5:8 Those who accumulate houses are as good as dead, 1
those who also accumulate landed property 2
until there is no land left, 3
and you are the only landowners remaining within the land. 4
5:20 Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead, 5
who turn darkness into light and light into darkness,
who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter. 6
17:12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead, 7
those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves. 8
The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, 9
those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. 10
28:1 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed, 11
the withering flower, its beautiful splendor, 12
situated 13 at the head of a rich valley,
the crown of those overcome with wine. 14
29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, 15
who do their work in secret and boast, 16
“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” 17
30:1 “The rebellious 18 children are as good as dead,” 19 says the Lord,
“those who make plans without consulting me, 20
who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, 21
and thereby compound their sin. 22
33:1 The destroyer is as good as dead, 23
you who have not been destroyed!
The deceitful one is as good as dead, 24
the one whom others have not deceived!
When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you finish 25 deceiving, others will deceive you!
45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, 26
one who is like a mere 27 shard among the other shards on the ground!
The clay should not say to the potter, 28
“What in the world 29 are you doing?
Your work lacks skill!” 30
1 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who make a house touch a house.” The exclamation הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) was used in funeral laments (see 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5) and carries the connotation of death.
2 tn Heb “[who] bring a field near a field.”
3 tn Heb “until the end of the place”; NASB “until there is no more room.”
4 tn Heb “and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.”
5 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who call.” See the note at v. 8.
6 sn In this verse the prophet denounces the perversion of moral standards. Darkness and bitterness are metaphors for evil; light and sweetness symbolize uprightness.
9 tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.” The word הוֹי (hoy) could be translated as a simple interjection here (“ah!”), but since the following verses announce the demise of these nations, it is preferable to take הוֹי as a funeral cry. See the note on the first phrase of 1:4.
10 tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”
11 tn Heb “the uproar of the peoples.” The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse; the words “are as good as dead” are supplied in the translation to reflect this.
12 tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”
13 tn Heb “Woe [to] the crown [or “wreath”] of the splendor [or “pride”] of the drunkards of Ephraim.” The “crown” is Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom (Ephraim). Priests and prophets are included among these drunkards in v. 7.
14 tn Heb “the beauty of his splendor.” In the translation the masculine pronoun (“his”) has been replaced by “its” because the referent (the “crown”) is the city of Samaria.
15 tn Heb “which [is].”
16 tn Heb “ones overcome with wine.” The words “the crown of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The syntactical relationship of the final phrase to what precedes is uncertain. הֲלוּמֵי יָיִן (halume yayin, “ones overcome with wine”) seems to correspond to שִׁכֹּרֵי אֶפְרַיִם (shikkore ’efrayim, “drunkards of Ephraim”) in line 1. The translation assumes that the phrase “the splendid crown” is to be understood in the final line as well.
17 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who deeply hide counsel from the Lord.” This probably alludes to political alliances made without seeking the Lord’s guidance. See 30:1-2 and 31:1.
18 tn Heb “and their works are in darkness and they say.”
19 tn The rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “no one.” They are confident that their deeds are hidden from others, including God.
21 tn Or “stubborn” (NCV); cf. NIV “obstinate.”
22 tn Heb “Woe [to] rebellious children.”
23 tn Heb “making a plan, but not from me.”
24 tn Heb “and pouring out a libation, but not [from] my spirit.” This translation assumes that the verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “pour out,” and that the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה (massekhah) means “libation.” In this case “pouring out a libation” alludes to a ceremony that formally ratifies an alliance. Another option is to understand the verb נָסַךְ as a homonym meaning “weave,” and the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה as a homonym meaning “covering.” In this case forming an alliance is likened to weaving a garment.
25 tn Heb “consequently adding sin to sin.”
25 tn Heb “Woe [to] the destroyer.”
26 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.
27 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.”
29 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”
30 tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.
31 tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”
32 tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.
33 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.”