Isaiah 1:13

1:13 Do not bring any more meaningless ¹  offerings;

I consider your incense detestable! ² 

You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,

but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! ³ 

Isaiah 14:24

14:24 ⁴ The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow:

“Be sure of this:

Just as I have intended, so it will be;

just as I have planned, it will happen.

Isaiah 47:10

47:10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; ⁵ 

you thought, ⁶  ‘No one sees me.’

Your self-professed ⁷  wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,

when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ ⁸ 

Isaiah 51:9-10

51:9 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! ⁹ 

Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!

Did you not smash ¹⁰  the Proud One? ¹¹ 

Did you not ¹²  wound the sea monster? ¹³ 

51:10 Did you not dry up the sea,

the waters of the great deep?

Did you not make ¹⁴  a path through the depths of the sea,

so those delivered from bondage ¹⁵  could cross over?

Isaiah 59:16

The Lord Intervenes

59:16 He sees there is no advocate; ¹⁶ 

he is shocked ¹⁷  that no one intervenes.

So he takes matters into his own hands; ¹⁸ 

his desire for justice drives him on. ¹⁹ 

[1:13]  ¹ tn Or “worthless” (NASB, NCV, CEV); KJV, ASV “vain.”

[1:13]  ² sn Notice some of the other practices that Yahweh regards as “detestable”: homosexuality (Lev 18:22-30; 20:13), idolatry (Deut 7:25; 13:15), human sacrifice (Deut 12:31), eating ritually unclean animals (Deut 14:3-8), sacrificing defective animals (Deut 17:1), engaging in occult activities (Deut 18:9-14), and practicing ritual prostitution (1 Kgs 14:23).

[1:13]  ³ tn Heb “sin and assembly” (these two nouns probably represent a hendiadys). The point is that their attempts at worship are unacceptable to God because the people’s everyday actions in the socio-economic realm prove they have no genuine devotion to God (see vv. 16-17).

[14:24]  ⁴ sn Having announced the downfall of the Chaldean empire, the Lord appends to this prophecy a solemn reminder that the Assyrians, the major Mesopotamian power of Isaiah’s day, would be annihilated, foreshadowing what would subsequently happen to Babylon and the other hostile nations.

[47:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “you trusted in your evil”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “wickedness.”

[47:10]  ⁸ tn Or “said”; NAB “said to yourself”’ NASB “said in your heart.”

[47:10]  ⁹ tn The words “self-professed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[47:10]  ¹⁰ tn See the note at v. 8.

[51:9]  ¹⁰ tn The arm of the Lord is a symbol of divine military power. Here it is personified and told to arouse itself from sleep and prepare for action.

[51:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Are you not the one who smashed?” The feminine singular forms agree grammatically with the feminine noun “arm.” The Hebrew text has ַהמַּחְצֶבֶת (hammakhtsevet), from the verbal root חָצַב (khatsav, “hew, chop”). The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has, probably correctly, המחצת, from the verbal root מָחַץ (makhats, “smash”) which is used in Job 26:12 to describe God’s victory over “the Proud One.”

[51:9]  ¹² tn This title (רַהַב, rahav, “proud one”) is sometimes translated as a proper name: “Rahab” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). It is used here of a symbolic sea monster, known elsewhere in the Bible and in Ugaritic myth as Leviathan. This sea creature symbolizes the forces of chaos that seek to destroy the created order. In the Bible “the Proud One” opposes God’s creative work, but is defeated (see Job 26:12; Ps 89:10). Here the title refers to Pharaoh’s Egyptian army that opposed Israel at the Red Sea (see v. 10, and note also Isa 30:7 and Ps 87:4, where the title is used of Egypt).

[51:9]  ¹³ tn The words “did you not” are understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line). The rhetorical questions here and in v. 10 expect the answer, “Yes, you certainly did!”

[51:9]  ¹⁴ tn Hebrew תַּנִּין (tannin) is another name for the symbolic sea monster. See the note at 27:1. In this context the sea creature represents Egypt. See the note on the title “Proud One” earlier in this verse.

[51:10]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Are you not the one who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made…?”

[51:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the redeemed” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “the ransomed.”

[59:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “man” (so KJV, ASV); TEV “no one to help.”

[59:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or “appalled” (NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “disgusted.”

[59:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and his arm delivers for him.”

[59:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and his justice [or “righteousness”] supports him.”