24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror
will fall into the pit; 2
the one who climbs out of the pit,
will be trapped by the snare.
For the floodgates of the heavens 3 are opened up 4
and the foundations of the earth shake.
45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, 5
one who is like a mere 6 shard among the other shards on the ground!
The clay should not say to the potter, 7
“What in the world 8 are you doing?
Your work lacks skill!” 9
45:18 For this is what the Lord says,
the one who created the sky –
he is the true God, 10
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order, 11
he formed it to be inhabited –
“I am the Lord, I have no peer.
47:8 So now, listen to this,
O one who lives so lavishly, 12
who lives securely,
who says to herself, 13
‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! 14
I will never have to live as a widow;
I will never lose my children.’ 15
49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;
they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine. 16
Then all humankind 17 will recognize that
I am the Lord, your deliverer,
your protector, 18 the powerful ruler of Jacob.” 19
1 tn Heb “and the house of Jacob will take possession of them [i.e., the nations], on the land of the Lord, as male servants and female servants.”
2 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
3 tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”
4 sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).
3 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”
4 tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.
5 tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”
6 tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.
7 tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”
4 tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.
5 tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.
5 tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”
6 tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”
7 tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.
8 tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”
6 sn Verse 26a depicts siege warfare and bloody defeat. The besieged enemy will be so starved they will their own flesh. The bloodstained bodies lying on the blood-soaked battle site will look as if they collapsed in drunkenness.
7 tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB).
8 tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
9 tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Jacob.” See 1:24.