5:6 I will make it a wasteland;
no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, 1
and thorns and briers will grow there.
I will order the clouds
not to drop any rain on it.
18:4 For this is what the Lord has told me:
“I will wait 2 and watch from my place,
like scorching heat produced by the sunlight, 3
like a cloud of mist 4 in the heat 5 of harvest.” 6
19:1 Here is a message about Egypt:
Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud
and approaches Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him;
the Egyptians lose their courage. 7
1 tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.
2 tn Or “be quiet, inactive”; NIV “will remain quiet.”
3 tn Heb “like the glowing heat because of light.” The precise meaning of the line is uncertain.
4 tn Heb “a cloud of dew,” or “a cloud of light rain.”
5 tc Some medieval Hebrew
6 sn It is unclear how the comparisons in v. 4b relate to the preceding statement. How is waiting and watching similar to heat or a cloud? For a discussion of interpretive options, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:362.
3 tn Heb “and the heart of Egypt melts within it.”