t be afraid of what scares them; don’t be terrified.
10:7 But he does not agree with this,
his mind does not reason this way, 6
for his goal is to destroy,
and to eliminate many nations. 7
16:10 Joy and happiness disappear from the orchards,
and in the vineyards no one rejoices or shouts;
no one treads out juice in the wine vats 8 –
I have brought the joyful shouts to an end. 9
23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,
for the sea 10 says this, O fortress of the sea:
“I have not gone into labor
or given birth;
I have not raised young men
or brought up young women.” 11
30:5 all will be put to shame 12
because of a nation that cannot help them,
who cannot give them aid or help,
but only shame and disgrace.”
42:24 Who handed Jacob over to the robber?
Who handed Israel over to the looters? 13
Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned?
They refused to follow his commands;
they disobeyed his law. 14
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.
44:20 He feeds on ashes; 17
his deceived mind misleads him.
He cannot rescue himself,
nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ 18
46:7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it;
they put it in its place and it just stands there;
it does not 19 move from its place.
Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;
it does not deliver him from his distress.
47:11 Disaster will overtake you;
you will not know how to charm it away. 20
Destruction will fall on you;
you will not be able to appease it.
Calamity will strike you suddenly,
before you recognize it. 21
49:10 They will not be hungry or thirsty;
the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, 22
for one who has compassion on them will guide them;
he will lead them to springs of water.
53:2 He sprouted up like a twig before God, 23
like a root out of parched soil; 24
he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, 25
no special appearance that we should want to follow him. 26
64:4 Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived, 27
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who intervenes for those who wait for him.
65:1 “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; 28
I appeared to those who did not look for me. 29
I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
to a nation that did not invoke 30 my name.
1 tn Heb “there is not in it health”; NAB “there is no sound spot.”
2 tn Heb “pressed out.”
3 tn Heb “softened” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “soothed.”
4 sn This verse describes wounds like those one would receive in battle. These wounds are comprehensive and without remedy.
5 tn Heb “Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’ with respect to all which these people say, ‘Conspiracy.’” The verb translated “do not say” is second masculine plural, indicating that this exhortation is directed to Isaiah and other followers of the Lord (see v. 16).
9 tn Heb “but he, not so does he intend, and his heart, not so does it think.”
10 tn Heb “for to destroy [is] in his heart, and to cut off nations, not a few.”
13 tn Heb “wine in the vats the treader does not tread.”
14 sn The Lord appears to be the speaker here. See 15:9.
17 tn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:430-31) sees here a reference to Yam, the Canaanite god of the sea. He interprets the phrase מָעוֹז הַיָּם (ma’oz hayyam, “fortress of the sea”) as a title of Yam, translating “Mighty One of the Sea.” A more traditional view is that the phrase refers to Sidon.
18 tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).
21 tn The present translation follows the marginal (Qere) reading of the Hebrew text; the consonantal text (Kethib) has “made to stink, decay.”
25 tn Heb “Who gave to the robber Jacob, and Israel to the looters?” In the first line the consonantal text (Kethib) has מְשׁוֹסֶה (mÿshoseh), a Polel participle from שָׁסָה (shasah, “plunder”). The marginal reading (Qere) is מְשִׁיסָּה (mÿshissah), a noun meaning “plunder.” In this case one could translate “Who handed Jacob over as plunder?”
26 tn Heb “they were not willing in his ways to walk, and they did not listen to his law.”
29 tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
30 tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”
33 tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”
34 tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”
37 tn Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability.
41 tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.
42 tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”
45 tn Heb “and the heat and the sun will not strike them.” In Isa 35:7, its only other occurrence in the OT, שָׁרָב (sharav) stands parallel to “parched ground” and in contrast to “pool.” In later Hebrew and Aramaic it refers to “dry heat, heat of the sun” (Jastrow 1627 s.v.). Here it likely has this nuance and forms a hendiadys with “sun.”
49 tn Heb “before him.” Some suggest an emendation to “before us.” If the third singular suffix of the Hebrew text is retained, it probably refers to the Lord (see v. 1b). For a defense of this reading, see R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 173-74.
50 sn The metaphor in this verse suggests insignificance.
51 tn Heb “that we might see him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.
52 tn Heb “that we should desire him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.
53 tn Heb “from ancient times they have not heard, they have not listened.”
57 tn Heb “I allowed myself to be sought by those who did not ask.”
58 tn Heb “I allowed myself to be found by those who did not seek.”
59 tn Heb “call out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “call on.”