Isaiah 1:10

1:10 Listen to the Lord’s word,

you leaders of Sodom! ¹ 

Pay attention to our God’s rebuke, ² 

people of Gomorrah!

Isaiah 24:5

24:5 The earth is defiled by ³  its inhabitants, ⁴ 

for they have violated laws,

disregarded the regulation, ⁵ 

and broken the permanent treaty. ⁶ 

Isaiah 30:9

30:9 For these are rebellious people –

they are lying children,

children unwilling to obey the Lord’s law. ⁷ 

[1:10]  ¹ sn Building on the simile of v. 9, the prophet sarcastically addresses the leaders and people of Jerusalem as if they were leaders and residents of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. The sarcasm is appropriate, for if the judgment is comparable to Sodom’s, that must mean that the sin which prompted the judgment is comparable as well.

[1:10]  ² tn Heb “to the instruction of our God.” In this context, which is highly accusatory and threatening, תּוֹרָה (torah, “law, instruction”) does not refer to mere teaching, but to corrective teaching and rebuke.

[24:5]  ³ tn Heb “beneath”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “under”; NAB “because of.”

[24:5]  ⁴ sn Isa 26:21 suggests that the earth’s inhabitants defiled the earth by shedding the blood of their fellow human beings. See also Num 35:33-34, which assumes that bloodshed defiles a land.

[24:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “moved past [the?] regulation.”

[24:5]  ⁶ tn Or “everlasting covenant” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the ancient covenant”; CEV “their agreement that was to last forever.”

[30:9]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps, “instruction” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NCV, TEV “teachings.”