21:2 I have received a distressing message: 1
“The deceiver deceives,
the destroyer destroys.
Attack, you Elamites!
Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all the groaning!” 2
24:16 From the ends of the earth we 3 hear songs –
the Just One is majestic. 4
But I 5 say, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed!
Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!” 6
33:1 The destroyer is as good as dead, 7
you who have not been destroyed!
The deceitful one is as good as dead, 8
the one whom others have not deceived!
When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you finish 9 deceiving, others will deceive you!
1:13 You are too just 10 to tolerate 11 evil;
you are unable to condone 12 wrongdoing.
So why do you put up with such treacherous people? 13
Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour 14 those more righteous than they are? 15
1 tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”
2 sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.
3 sn The identity of the subject is unclear. Apparently in vv. 15-16a an unidentified group responds to the praise they hear in the west by exhorting others to participate.
4 tn Heb “Beauty belongs to the just one.” These words may summarize the main theme of the songs mentioned in the preceding line.
5 sn The prophet seems to contradict what he hears the group saying. Their words are premature because more destruction is coming.
6 tn Heb “and [with] deception deceivers deceive.”
7 tn Heb “Woe [to] the destroyer.”
8 tn Heb “and the deceitful one”; NAB, NIV “O traitor”; NRSV “you treacherous one.” In the parallel structure הוֹי (hoy, “woe [to]”) does double duty.
9 tc The form in the Hebrew text appears to derive from an otherwise unattested verb נָלָה (nalah). The translation follows the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa in reading ככלתך, a Piel infinitival form from the verbal root כָּלָה (kalah), meaning “finish.”
10 tn Heb “[you] are too pure of eyes.” God’s “eyes” here signify what he looks at with approval. His “eyes” are “pure” in that he refuses to tolerate any wrongdoing in his presence.
11 tn Heb “to see.” Here “see” is figurative for “tolerate,” “put up with.”
12 tn Heb “to look at.” Cf. NEB “who canst not countenance wrongdoing”; NASB “You can not look on wickedness with favor.”
13 tn Heb “Why do you look at treacherous ones?” The verb בָּגַד (bagad, “be treacherous”) is often used of those who are disloyal or who violate agreements. See S. Erlandsson, TDOT 1:470-73.
14 tn Or “swallow up.”
15 tn Heb “more innocent than themselves.”