Isaiah 1:11

1:11 “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?” ¹ 

says the Lord.

“I am stuffed with ²  burnt sacrifices

of rams and the fat from steers.

The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats

I do not want. ³ 

Isaiah 13:4

13:4 ⁴ There is a loud noise on the mountains –

it sounds like a large army! ⁵ 

There is great commotion among the kingdoms ⁶  –

nations are being assembled!

The Lord who commands armies is mustering

forces for battle.

Isaiah 30:25

30:25 On every high mountain

and every high hill

there will be streams flowing with water,

at the time of ⁷  great slaughter when the fortified towers collapse.

Isaiah 36:13

36:13 The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect, ⁸  “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria.

Isaiah 37:8

37:8 When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning. ⁹ 

Isaiah 45:9

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ¹⁰ 

one who is like a mere ¹¹  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ¹² 

“What in the world ¹³  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 63:1

The Victorious Divine Warrior

63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom, ¹⁵ 

dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? ¹⁶ 

Who ¹⁷  is this one wearing royal attire, ¹⁸ 

who marches confidently ¹⁹  because of his great strength?

“It is I, the one who announces vindication,

and who is able to deliver!” ²⁰ 

[1:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Why to me the multitude of your sacrifices?” The sarcastic rhetorical question suggests that their many sacrifices are of no importance to the Lord. This phrase answers the possible objection that an Israelite could raise in response to God’s indictment: “But we are offering the sacrifices you commanded!”

[1:11]  ² tn The verb שָׂבַע (sava’, “be satisfied, full”) is often used of eating and/or drinking one’s fill. See BDB 959 s.v. שָׂבַע. Here sacrifices are viewed, in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion, as food for the deity. God here declares that he has eaten and drunk, as it were, his fill.

[1:11]  ³ sn In the chiastic structure of the verse, the verbs at the beginning and end highlight God’s displeasure, while the heaping up of references to animals, fat, and blood in the middle lines hints at why God wants no more of their sacrifices. They have, as it were, piled the food on his table and he needs no more.

[13:4]  ⁴ sn In vv. 4-10 the prophet appears to be speaking, since the Lord is referred to in the third person. However, since the Lord refers to himself in the third person later in this chapter (see v. 13), it is possible that he speaks throughout the chapter.

[13:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “a sound, a roar [is] on the mountains, like many people.”

[13:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “a sound, tumult of kingdoms.”

[30:25]  ⁷ tn Or “in the day of” (KJV).

[36:13]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text includes “and he said.”

[37:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the chief adviser returned and he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish.”

[45:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

[45:9]  ¹⁷ tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[45:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

[45:9]  ¹⁹ tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

[45:9]  ²⁰ 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.”

[63:1]  ¹⁹ sn Edom is here an archetype for the Lord’s enemies. See 34:5.

[63:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “[in] bright red garments, from Bozrah.”

[63:1]  ²¹ tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis; note the first line of the verse.

[63:1]  ²² tn Heb “honored in his clothing”; KJV, ASV “glorious in his apparel.”

[63:1]  ²³ tc The Hebrew text has צָעָה (tsa’ah), which means “stoop, bend” (51:14). The translation assumes an emendation to צָעַד (tsa’ad, “march”; see BDB 858 s.v. צָעָה).

[63:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I, [the one] speaking in vindication [or “righteousness”], great to deliver.”